SallyAnn, your story reminded me of a story my mother told me about one of her Galway relatives. (Mom's family lived in Holyoke, MA). This is a quote from her that I had in my genealogy: "(Nan) worked in (19)30's and 40's for (the) owner of (the) Irish Sweepstakes, whose wife was sick for a long time. She used to send tickets to sweepstakes home for the family to buy." So, I'm thinking it probably was legal to own a ticket in the US. And... yay to Co. Kerry being next in line for the 1911 census through the National Archives!!! I, too, thought Co. Kerry would be down at the bottom. ~Patsy~ It is winter in western MA!!! (SallyAnn, I board an American Paint horse at my barn!) Researching KELLY and O'DONOGHUE of the Iron Mills (aka Old Forge) area of Glen Flesk. (Patrick KELLY married Ellen O'DONOGHUE of Rusheenmore in 1834.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry & SallyAnn McChesney" <mcchesney1950@verizon.net> To: <irl-kerry@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 7:59 AM Subject: Re: [IRL-KERRY] IRL-KERRY Digest, Vol 2, Issue 328 > Hi - I don't know if this qualifies as a "quirky" story or not, but my > English grandmother would take a yearly trip home to the Liverpool area > and add the Isle of Man as a side trip on occasion. Each time she came > home, she would open a small envelope and show us her Irish Sweeptstakes > ticket which she would then "hide" away because she said it was illegal to > have it in the States. I remember many a day worrying that the police > would come knocking at our front door and take Grandmom to jail! I now > raise American Paint horses and when I watch them run and frolic, I always > remember Grandmom O'Connor and her "illegal" sweepstakes tickets. > > From soon-to-be-winter Ohio, SallyAnn (O'Connor) McChesney