Hi Pete, it is interesting to note that on the Matheson survey of surnames in Ireland (births/1890) that there were only 30 births of O'SHAUGHNESSY, principally in Limerick in the province of Munster. That could turn out to be a good clue. The breakdown was 18 Munster, 8 Leinster, 3 Connaught, and only 1 Ulster. (Interestingly, there were 41 SHAUGHNESSY births that same year, breakdown is somewhat different, being 26 in the province of Connaught, 9 Munster, 6 Leinster and 0 in Ulster). Births in Ireland (1891) showed 219 for BURNS, principally in Cos. Antrim, Down and Armagh in the Northern Ireland part of the province of Ulster. The breakdown was 140 in the province of Ulster, 49 Munster, 18 Leinster, 12 Connaught. The Munster BURNS births were chiefly in Cos. Clare, Cork, Kerry and Tipperary. The Matheson survey free search can be found at www.ancestryireland.com While it says it pertains to Ulster surnames, it actually gives surname distribution in 1890 (births that year) for the entire island. You were asking about a placename "acclemore." Using the all-Ireland IreAtlas townland search engine at the Leitrim-Roscommon website, there are 2,071 placenames in Ireland that end with "more." Then there are others that end with "our." Nothing really close that I could find, but many "sound-alike" possibilities to include Acre More, Annagh More, Annaghmore, Mullaghmore, Aghamore, Oughtymore, Ballaghmore, Aghalour, Aggard More, Oughterard, Aghafore, Maghera More, Magheramore, Evlaugh More, Aghafore, Knockanour, Lackamore, Inishmore, Arklow, Eskermore. There are also townlands that begin with Eccle... You can set the townland search engine to "exact spelling," or "beings with" or "ends with" or "anywhere in field" searches. You can also bring up townlands in one particular county, etc. My advice would be to do some serious research in the KNOWN places they lived (with the help of a professional genealogist or historical society) to pin a particular county down. Once you had a handle on the correct county, that would narrow townlands down. For now, a good clue could be the fairly rare O'Shaughnessy surname. Doesn't apply to your case, but apparently there is a Maclemore surname found on some records, on doing a Google search. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "ENSEMBLE BIBUX" <bibux@btopenworld.com> To: <IRISH-IN-UK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:24 AM Subject: [UK-Irish] Burns ancestors "accle-a-moor" > Hi I have been researching my Burns ancestors for over 20 years, and am still struggling to progress...... > > Here are the details... My gt-gt-grandfather, Patrick Burns married in preston in 1865 to Ann Kidd... He & his wife are both classed as born in Ireland on the 1871 census..He died in 1875... She is not the witness at death and is unheard of afterwards.. > > Through research I have uncovered 2 brothers & 2 sisters all of whom married in Preston between 1864 & 1885... John married Maria Heneghan in 1864 ( This is the first documentation I have of the family in the UK) ,Maria died in 1884, and the following year John married Mary Maloney an Irish widow.... > > Bridget married Francis McGurty in 1870 and converted through adult baptism to Catholocism the following year.... It is from her adult baptismal record I have the mother's maiden name.. > > Margaret married Owen Connolly in 1867... & she died in 1870... > > Thomas married Mary Cain in 1877... He was a lot vyounger than the others & onlky seems to have popped up when Margaret & Patrick died.. > > Basically, the first record I have is the 1864 marriage of John & Maria Heneghan... I know she was from Mayo, as where the witnesses ( census detail) ... This is the only marriage cert, I have where one of the siblings did not witness, therefore I presume they were not in the UK at that time... > > Census Detail is poor... Whilst several neighbours are given a county & even townland the only census return from 1871 - 1901 to state other than Ireland is Thomas Burns in 1901 who is redorded as being boirn in "Ireland, Accle -a- moor"... I cannot find any trace of such a place in searches of Irish townlands.... > > Also Bridget had an illegitimate son James Burns born in Ireland according to the 1871 census in 1860... > > The ages on birth & death certs is such that I guess the yrs of birth to be ... JOHN c. 1840, MARGARET c. 182, PATRICK c. 1843, BRIDGET c. 1844, THOMAS c. 1856.. > > All were married in Church Of England, John & Patrick had their children bapt. in C of E,Bridget (see above) married in Cof E then bap.t as Catholic herself, children all RC... Margt's one daughter was RC, althoughb her parents md. in CofE/// > > From marrriage certs father's name JOHN BURNS alternately LABOURER or FARMER on theses marriage certs. Mother's name ( from Bridget's adult baptism) MARY ANN O'SHAUGHNESSY... > > So I desperately need help tracking a family with these names form a place called "accle-a-moor" > > Regards, > > Pete Burns.