Hello Everyone--I am new to this list and am very ignorant of doing genealogical research on Ireland as my connections are still very tenuous. I have so many avenues to follow, being an American mixture of Scottish, Irish, Dutch, etc. What I am quite mystified by at this time is an old letter that was passed through my family. It is dated in the 1870s (maybe '75 or '76--hard to read) and comes from a Mary A. McDonald. Below the date, it appears to say "Shankill Castle." It took me a long time to even interpret the word as Shankill--it looked like Shankile to me. It was written to my GG GM in New York, but she was originally from Aberdeen, Scotland. It seems to be telling her about the death of her daughter--if I am correct that "poor Isa" is Isabella Tilleray, I am assuming that she was, by this time, married and had a different last name--it could have been Mitchell. In any case, the letter writer, Mary A. McDonald, talks of having taken Isa to a hospital in Dublin for an operation. So, perhaps they were in the Shankill area south of Dublin. I assume it was close to Dublin, as they took her there to the hospital. Does the Shankill Castle mean anything to anyone? Does Mary A. McDonald (quite literate, judging from her letter) mean anything to anyone? I don't know why my Isabella Tilleray Mitchell would have gone from Aberdeen to Dublin. I'd appreciate any information that might explain the context of this letter. Thank you, Lynn in Florida, USA -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.3/694 - Release Date: 2/20/2007 1:44 PM