The history of Irish Catholics was often secretive and circumspect. This is like an oft unspoken tradition. I don't favor or endorse it. Those of you who recall 1st generation ancestors, may recall how private they were, even about issues that we felt were not embarrassing. I recall my great aunt referring to her neighbor of forty years as Mrs. so and so. When I asked her if she knew this woman's first name, she told me it, but never referred to this woman by her first name or addressed her by it. It was weird to me. ************************************** See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)

I hope this isn't too off topic - I don't think that custom was unique to Irish Catholics, so much as it was part of the times that people lived in. A friend of mine had grandmothers who always addressed each other as "Mrs." instead of by their first name (even though they'd known each other for over 50 years), and they were Russian-Jewish immigrants. On Dec 30, 2007, at 3:24 AM, HeirLinesNY@aol.com wrote: > The history of Irish Catholics was often secretive and circumspect. > > This is like an oft unspoken tradition. I don't favor or endorse > it. Those > of you who recall 1st generation ancestors, may recall how private > they were, > even about issues that we felt were not embarrassing. I recall my > great aunt > referring to her neighbor of forty years as Mrs. so and so. When I > asked her > if she knew this woman's first name, she told me it, but never > referred to this > woman by her first name or addressed her by it. It was weird to me. > > > > ************************************** > See AOL's top rated recipes > (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRISH-NEW- > YORK-CITY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message