Most of my Donegal ancestors, including my ggf, ggm and gf emigrated to Western PA and located in the various coal mine towns (called "patches" in the local vernacular) located in and around Uniontown, about 50 miles SW of Pittsburgh.. Mine began arriving circa 1882. Believe it or not, I still have distant cousins working the mines! They mined bituminous (soft) coal, at the time, that was then fired into coke in "beehive" furnaces, that was then river-shipped down to Andrew Carnegie's steel mills along the Monogahela River in Pittsburgh. We haven't been able to identify their various means of transport to the East Coast and then to Western PA. I am assuming they went thru New York and then either by train or by water (up the Hudson, thru the canal and then into Lake Erie) Check out our family web site at "www.geocities.com/heartland/plains/3919/" for more info on these early miners from the western part of County Donegal. There is also a neat research operation at the PA State University campus at Uniontown called "Voices of the Patch" which has been documenting life in the patches for the last 20-25 years. Very user friendly folks, especially if you join their rolls with a small donatin! The Heinz library in Pgh also has a vast collection of related materials. Hope this helps. God Bless America! Denny Coll Chicago (Lake in the Hills) 847-404-1767