Hi, Margaret, (See her post below). Be sure and post your information at a Rootsweb Message Board if you haven't already, as there are many researchers who are also researching both Regan & Murray surnames connected to their families. I saw a Tom Finn on the Internet who had connections to Finn's from townland Tully, Moore Parish, Co. Roscommon. (You said that your families had Roscommon and Sligo connections). One of his posts has been deleted, but if you click on his name you can read his other posts on Rootsweb Message Boards. If you had a Regan marriage in Boyle they may have had a child or two in that location, check out the LDS IGI index on line for mid 1860s-70s births. You can contact the LDS and request any further information they may have on their civil registration index, such as name of townland instead of registration district, etc. I believe you can request additional information they might have on up to eight entries for only two dollars total. Right off the top of my head I think that I would: 1. Contact all living relatives for pieces of the puzzle. 2 . Contact the Sullivan Co. NY Historical Society and ask if they have a volunteer who would gather documents on your family for a donation to their society, I have done this with amazing, amazing results! I got back marriage applications (not to be confused with marriage certificates) as these often had information on the parents of the bride and groom, also got back wills and b/m/d/ extracts, newspaper clippings, cemetary information, etc. Each document will provide more clues for you. Important -- To demonstrate your interest, first subscribe to the society's interesting periodical; you can look forward to each issue for details on the history of the county where your relative lived and you might even find a mention in the winter issue's everyname index of your family. You can also post a query in these fine periodicals that are seen by nonInternet researchers. Likely, the historical society will go "all out" to help you if you show interest in "their" county, and they are in the best possible position with their resources and knowledge to assist you. 2. Post a note to Rootsweb Message Boards, possibly on the Finn board. 3. Read all you can about your surnames in a good Irish surname book such as McLysaght. If there was a "Lady" Finn in Dublin, likely she were involved in some way with the Dublin Drama League, possibly as benefactor, and "Peggy" might be a Margaret. (Remember, there was a "Lady Gregory" who was connected to the Dublin theatre and benefactor to William Butler Yeats). Keep an eye out for references to Finns in Dublin who were in high society. 4. Go to your genealogy and public libraries and bring up the surname Finn on their computers and see if someone with a tie-in to your locations has written a biography or autobiography. 5. Read about Dublin theater, look at the index in the back of the books for any listing for Finn. 6. Check out the information on Ed Finn's Leitrim-Roscommon website. He is interested in these areas and may be able to assist you. Be sure and read the old archived notes, post a note with your surnames of interest, check out the databases. 7. The PERSI (Periodical Resource Index) CD and set of books in your genealogy library is an index to previously-published in-depth journal and periodical articles on a variety of families/surname, subjects, and locations. Using the PERSI to locate the name of a particular magazine and issue, you can then contact the Allen Co. Library, Ft. Wayne, IN, and request photocopies of same. 8. If you have a good idea of where in Ireland your family lived (from letters, etc.) contact the Valuation Office (Dublin); they are on the Internet. Using their cancelled land books, current land books, survey, tenure, field books and old maps, they may be able (for a fee) to trace all transactions on particular parcels of land from the time of the Griffiths evaluation (mid 1850s) to the present. 9. You can order microfilmed copies of USA newspapers (to look for obits. and death notices) as well as old USA county history books via your reference librarian. Order the newspaper for the two days following a death. Your librarian has a reference book that tells her the names of newspapers in operation in particular locations in particular years. If you don't have a definite death date, check out the microfilmed death indices at your local LDS FHC. They are divided by state and approximate 10-year increments. They will give you the name of the deceased, date of death, location of death, spouse's name, age at time of death, and best of all, the number of the death certificate. Regarding old USA county history books, you don't need the name of the author or book to order some of these with the help of the reference librarian. To my amazement I found two pages on one of my families in Indiana just because they were early settlers, belonged to particular agricultural, fraternal, religious societies, were school teachers, participated in the Civil War, etc. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "MARGAREt DAVIS" <SAGEMOM@webtv.net> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 9:41 PM Subject: [IGW] Lady Peggy FINN > I have been lurking for a few days and now think I am ready to put a > tantalizing mystery before you. I do hope someone can give me some clues > as to how I might persue this research into my "mystery lady". > My GreatUncle, was Edward C. REGAN, b. Nov. 27, 1871, in Liberty, > Sullivan Co. New York. He died in White Plains, Westchester Co. New > York, on Feb. 26, 1950. My cousin and I, have discovered the following > in his obituary..."Born etc etc, he was the son of the late Edward > Charles and Mary (MURRAY) REGAN. His maternal grandmother, was Lady > Peggy FINN, of Dublin before her marriage to Thomas MURRAY, of Sligo, > Ireland", > Well, there you have it and that is all we know. But it seems to me > there must have been a Lord Finn, right? I am at a loss to where to look > first. Any suggestions, hints or clues, would be most welcome. Thank > You, Margaret in NV, USA PS Edward Charles and MaryAnne (MURRAY) REGAN, > were m. ca 1861 in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. M > > > ==== IrelandGenWeb Mailing List ==== > Please make sure to visit RootsWeb, our hostmaster, at http://www.rootsweb.com > >