Hello Colleen, I think this is a good place to start; I tried to read the entry but it probably needs a second look by someone; Will of James Dobson of Gortfodda 1739 - 1810 Gortfodda Book 551, p171, No.362647 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14/1/1800 .......between Jas. Dobson No.2 of Gortfodda + Micheal Dobson son of Matthew Dobson of Coremore in Parish of Mallymacalany, Co. Cavan weaver of the other part ~ ~ James Dobson for the ~ ~ therein ~ ~ did demise Grant set and to farm Let ~ ~ S Micheal Dobson his heir and that of one half of Gortfodda No. 2 occupied by James Duke Land Surveyor which contains in the whole 11 acres 2 rods and 13 perches be the same ~ ~ ~ 1 half of dwelling house ---- 25/3/ ~ ~ for natural life ~ ~ Mrs Dobson youngest son, but one of Nic [Nicholas ?] Dobson No. 4 Gortfodda aforesaid ? Aged about 10(?) years on the term of 21 whichever shall largest ~ 1st he ~ ~ ~ Micheal Dobson his heirs ~ ~ ~ yielding and paying therefore and thereout yearly and ~ year during the S demise ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jolan his heirs and a ~ the clear yearly rent of £4 2s 6d to be paid by even and equal half yearly payments on every 29th September and 25th March in every year dear over and above All named of ~ and due positions wha! tsoever as by SD died. Cant, fsirl other Cavn Clauses condit................. 14 June 1802 If your MATTHEW DOBSON is not the one above who became a QM Sergeant in the Leitrim Militia, but otherwise was landless to my knowledge. He may have been his son. I have taken up the Dobson's as a one name study because information is hard to come by and it is a rare Irish surname. My interest is in FRANCIS DOBSON and their inevitable relationship with the PARKE family of the Ballinamore area. I am very confused by what sect of Christianity the Dobson's followed; I have seen evidence that states that they were Huguenots and settled in Leitrim. However, there appears to be a lot of RC's in the local records. My own line appear very Anglican and ambitious, in the sense that they had aspirations to the Clergy and a possible Bishop among their ranks. The common recurring name PARKE DOBSON suggests that this could be true. A DOBSON family in Edgeworthstown who owned Leases in Gortfodda, Mohill followed a medical bent one ending up as a Zoologist of note and another the local Medical Officer, Registrar et cetera. There father was most likely an Apprenticed Doctor back in the early C19th. The wealth of the Dobson's appears to be due to there being the local Miller on the Crofton Estate. They were probably brought on the Estate from England for that purpose. DOBSON sometimes is spelt DOPSON and can be dated back to 1723 in Mohill in the Edgeworth Papers as three families who received Anglican Prayer Books and Tracts. The sectarian discrepancy may be due to intermarriage between RC's and Anglican's prior to the 1830's. It is clear that families lived in dense mixed communities and it would not have looked after and fed each others children, and helped each other out even if their status may have been different. I think there may have always been some animosity towards the common landlords. I feel what may have happened that if someone saw a pretty local girl they would have married them, perhaps the sectarianism of the mid C19th century was not too important to people. If your mother and grandmother were RC it was not too surprising that they would change denom! ination when religious toleration was relaxed. You say that Matthew converted to a Presbyterian from RC in Cavan that surprises me in the sense that he was Presbyterian as there are no others I have heard of. I did here of an Orangeman in Westmeath with the surname THOMPSON, I can only think he was a migrant from Ulster. The politics of Leitrim and Longford was not that extreme. I did have a grandfather who was a Free Mason but, he always said it was an insurance policy in case he was ill or died for his family. The surname DOBSON is only really located in Leitrim at Mohill. One son had become a Customs Officer in the late 1700's and may be one reason for the later wider dispersal of the Surname. DOBSON is quite a rare surname located to the north of England and a few in the Scottish Midlands, it is quite possible that it is a Huguenot family if the dates agreed just as THOMSON is a French name. I have other details if you are interested Ray