I have a question: I have read and copied many of the very good suggestions on this website. But now, I have to figure out what is the best method of finding my relatives...the one's I am most interested in are in Lawrence, MA, the Coakleys and the O'Connors, etc...or Haverhill, MA...should I join the NEGHs for $75 and work that part of the family; should I keep my Ancestry subscription...should I just go out and hire a genealogist at $20 per hour...I never seem able to get to Waterbury, CT (to investigate my grandfather's death) or Lawrence, MA, and maybe that would be the best method...I really want to find the Coakleys from Castlegregory (is there another name for that town in "Irish") and the Dennehy's, from Illancaum who are said to be "elusive." My mind boggles at the maps and the church registrations and the many versions of the names. How would you recommend I find these folks...I have the basic information On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 4:58 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am trying to track down one of my O'Connor lines which is kind of like > looking for the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack. >  > What I think I know is that one set of my great great grandparents were > Martin Connor/O'Connor and Mary Flahiff/Flahive/Flehive. If I'm correct, > their marriage was recorded in Castlegregory on February 5, 1854. > Witnesses > were Patrick Commane and Ellen Fitzgerald. >  > The family was from Cahir/Caher Castlegregory. With the records found > online, it's possible that Mary Flahiff was the daughter of John Flahive > and > Johanna O'Donnell OR John Flahive and Margaret Trant. There are two > baptisms > one in 1833 and the other in 1836 either of which may pertain to my great > great grandmother. >  > Martin and Mary had the following children: Honora(1854), > Mary(1856),Mary(1857), > Cornelius(1858),Michael(1861),Michael(1862),Catherine(1865) and > Martin(1867). If I'm correct, Catherine is(was?) my great grandmother. > She > and her brother Martin emigrated to western Massachusetts in the 1880's. >  > I'm trying to determine the fate of the other siblings and of Martin and > Mary. It's most likely that the earliest Mary and Michael died in > infancy, > hence the others of the same name. >  > Family lore has it that a part of the family emigrated to upper NY state > and > still another emigrated to New Zealand. To date, I cannot confirm either > of > those situations. >  > I've looked at the online records and cannot find an apparent marriage > for > any of the siblings. >  > So it's Honora, Michael, Mary and Cornelius whom I am seeking plus any > death > record regarding Martin and Mary Flahiff Connor/O'Connor. >  > I did check the online 1901 census records for Caher and there was no > Connor/O'Connor listed. > >  > Any and all suggestions are welcome. >  > Ed O'Connor > Hudson,MA formerly of Holyoke > _______________ > --------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message. > > To subscribe to the Digest version of the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'subscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message. > > To visit the County Kerry Research and Resources Page go to: > http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Pat, If you want to focus on MA people, then the NEHGS is far more valuable than Ancestry - especially for Irish. Don'tneglect the free familysearch.org site and the free online Catholic Kerry records. Tell me more about your elusive Dennehy. I have a Dennehy girl marrried to an O'Connor inHopkinton MA. If you know of any DENNEHY male, then what is really worth it is the Framilytree DNA test. Michael DANAHY http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/d/a/n/Michael-C-Danahy/index.html RESEARCHING IN MA (Hopkinton), IRE, ENG ALDRICH http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~aldrichnaa/ (one m SMITH, earlier ones m CASAVANT, COMEE, http://www.familyorigins.com/users/e/v/a/Jeanne-C-Evans LOVELL, PRAY, PRENTICE, RAWSON, SEALD, THAYER); http://members.xoom.com/jaldrich/Lines/Michael.htm Aldrich Family biographies, go to http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssociation/AldrichBios or go to http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aldrich/ CASAVANT (who m MORAN); CURRAN (who m DANAHY) DANAHY (b. in Hopkinton and who m LENAN, siblings m. TOLAN, JOHNSON, O'CONNOR) LENAN (who m O"BRIEN); SMITH (who m CASEY); PRENTICE (who m ALDRICH) http://www.prenticenet.com/roots/prentice/robert/#R4 RAWSON (one m ALLEN, later one TORREY) http://www.rawsonfamilyassoc.org/ THAYER (Thomas m WHEELER, son Ferdinando m HAYWARD); http://thayerfamilies.com/thomas-line.htm