Hi George, Thanks for sending that image to me privately - it helped immensely. I thought I should also post my reply to the list, so here it is. The place name looks like Dureen to me. Whoever wrote the page made their small "e" by coming almost straight across at the beginning before starting the loop of the "e". Compare it with the two e's in Queens County. So the place appears to be Dureen, not Dursen. That -sen had me puzzled because there are not many place names that end that way in Ireland - it made me think of foreign words like Garrison. So I go back to what I wrote previously: > If the name clearly begins with a D, then could the -sen perhaps be > -ren? There are a few places in western Laois that start with Derrin > (which someone could write as Darren). However, they are not quite as > close to Rathdowney as Garrison is. There are several townlands in western Laois that could have been spelled phonetically as Dureen (and plenty of places in other counties called Derreen or with Derreen in the name): (1) "Derreen and Carrowreagh", in the civil parish of Aghmacart (Catholic parish of Durrow), in southwestern Laois along the Laois-Kilkenny border. Actually the civil parish of Rathdowney at one time was composed of three distinctly separate bits, the smallest of which was embedded in Aghmacart civil parish (don't know if this is still true). This townland is only about 5 or 6 miles east-southeast of the town of Rathdowney (about 9 km east and 1 km south of Rathdowney, near Newtown). (2) Derrinoliver, in the civil and Catholic parish of Aghaboe and about 5 miles northeast of Rathdowney town, and 2 miles southeast of the town of Borris-in-Ossory; it is along the R434 if you are going from Borris-in-Ossory to Durrow and very near the rail line (3) Derrinsallagh, also in the civil parish of Aghaboe, south of the town of Borris-in-Ossory on the road (R435) to Donaghmore and Rathdowney; it is about 4 miles north of Rathdowney town. (4) Derrin, again in the civil parish of Aghaboe, less than one mile northeast of the town of Borris-in-Ossory. (5) "Mullaghanard or Derreen" in the civil parish of Rosenallis, which is much further north of Rathdowney (6) Derrinduff in the civil parish of Offerlane, which is also further north of Rathdowney. None of these places seems to be in either Rathdowney civil parish or Rathdowney Catholic parish, but the first 4 are the closest. These last two might be too far north if you think they were near Rathdowney. I have done quite a few extractions from records of Aghaboe Catholic parish. Those show as residence a townland called variously Derren, Derrin and Dern, which might be either (2), (3) or (4). Do you know the maiden name of Sarah Kerr? Perhaps I have extracted something for the family if she was from one these places. Regards, Geralyn Wood Barry in Oregon George Carter wrote: > Hi Geralyn, > It definately looks like a D. I`ll attach the page for you to look at, > someone who is familiar with the area may be able to work it out. > If you don`t feel comfortable opening the page, just drop it in your > rubbish bin. > > Sarah Kerrs sister says she was born in Rathdowney in the same census. > It`s quite possible that the girls were born in different places, their > father was a Horse trainer or Breaker so may have had to move around > with his work. The Rathdowney link also ties in with some information > from a cousin. > > Thanks for the interest. > > George. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Geralyn Barry <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > > Sounds like a real puzzle, George. Is the first letter clearly a "D"? > > > I can think of one possibility that sort of rhymes with Darsen, but the > first letter is different. There is a very small townland (85 acres) > just north of Errill called "Garrison" - which could sound like Garsen. > An initial G and D can sound very similar sometimes, especially when > spoken with not a lot of emphasis on the initial sound. Errill is in > Rathdowney civil parish and about 4 miles west of Rathdowney town along > the R433. "Garrison" seems to be one of the few places in the area that > ends in anything sounding like -sen or -son. > > > If the name clearly begins with a D, then could the -sen perhaps be > -ren? There are a few places in western Laois that start with Derrin > (which someone could write as Darren). However, they are not quite as > close to Rathdowney as Garrison is. > > > What is the name of the person in the census? Perhaps the woman's name > could help us figure it out. > > > Geralyn Wood Barry in Oregon, USA > > > George Carter wrote: > > I`ve come across a place name mentioned in the 1911 census of England > that I can`t find. This lady`s sister says she was born in Rathdowney, > so this may be close by but I can`t find it. > > It looks like DURSEN or DARSEN, definately in Queens, Does anyone > have any ideas. > > > > George Carter in Whaley Bridge