Carolyn, Now I understand what your thought process is. Do not confuse "tenure" with "tenant." Tenure referred to the length of time that a lease endured, in much the same way that we now use tenure in the school setting when we say that someone has tenure and so will not be bumped out of a teaching position. You will notice that the really affluent in the Freeholders Registry have no one listed in the "Names of Lives or Other Tenure" column, because they held land free and clear ("in fee simple" as it is called in the legal world), a rare event in Ireland of that time. As you will read in one of the suggested guidebooks, Ireland had a longtime and deeply-embedded system of land leases, with the very top landholders being often absentee, in London, India, or even Jamaica. A common feature of this leasehold system was that a man held his land during the lives of those named in the lease, so a wise man tried to have some young and healthy people named, the more the better. That last comment is my own take on this, so you would do well to read up on this subject in one of the books, if this aspect is critical for your research. Now, you will notice that your John Markham is listed only twice in the transcribed sections, both times for the same placename - Clonneen, and that placename is not mentioned in connection with any one beyond Markham, Cunningham, and Fogerty. That to me would indicate close relationships among these families. The Cunninghams became split between Australia and the U.S., with the Aussie end searching for a James Cunningham in, I think, Illinois. I know nothing about the Fogerty surname, as this list is what first showed me that surname in Clare. However, in my other transcriptions (which I just checked without success for any other Markham entry) from the National Archives, I did find this for the Cunninghams in Bunratty: Source: Ejectment Books - Peace Office [later called Crown and Peace Office] National Archives 1D-40-16 1816 - Apr 1824 10 Apr 1822 lands of Rosslevan, 18 acres, Barony of Bunratty, lately held by Richard HICKMAN Robert FLEMING vs. Pierse O'BRIEN, eldest son of Francis O'Brien, Esq. dec'd, Harriett PERRY, widow of Thos. Molony, Thos. BENNIS, Francis CARRIGG, Michl. CARTY, Thomas ROCHFORD, James MCNAMARA, John LILLIS, Edmond DIVINY, Thos. CONWAY, Patk. GARVEY, Honor TOURNEY, John CUNNINGHAM, Patk MCNAMARA, Mary CUNNINGHAM, Danl. ROUGHAN, Danl. CLOHESSY, Mich O'CONNOR, & John PERRY. Having transcribed an entire folder of these ejectment suits in that time period, I saw that filing of the suit does not mean that an actual ejectment was ordered. There were frequent notations that cases were dismissed and times when I saw a later suit filed against some of the men named in an earlier one. This legal activity kept the lawyers of the day in business. I am in the middle of an effort on behalf of descendants of the named Thomas Bennis (who emigrated to Philadelphia, the same as my ancestors) to regain possession of a bible of their ancestor's American-born son who became a music teacher in a Georgia school. So, I know that there was at least one Protestant family involved in that 1822 suit, and I think it is likely that at least the first three named defendants were Protestant, for what that is worth in researching this group further. Naming well-heeled defendants likely meant that the suit was vigorously defended. You will notice that a Michael Fleming is listed in the Freeholders of 1824 as being a tenant of a O'Callaghan, indeed one of the landed gentry in East Clare. The Freeholders list also has the intriguing name of a Marquis Cunyngham and then the naming of Augustine Butler for the land with which your John Markham was involved as a named life. All these landlords will appear in numerous other records and published family pedigrees, and some will have will abstracts and estate records that are accessible. Welcome to the wonderful world of pre-1830 Ireland, with its tantalizing clues for particular individuals, all too often in records that are not online and in remote repositories. However general family information may come up in using the books online via Google, and, if your library has a subscription to Heritage Quest, to its digitized books. As for your Markhams, I assume you know about the massive Markham family website, and I hope that you have on hand by now photocopies of the Rosemary folliott biographical notices for that surname in SW Ireland. Well, that exhausts my thoughts on this for the time being. Sharon Carberry Georgia USA Water King Plumbing Services Pty Ltd <carolyn@waterking.com.au> wrote: Dear Sharon What I am after is when you transcribed the Registry with Surnames for Bunratty area, headings are Freeholders and Landlords and tenures. We would be grateful if you know what the difference is between the Freeholders and the Landlords and the Tenures. We think that the Landlord leases to the Freeholders and the Tenants rent it from the Freeholders. Is this your take on the headings. Many thanks for details on the books we will look them up. Family is doing research on John Joseph Markham but cannot find his birth or death date and its frustrating at least your transcriptions showed he was a real live person in l824. Kind regards Carolyn Markham --------------------------------- Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV.