Hello, Jane: Your post re Abbeyábhal makes me want to ask if you think "Athornrage" might have been a phonetic spelling of Athenry spoken by a native Irish speaker. (I can't find anything on an Ireland map remotely close to "Athornrage," and this family lived near Athenry.) If he were saying Átha An Ri, I can see how the first two words might sound like "Athorn," but I'm not sure how "rage" comes from Ri. Thanks, Jude > As she was born in 1815, Irish would have been her first language. > > How about > > Not exactly the same - but then her Irish would have been much stronger than > today's Irish - words would not have been pronounced the same.