SNIPPET: Readers of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine shared their impressions of the Emerald Isle in the Jan-Feb 2008 issue: Robert DEACON, Bellows Falls, VT: "I was especially interested in the article in your Sept-Oct 2007 issue on Lough Rynn Castle, as my great-grandfather, John DEACON, was a gardener on the Lough Rynn Estate in the 19th century. Like many Irish at the time, his son Henry (Harry) emigrated to America. He married Mary COYLE in St. Mary's Church of Ireland parish in Dublin in 1879, but her family did not approve of his humble origins as Mary's father, James, had been Chief Constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary in Farnaght, while his father was only a gardener. They sailed to Philadelphia and had ten children, six of whom lived to adulthood. For several years now we have stayed in The Pheasantry, which is now a self-catering cottage, and part of the original estate. Last spring, we visited Lough Rynn Castle and were graciously given a tour of the public rooms and then turned loose in the gardens. Having seen the house and gardens some years beforehand we were very happy to see the results of the restoration project. We are pleased to think that some of my great-grandfather's work still is being carried on. Next year we will be sure to have afternoon tea in the baronial hall." (The editor remarked that Sunday lunch at Lough Rynn (Co. Leitrim) is also a leisurely, delicious event.) Cliff PATRICK, Spartanburg, SC: "Born and raised in CT my genealogy says that I'm twenty-fifth Irish. My wife, Vicki, a 100% Polish girl first went to Ireland in 1982 for a Belleek collectors' convention. We had met a young Irish woman from the Belleek Pottery in Cincinnati, OH, a year earlier. Vicki returned to Ireland in 1984, '86, and '88. In January of 1990, the year of our 25th wedding anniversary, I challenged her to set up a three-week tour for us as an anniversary gift. She did, and we drove, 2,100 miles around Ireland. We returned in '94, and every year thereafter. In 2003 we bought a two-bedroom house in Belleek, which is now part of the Breifne area. The story we tell is that it just got too expensive for us to keep renting self-catering cottages every year, so we bought one instead. As soon as your Sept-Oct 2007 issue of "IOTW" arrived in the mail, I opened it and read it from cover to cover. When I saw your article on Breifne and photograph of the bluebells on page nine, I just had to write to you. We photographed bluebells last spring at Castle Caldwell, Belleek, Co. Fermanagh. I felt from reading your article that I must go 'home' in the next year or two. I particularly enjoyed the article on Lisdoonvarna and its obvious joy of living. Although we live in South Carolina now, I look forward to our bi-annual visits to Belleek. It's the people and the quiet lifestyle that keep bringing us back. It's like coming home. I was very impressed by your new format and the fantastic photographs. Nonetheless, the table of distances in your 'Byways' feature is extremely difficult to read, with the light green/dark green combination of print and background ... everything else is very readable. Please continue the excellent job you are doing with "IOTW," especially the snippets of 'Bits and Pieces' which whet our appetite to see the 'homeland' soon." (For his letter and photograph of bluebells, the editor sent him the gift of a copy of "Ireland - Erindipity The Irish Miscellany" by David KENNY.)

Hello Listers, I would like to express my interest in the MELLOWS and MELLOWES surnames. If you have either of these names in your family tree, or know someone with either of these names, please will you/they contact me? Thank you for reading this. Peter Gainsborough