Ed, Milli doesn't know where in County Mayo her Duffys were born or even if they were born in County Mayo. She's apparently using Griffith Valuation indexes to pick the location where the surname was most common and where a Thomas and an Owen are listed together. Milli has found that Thomas Duffy in Maryland in the US was born in County Mayo. She doesn't mention this Thomas Duffy's parents names, date of birth, or where in County Mayo he was born. She hasn't established a thread of connection in any official record -- civil or religious -- in the US between that Thomas Duffy in Maryland born in County Mayo in some unknown location on an unknown date with unknown parents names and her Owen Duffy who died in 1839 somewhere in Ireland, unknown location with unknown parents names Diffy is an extremely common surname in Ireland and it was found everywhere in Griffiths Valuation surname distributions 1848-64, most often actually in County Monaghan. There was a very limited number of given names given to people in those years and they are found everywhere with that surname. Milli hasn't even searched the detailed Griffiths Valuation records, just used the online index. The Griffiths indexes aren't complete. Griffiths was done in County Mayo in 1856-7, since her Duffys left Ireland before Griffiths was published none of that specific family who emigrated would have still been leasing land in Mayo in 1856-7. Owen was dead by then. Milli doesn't have a death location in Ireland or parents names. Her Owen wouldn't have been responsible for rent in Griffiths Valuation in Mayo in 1856-7, 17 years after his death in an unknown location in Ireland. You also fail to take into account not all County Mayo Roman Catholic parish records survive back to the dates Milli needs for her Duffys including her Catherine. If Catherine was born in one of the numerous parishes where the records don't survive back to her birth year, she won't be in the IFHF database. Same difficulty for Catherine's parents. That's why Milli needs a birthplace in County Mayo for Catherine from the family's US records. And for Catherine's parents. They may not even have been born in County Mayo. Only then can she determine whether or not the parish records survive for that birth location in Mayo or wherever they were born in Ireland and how the records might be accessed. Milli doesn't even have a surname for Bridget Duffy. You always need to check to see how far back the parish records go in a county, county-wide for all parishes in the county -- before you can assess whether or not IFHF records might even be relevant for the information you need. The IFHF database also isn't complete for all records that even survive. You need to check the detailed information about the database of IFHF records for County Mayo or wherever her family was born in Ireland to see what records they have in the database and compare those to the parish records that survive that may not be in the database. Same for the civil records. On top of all that, IFHF has a notorious reputation for database errors as you mention also. That's been confirmed by many who already had their ancestors baptismal records or civil registration records and checked the actual information they have against the IFHF database. Many were incorrect in the database or weren't even in the database. Ships passenger records to the US for 1849-50 (during the Famine) don't all survive. Again there are no complete records for those. Bridget and Catherine may even have emigrated through Canada since the fares were cheaper and more ships were going to Canada than to the US during that time. Even if Milli finds a Bridget and child Catherine emigrating to the US in a ships passenger record which includes a location in Mayo or Ireland, there's no way to confirm whether that Bridget and child Catherine are hers or one of the tens of thousands of others who emigrated with those same names. If she knew where Bridget and Catherine lived before emigration or were born in Ireland and she found a ships passenger record for a Bridget and Catherine who lived in that location in Ireland before emigration or were born in that location in Ireland, the chances they are hers would be more likely. Oceanstrands --- On Thu, 7/3/08, Ejljbl@aol.com <Ejljbl@aol.com> wrote: > From: Ejljbl@aol.com <Ejljbl@aol.com> > Subject: Re: [IRL-MAYO] New Subscriber Looking For Duffy > To: irl-mayo@rootsweb.com, IRL-MAYO@rootsweb.com > Date: Thursday, July 3, 2008, 10:32 PM > In a message dated 7/3/2008 6:13:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight > Time, > Westmilli@aol.com writes: > > Bridget Duffy left Ireland with her daughter, Catherine, > my ggrandmother,age 4 or thereabouts, soon after her > husband Owen died. > Catherine was born in 1839, > > > Milli: > > Welcome to the group ! > > I am one of the few members that believe that the IFHF ( > _http://ifhf.brsgenealogy.com/_ > (http://ifhf.brsgenealogy.com/) ) can help, especially > when you > know where to look. > > There are 19,473 Duffy's born in the IFHF Data Base, > but only 9 Owens in > Mayo, all born after 1856, so no help there. And it > appears that Death records > were not kept til 1864, long after Owen died. > > There are 8 Catherine born in Mayo between 1835-1843, 2 in > 1839, but here's > all 8: > 1835 Aghogower, 1836 Bekan, 1839 Bekan & Annagh, 1840 > Aglish, 1941 > Crossmolina, and in > 1843 Islandeady & Aglish. > > There is an Owen Duffy that married in 1831 in > Kilconduffy/Swineford. Could > be ! > > All of these records were found in RC Parishes. (Ex: > Bekan RC Parish) > > I didn't look for Thomas & Anne Duffy, whom I > believe you were saying, were > Bro / Sis / distant relatives. > > Since Catherine & Bridget left Ireland before > Griffiths, & Owen was > deceased, I suggest you try to find Tom & Anne, to see > if there is a connection by > location. The Passenger lists for Mother & Child might > provide additional > information. > > Good Luck on your search. Hope this is helpful. > > Ed (Pat) Logan of Philly > PS: The IFHF is reportedly full of Transcription errors, > that could very > well be true.