Peter (apparently) at kilmo57@yahoo.com writes: << born "on May 5, 1840 in Tipperary, Parish of Dermishambo". I can't find such a parish. Can anyone help? My ancestor lived on the edge of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in Queen's (Laois) and therefore not very far from Tipperary. >> Peter, This is going to be tough. But firstly, I assume that the latter part of the placename is Shanbo, as there are at least a couple of them I'm of which I'm aware. The "shan" part means old and I'd guess the "bo" comes from cow. So we have "old cow" at the end of the placename <gr>. But the only shanbos I know are a pair of Atshanbo(e) townlands a few miles west of Thurles, Co. Tipp., and a small settlement of Templeshanbo in Co. Wexford near Mt. Leinster. None of them really near the Slieve Blooms. Now, we are left with the "Dermi". If the "m" is really two letters, such as "in", then we'd have a Derini prefix. This could easily be the sound of a Derryna or even, possibly, a Tooreena. So I have created two possible townland names, Derrynashanbo or Tooreenashanbo......... neither of which appear to exist (at least, officially). That's as far as I've gotten with my speculations. Perhaps someone else has some suggestions? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pete Schermerhorn, in the glorious Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts

Many thanks to the several who have come up with ideas. Now at least I've something to work with. peter