I tried to post this once before, but after writing for about 1/2 an hour I hit a wrong key on my new keyboard and erased the whole thing! I was too tired and lazy to do it over again but I need to add my 2 bits to Rays suggestions. As some of you know, I recently found my Kelly cousins in Kerry. This is the first major breakthrough on my Dad's side in ten, yes 10, years and two trips to Ireland! All because of the church records online. What I knew: My Golden , John Golden and Mary Kelly, family lived in Cappamore in 1871 My great grandmother gave birth to 10 children, only 5 survived to 1900 My grandfather, John - like his father and grandfathers, was born in 1863-4 and was the oldest of the known children and named John after his grandfather. Seems like the first born son - right? Mary Kelly's parents were John Kelly and Catherine O'Connor There was a Mortimer Kelly and a Mary Golden living in the townland of Kells in Griffiths Valuation - 1850 ish. They left Ireland in 1883 Children were: John - 1863-4, Mortimer - ?, twins Alice and Denis - 1866, Daniel - 1868 and Catherine - 1871. What I did not know: When and where the couple were married (the only record I could ever find was one in Scotland in 1858 but names of the parents did not match and the couple had a son James - a name I had never heard in this family)? Where was Mary from - I thought maybe she came from Kells? What was John's mother's name? Who were the other children? Results: In searching the church records from the comfort of my own home (I had already searched the records for Caherciveen at the National Library in Dublin because that is where Catherine was baptized) I found: Elizabeth - 1851 Mary - 1855 Matthew - 1858 Tim (remember Mortimer?) - 1860 I am still missing one child, probably born between 1851 and 1855, but the BIG item of interest was that Elizabeth was born to John and Mary who were living in Kells but she was baptized in the parish of Causeway - a VERY long journey away. Now about a two hour drive and then more like two days travel time. I NEVER would have thought to look that far away since there were Kellys living in Kells and I ASSUMED that Mary was one of them. The baptismal sponsors were John Kelly and Catherine O'Connor - the grandparents. Now I was thrilled to find this and recorded all of this information. Then when someone else had the same situation but had the marriage date and a gap before the first child, I did the same thing for them and found another child who was baptized in Mom's home parish. Then I thought to look a little further. I looked at Griffiths Valuation and found that there were only 2 Kellys living in the corresponding civil parish and both in the townland of Kilmore - John and Ambrose. Then I looked at the 1901 and 1911 census records and found that there were still Kellys living there. I then checked the Valuation Office online records and found a Patrick Kelly listed as currently owning that property. I sent off a letter explaining how I was related to him and am now in touch with my 4th cousin (daughter of Patrick) and her family. They are descendants of Ambrose who was John's brother. I now know that my John Kelly was born 1796, Ambrose was born 1800 and their father was John born 1770 at Banna and is buried at Ardfert. I was sent a four generation chart of Ambrose's descendants, some of whom came to Indiana and Illinois. I am in contact with cousins descended from the Indiana line and am researching the line that went to Chicago. I am still working on adding them to my family tree. The next thing is to plan another trip to Ireland to see the Kelly family homestead, maybe next year but more likely the following year. Check all the resources that you can think of and ask those relatives who went before you for a little help. I am so thrilled that I can't put it into words. This is a major brick wall that has come down. However, I forgot something. I still do not know who Mary's siblings were. They are not in the online church records. So, be sure to think of all your known relatives. So, I asked myself, "Who would currently have Mary's family bible and/or family history?" Her oldest daughter of course, and then her oldest daughter, etc. So, I contacted another cousin who knew this person and got her phone number. I called her and voila! She DID have it but had given it to her daughter who is currently living out of the country and it is in storage and not accessible until they return. It could be a while as her husband works for the government, but it does go back to the 1700s according to my cousin. The best part is that I now talk to this cousin almost every week. What I really need to do is plan a family reunion so we can all get together and meet each other in person. That will be a while! Never give up. Here are the websites used: Online church records: http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/ Irish Census: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ Valuation Office: http://www.valoff.ie/search/search.asp -- Slán, Marge in Southern California Searching: Golden, Sullivan, Kelly, Shea, in Kerry and Connecticut O'Connor in Kerry Fee, Cassidy, Gilbride in Fermanagh, Cavan and Connecticut Lynch in Limerick and Connecticut Walsh, Stackpole, Garry/Garrey/McGarrey, Donovan in Kildare