So many people from Kerry settled in the Springfield area. Could anyone suggest some MA resources on-line that could assist me in narrowing down a few options? I know of Hampton and Chicopee as locales. I am looking for people from Ventry who left in the 1880's. Jeanne from CA Researching Lynch, Manning, Dunleavy, Kevane, Fenton and ?

Genealogy bank has quite a few years of the Springfield Newspapers on line and continues to add them. The Irish Cultural Center at the Elms College in Chicopee, MA is a very active center. I believe they have a genealogist at least part time that may be a good resource. There are many Irish in the Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Palmer, Ware and Hartford CT area that either they or their ancestors came from the Dingle area, especially from the west of Dingle. Last Fall the Irish Cultural Center hosted a presentation by the author of The Men of Ventry. It was a great movie and presentation. In June they helped launch the book "From the Great Blasket to America -The Last Memoir by an Islander". It was writen by Dr. Mike Carney who was born on the Blasket Island and immigrated to Springfield, MA. The initial launching was held earlier at the Blasket Center in Dunquin. Kathleen