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