I have followed the triumphs, the requests for information and the records of the "brick walls" on the list for many years. I have my own brick wall. I cannot find the birthplace for my great grandfather or the marriage location for his father. I will be in Ireland in October for a wedding and hope to do research work in Tralee. John O'GORMAN is listed as John Gorman , Father, on Marriage certificate of William Gorman. O'Gorman and Gorman are interchangeable. Haven grown up in Sneem I know that it is common to drop the "O" for local usage but retain it for legal usage. Documents that I have examined carry both forms. For consistency purposes I will use the O'Gorman format and attempt to reference the different usages as documented. He married ?? O'Neill (?) This is purely a supposition from a chance remark by a grandaunt.. William (Bill) O'GORMAN, born about 1844 (possibly in Tralee or North Kerry)(?), died 13 Aug 1894 in Sneem, Co. Kerry, buried in Ballynahaglish, Tahilla (old burial place for Sneem area). Listed as Gorman on civil marriage record and on headstone. Sneem is given as his residence on the marriage certificate. Family tradition has it that he came to Sneem to complete the steeple of the Catholic Church after work was suspended because a local man fell off the scaffolding and was killed. His trade was listed as stone mason, slater or plasterer. He married Catherine (Kate) DONOGHUE, 29 Jul 1871 in Catholic Church, Sneem, born about 1849 in Sneem, (daughter of Timothy (Thade) DONOGHUE and Norry DONOGHUE) died 21 FEB 1931 in Sneem, buried in Sneem Cemetery. Headstone reads O'Gorman. Suggestions for further research will be greatly received. I copied this poem from a book I saw while visiting in Spring Valley California in October 1995 Page 274 National and Historical Ballads of Ireland being Selections from the Best Irish Authors Dublin M. H. Gill & Son Ltd This book was marked as given as a Christmas gift in 1910. O'GORMAN by T.R I saw the old man in the Spring, and thought of his dear child, Whose silver voice, like Celia's lute with heavenly art beguil'd In days of chivalry and song, when that brave boy was seen Like light emerging from a cloud - the sunburst on our green. But he was forced by fortune's fall from kith and kin to fly, Yet would he plunge through fire and foam to see his father die; But though the spirit parts from earth, it leaves a pledge behind, The priceless worth of head and hearth by which it was enshrin'd. The Summer with its genial glow, smiled down upon the land, The patriarch was living still, with willing heart and hand To serve the cause, and those in need who throng'd around him then - Oh! mark - unto his latest breath he loved his brother men. He pass'd away, but some said, with tender voice and low, "There was a day when that old man would grasp the foreign foe;" But here is one who well can say, though fraud and falsehood thrive, He has a son who is, perhaps, for Ireland's sake alive. The Autumn came with fruitful love, God send its golden smile To cheer the humble toiler, and renew hope in the isle; Brave hearts had perished in the strife - who numbered those who fell? It was a vengeful strife, indeed, when few remain to tell. But you, brave man, to whom I sing, and ye the list'ners round, While old O'Gorman calmly rests in hallow'd Irish ground, Above his grave your firm resolve should like the marble stand, Like him, to hold, in life and death, by faith and fatherland.