Some Resources for Research: IreAtlas for townland information: http://www.seanruad.com/ An unusual given name may be a "surname in disguise," -- i.e., mother's maiden name. Names were repeated from one generation to the next. Often the first son and daughter carried the paternal grandparents' names, the second the maternal grandparents. 1. The Filby volumes in your genealogy library. Mr. Filby transcribed data on thousands of immigrants worldwide to the USA and Canada from hundreds of passenger lists and fragments thereof circa late 1700s to early 1900s. Keep track of which of the 10 or so volumes you have looked in, as they were published yearly circa 1980s. Names are alphabetical given info. to include destination, traveling companions.. 2. Perhaps your families or their grown children crossed back and forth across the Canada/USA border between 1895 to circa 1924/25. Check out the wonderful St. Alban's VT emigration/immigration border-crossing records. microfilms found in local LDS (Mormon) Family History Centers, also in branches of National Archives, Wash. DC. They are something of a misnomer. While the records were stored in the state of Vermont they pertain to aliens crossing back and forth at ANY point along the ENTIRE border. All of the travellers with the same surname (or similar) for that entire period of time would be found on 1-2 microfilms in alphabetic order. If you are looking for a John Edmund Smith, for example, also check information on John E. Smith, John Smith, as well as J. E. Smith, which would be on the same microfilm in close proximity to each other. The data is in the form of microfilmed cards and contain such valuable information as traveling companions, place of birth, date of birth, names and addresses of relatives in the "old" country, the same at the "intended destination," name of any ship or train involved in their travel, port, dates, and even descriptive information such as color of hair, eyes, identifying scars, etc. This information can even lead you to a second microfilm containing the ships' manifest. (I speak from experience. I got very lucky, as I had checked out these particular microfilms not expecting to find any connection to my family and Canada!). Liverpudlians might take a steamer such as the "Montcalm," land in Quebec City and immediately take a train across Canada, entering the USA at some point. It was a cheaper "package deal" offered by the Canadian Pacific Railway who also owned ships, rather than sailing straight to the U.S. (Note, St. Albans Soundex Film group is M1461.) I found information on my dad and his mother and and siblings not only when they immigrated but later, as they crossed back and forth across the border to visit, work, honeymoon, and as they left to return on visits to England. 3. My best advice -- For info. on those who immigrated to the USA, contact the county historical society in the area where they lived and died, see if a volunteer will help you obtain wills, land deed, and marriage applications for a donation to their society. First subscribe to their USA county periodical. Not only will it demonstrate your interest in "their" county (of which they have much expertise), but they are more likely to go "all out" for you in helping find documents on your particular family! In the periodical you can place queries that are seen by Internet and nonInternet researchers alike. The periodicals contain information families and towns, and most winter issues contain an every-name index for that year's issues. Turn of the century USA county marriage applications often give much information on the parents of the bride and groom; don't confuse these with marriage certificates. Wills, land records, b/m/d abstracts give info. on family relationships place of birth and/or last location lived. The secret to success is to obtain as many documents you can on the families in the KNOWN places they lived. 4. Old USA county history books obtained via free interlibrary loan program and your reference library in the USA (not sure about Canada) give information on families just because they were early settlers, belonged to particular agricultural, fraternal or religious organization, were involved in Civil War, were schoolteachers or held office of some sort. To my amazement, I found some of my "humble" farming ancestors written up in these old history books. You don't need the name of an author, just order "History of ____, ____," with the help of your reference librarian and fill in the name of the county and state. 5. Many old USA newspapers are microfilmed and available via free interlibrary loan; your reference librarian has books that tell her what is available for particular time periods, areas, what newspapers were in business, etc. Good way to locate death notices. Request the newspaper for the two days following death and check both the obit and the death notice sections. 6. If you don't have a definite death date but a good idea of where and when check out the LDS FHC microfilmed USA state death indexes that are divided into approximate ten-year increments. Info. includes date of death, age at death, county of death, spouse's name and number of death certificate! 7. There are USA Federal Census indexes in book form going all the way back to the Rev. War divided by state and census year at your genealogy libraries on the Index Shelf. 8. There MAY still be free census USA look-ups for particular USA counties: http://www.rootsweb.com/~uslookup/census.html. If not go to your local LDS (Mormon) Family History Center which is open to all; there are volunteers to assist you. If they don't have what you need on-site they will order it for from Salt Lake. 9. Be SURE and read about your surname in Irish and other surname books at your genealogy library for history behind the name, variations in spelling, distribution in Ireland. Some surnames were found more often in particular counties, even some exclusive to particular townlands. The surname Smith, for example, has different histories depending on which Irish county it is found in. 10. Ancestry.com has published booklets containing USA city directory data. They include several decades and help to replace some data for 1890, the census year that was accidently destroyed. 11. Check out surname information (circa 1890 births) at the Matheson databases on the Internet. (I note that one database is under the name "Mateson"). 12. I got lucky leaving a query at a school alumni board at an all-boys school in England that I thought my uncles' families may have attended. I really didn't expect a response, but lo, and behold, I got a transatlantic phone call from a gentleman in England, a retired teacher, who not only knew my cousins very well but takes one of them (Doris Ford) shopping there in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England!. Not only did Mr. Michael Wheeler phone me with information but he sent me a copy of his book about nearby Langton Green where some of the family lives. Turns out he is a local historian, local photographer, and he even sent me a wedding photo of photo of one of my cousins. Bottom line, don't get discouraged -- Serendipity is alive and well! And don't forget to track down ALL our living relatives for their help. You may find just the right clue to Irish origins in their memories or references in their old photo albums.