Beannachtai na Feile Padraig I would like to wish everyone in my extended Irish family on the list an enjoyable St Patrick's day and that we continue in all our little ways with our contributions to the social economic and cultural life in all parts of the world we inhabit. I am based in London looking for my Irish Americans roots in the USA. If you have a COLGAN name in your family tree with roots from Mayo please contact me. On a historical note Irish immigrants have been making their way to London since the 12th Century. One of the most famous was Grace O Malley who was received by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th Century. She was a famous female pirate leader around the coast of Ireland France ad parts of Spain. She is up there with all the men in her exploits. In the 18th Century the Irish settlement in London got off the ground around the Tottenham Court Road Covent Garden Bermondsey and Wapping areas of London. The famine period saw the population increase to 100000 plus in the majority unskilled because of their agricultural background. The numbers swelled up to the post WW 2 period. Today as a result their is a huge second generation community in the Capital with a huge presence in all walks of life from medicine to finance to construction. Unfortunately the Irish community is politically unrepresented in proportion to its numbers when it is considered there are up 2 million Londoners with an Irish background. How things and life have changed in Ireland immigration is now curtailed. It is just a drip in an ocean and to reflect the changing nature of the countries population some of Irelands road signs could soon feature signs in Polish Latvian and Czech languages to benefit drivers from eastern European countries. Local newspapers have columns in Russian and Polish. I wonder what our ancestors would think about it all , Go n_eiri libh go leir Ciaran Colgan chggf@btinternet.com