Happy Easter to you all. It is good to hear that Virginia and others will be visiting Ireland. I hope they have a great trip. There are others who do not get the chance to visit the land of their forefathers or who get fewer opportunities than they would like. Again, there are our ancestors who immigrated to far off continents. We may never see in person where or how they lived but technology can now allow us a glimpse of the relevant locality. Google maps will reveal St Johnston where my paternal Great Grandfather came from at the URL http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=115041799249339115605.00043553fa75415a35697&om=0&ll=54.933923,-7.459202&spn=0.009862,0.02665&z=15 His sons father-in-law, Richard McSheffrey, came from Gortnaskea - visible at URL http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=115041799249339115605.00043553fa75415a35697&om=0&ll=55.070652,-7.353544&spn=0.039315,0.106602&z=13 In these one can switch between Map, Satellite and Terrain and relate the land areas to the Griffith Valuation maps My great granduncle James CAREY immigrated to Australia around 1850 and died here, a bachelor, in 1899. One can view his 300 acre property near Marnoo East, in Victoria and the cemetery where he is buried at Greys Bridge, view him riding his horse and swimming in the Avon River all at the URL http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=115041799249339115605.00043553fa75415a35697&om=0&ll=-36.644044,142.940712&spn=0.055094,0.106602&z=13 Who is the famous Ulster-Scots genealogist who lives here http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=St+Judes+Ct+Drumbuoy&sll=54.162434,-3.647461&sspn=10.304351,27.290039&ie=UTF8&ll=54.841703,-7.495766&spn=0.009885,0.02665&z=15&iwloc=addr? You can even see Lindel Buckley typing up her Donegal site in her garden in Kaikoura, New Zealand at the URL http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Kaikoura,+Canterbury,+New+Zealand&ie=UTF8&ll=-42.401947,173.680168&spn=0.001585,0.003331&t=h&z=18 The images available to us have improved beyond those above with the activities of the daring young men, such as Gornon Dunn, who fly paramotors over Ireland. See John Dunn's photographs at his website URL http://www.gordondunn.co.uk/photos.htm and Jonathan Campbell's description of some of the photographs at his website http://www.jgcampbell.com/stjohnston/ The photos of e.g. St Johnston are in much greater detail than those available from Google. Should we commission Gordon Dunn to fly over our Irish areas of interest? Liam "A bird in the bush is worth two in the cat"