This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/YWC.2ACI/5408.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Hello Christine, I wonder if the reference was to a townland and not County Leitrim because the surname really would be rare in County Leitrim. There are many Leitrim townlands in many counties in Ireland. There are several in County Down. They're in the Civil Parishes of Clonduff, Kilkeel and Drumgooland. You could look at the following County Down websites to see if there's any detail that might help: http://www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com/ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/ http://www.caora.net/ It would be really helpful to you in your research if you could get the names and dates of birth of the people you're trying to research on this side as well as their parents names from the census, civil and church records wherever they emigrated. Otherwise you might be researching O'Preys who have no connection to your ancestors. There wouldn't just be one family with that surname There are no census records in Ireland for the 1800s and no civil registration before 1864. For anyone born before 1864, you'd need their religious denomination to find the church register with their baptismal info. Regards. Eilís O'Hara