OK I'm confused now.Why the urge to find if our ancestors were literate or not? Those who had wealth were literate those who did not probably were not. It was the same in Eng. and Wales and more than likely the US too. If you didn't go to school then that was it.No one is suggesting they were stupid. Our ancetors in the mid 1800's probably weren't the most hygienic and the teeth were in a bit of a state too. This isn't a personal thing or something to get touchy about.It's called history. best regards,Kevin.Co Cork. > > Greetings, > Let's consider this: An Irish person in 1750 has learned to read and > write. Will all his or her descendants, for all time, also be literate? > No, not necessarily! There were periods of time in Ireland when several > generations of a family had been fully literate, but then times changed, > and their descendants had little or no access to schools. The young ones > had to learn from a difficult daily "school of life" as best they could. > Food and shelter took priority. > Also, there could be variation within a family, such as only enough > resources for one child to go to school. Or only the sons. > So, if you find several generations of "x-marking" individuals in the > country they emigrated to, such as the US, don't be surprised to find > signatures or other evidence of formal education, farther back in their > Irish ancestors. > > It can be discouraging to find x-marks, or to see those census column > checkmarks for "Can't read, can't write." That's a good time to remember > that the Irish prized learning far back in their history, and reading > and writing were not the only ways that learning was passed down to us. > > Barb Glassel > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > www.ancestralservices.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------- Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts