Thank you, Jean, for all the poetry. You've inspired me to add my own contribution. The following is a poem I found, hand written in a box of family papers going back to the 1830s. I have no idea of who wrote it, copied it or sent it (the back of the sheet is addressed to my great great great grandfather, Matthew Guinane, Killaloe, Ballina, Tipperary, Ireland) This is my title and transcription. Bits of the paper are missing or the ink is smudged so anything in () is my best guess. Killaloe Poem As I was (a)musing one night in me Shame Of that beautiful Erin the darling of Fame Assisted me to write something ancient and true Of that royal and beautiful town Killaloe First came the Shannon most glorious to see Excelling all others in every degree Where steamboats and shipping Appear in full view And the Grand Canal flowing Through sweet Killaloe How on lovely Shannon of Erin the pride Where castles romantic and woods on each side Where Islands and forests ( ) in full view Shure the city of Dublin can't match Killaloe As for fishing and fowling and music so sweet And carriages rolling through every street Eternally blessed with the sweet mountain view As it flows like the ocean through sweet Killaloe S(uc)h ( ) St. Patrick how glorious to meet And if I was (analive) I would well explore Of the places around I would have said more So fill up a bumper and give it its due There is no place in the world can equal Killaloe At least two of Matthew's sons spent some time in the Gold Fields of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia in the 1860s-1880s so I guess one of them might have sent it, though the handwriting doesn't match the one son whose handwriting I have elsewhere. Has anyone ever come across anything like this?