Dear Cathy, Without a doubt there was a lot of "name duplication" in the RYAN decendency. Understanding that, here is my question -- my great-grandfather's name was James Joseph Ryan. As far as I can discern, he was from CO. Kilkenny and as well, he was named after his own father. He came to America in 1897-1902 (census records vary a bit) through Queenstown, CO. Cork. He and his wife Johanna (Josephine) Mary Murphy, settled in the Bronx where he worked on the railroad. They had 6 children, the eldest being my grandmother, Josephine Mary Ryan. If any of this interests you, I would love to hear from you. Thank you very much, Cathy in Tampa Ongoing Surname Searches as of 1/2004 A U S T I N / D R I S C O L L / F U L L E R / HRADEL K O Z I S K I / K U P E C Z M C L E N D O N / M U R P H Y / N A G L E / R U P P E R T / R Y A N S T E P H E N S / W I L L I A M S / W A L L A