Thanks Norm I enjoyed your photos and the story and pictures of Tommy McGrath's house. It's hard to believe anyone lives there - it looks kind of like a Hobbit house. I checked names on the gravestones you photographed in case there was something captured inadvertently to lead to my McGraths - but there wasn't. I'm afraid that I might have come to my brick wall. Ann Message: 3 Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 13:44:59 -0500 From: "Norm Connors" <norm@connorsland.net> Subject: Re: [KILKENNY] Seeking the families of Michael McGrath and CatherineBrennan To: <irl-kilkenny@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <2AFF26648BF64471A63705844063BA4B@VISTAPC> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Ann, Here is a link to a web page that I started to put together after my trip to Ireland a couple of years ago. http://normconnors.net/pics/Callan%20Cemetary/index.htm Be sure to click on the last picture on the page which is a picture of Tommy's house and has a narative of my visit with him. I ran into a Tommy McGrath (pronounce mac-graw) while attempting to track down my great-grandfather. It turns out that I was on the wrong trail but my experience with Tommy was priceless. See the site for the details and feel free to ask me anything you like although I don't kknow much more than what I state on the site. Norm Connors ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Burns" <ann.burns@rogers.com> To: <IRL-KILKENNY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 1:23 PM Subject: [KILKENNY] Seeking the families of Michael McGrath and CatherineBrennan > Hello, I'm new to the list and hope that someone might be able to > point me in the right direction. > > My maternal gg grandparents were Michael McGrath (1817 to 1901) and > Catherine Brennan (1836 - 1881). Both were born in County Kilkenny and > emigrated to Canada, most likely around 1847. Michael was the son of > William McGrath and Mary Meagher. Catherine was the daughter of John > Brennan and Helen Walsh. All were Roman Catholic. > >>From what family information I've been able to find, I believe that >>Michael > emigrated alone, or at least not with his parents. He settled in or > around Ottawa, ON Canada - then known as Bytown. I think Catherine > must have emigrated with her family because she was only 18 when they > married in 1854. However, I have not been able to locate her family in > the Canadian census of > 1851. I did find a Catherine Brennan of the right age working as a servant > in the Bytown area so she may have come alone or with other relatives, > perhaps siblings. > > Unfortunately I have not been able to dig up any information that > would > give > me a clue as to what parish or townland they were from in Kilkenny. The > obituaries for both Michael and Catherine simply give the county. The > marriage register at Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa gives their parents > names > and the names of their witnesses. > > I would love to have some suggestions as to where I might start > looking > for > their families in Kilkenny. I'm quite aware this is a daunting task and > might not lead to any more information than I have now. > > Ann Burns > Ottawa ON Canada