Hi Mary Elizabeth - Your MULDOWNEY surname is fairly rare. On the primary valuation circa 1848-64 at the www.ireland.com/ancestor/ website search, there were 42 MULDOWNEY households in Co. Kilkenny, which is the area you are interested in! This was followed by 19 in Co. Laois (Queen's Co.), Co. Mayo with 15, Co. Carlow 7, Co. Roscommon 6, Cos. Kildare and Leitrim with 3, and Cos. Sligo and Limerick with 1. The variant spelling of MULDOWNY was found in 2 households in Co. Laois and once each in Cos. Longford, Mayo and Tyrone. Per the Matheson survey of births in 1890, there were 5 MULDOWNEY babies born in the province of Connaught and 2 in Leinster. The Ireland.com website said it was a "synonym" for MOLONEY. Didn't explain what the difference was between a surname variation and synonym. Your query - Mary MULDOWNEY's book about women in WW-II apparently contains accounts from and/or about the "common" woman. It may tell more about her on the book's jacket or forward. From what I can gather, the author has a connection to Dublin and apparently is a women's rights "activist." Not certain, however. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Elizabeth Wagner" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 5:30 PM Subject: [IRELAND] New Books/Author > Hi Jean, > > Would like to know if you have any information on > this Mary Muldowney. Muldowney is a name I am > researching. > > Thank you. > > Mary Elizabeth > > RESEARCHING: McKERNAN/McKIERNAN in Co. Antrim > and Co. Leitrim; > McALLISTER in Co. Antrim; > MULDOWNEY in Co. Kilkenny; and > KEARNEY in Co. Louth