Hello good friends I came across the IRL Palatine List and its vibrant community of goodhearted researchers less than a month ago and have learned a great deal, besides making many good friends. But his weekend I hit upon the most joyful discovery and would like to share it with you. If you're not into Palatine lyrical - look away now. A fellow lister tipped me off about the school register data for Rathkeale, freely available through the IPA at http://www.erin.ie/ipa and it proved to be a true revelation. I knew my father had attended that school, but thought the privacy threshold of 1910 would exclude him and would not prove particularly helpful. At all events I always look into these things with hope and was justly rewarded; even the tiniest hint is enough to send us into delirium when records about everything else seem so dismally scarce. The register showed the attendance of the entire family I have been researching for most of my adult life - Grandfather Arthur Piper and his 8 siblings, right through from 1873 to just six months before my father's 4th birthday, when he would have been registered in the normal course of events. I know enough of the subsequent lives of most of those children to write an entire chapter, even more - but the register in itself is a brilliant illustration of the gradual dismemberment of the Palatine heartland in County Limerick. I was able to correct three essential birthdates for my own tree and to discover the missing daughter who died in her youth. There is too the child (a Bovenizer) who would eventually marry one of the Piper girls and generate his own patriarchal colony - but that too is unlikely to last beyond this decade. Although my father's name does not yet appear, there is the young classmate who "used to copy" his sums and spelling tests (mistaking 'moustache' for mouse-ache on one occasion). I know it seems a bit silly, but looking at that microcosm of family life in a dying community (details that rarely come to us of children's lives, beyond the scope of b/m/d certificates and census returns) does bring a little sadness along with the cheer of discovery. Am I boring you? Please excuse me. I simply thought you might like to know. If you're still reading, I can tell you that three of the boys were long-serving soldiers - one being Mentioned in Despatches, in Flanders; another playing out time for 21 years in garrison forts around the coasts of Britain and Ireland, whilst the third was killed at the battle of Al'Orah in Mesopotamia, scarcely a dozen years out of school No 2. Son number four stayed and worked the land at Killeheen until his death in 1940 (his name is mentioned in Patrick O'Connors' book as the last of the line, although GF lived on to 1958). The land passed to my father and he had to sell it because our home in London was being blitzed by incendiaries. I have the letter of sale from a solicitor in Rathkeale. How I would have loved to live there. A second sister also died in her youth and a third moved out to Winnipeg, never married and died in her 90s (how I would love to know about that woman's life. When did she go and why? What ship took her there? Did she know someone out there?). There was another family of Piper/Pyper children later at the same school and I have fairly good information on them too. He was gunsmith/whitesmith Julius Pyper, husband of Alicia Downes and father of eight. I wonder how he was related to my GGF Richard. I could go on, but I think I've burned out your screens by now. Just know that I am very happy to have happened across your company. Many thanks to Ken McDonald and his wife who transcribed this valuable material. I cannot wait to see the data from the No 3 school, promised for the near future. If any help is needed with the hard graft of typing the data, I am only too glad to help. Terry Pyper (Lincolnshire, UK) __________ Preferred address: <A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected] </A>

Wow, Terry! You hit the mother lode, from the sounds of it! Congratulations on your spectacular find. It has obviously touched you deeply, and that's just part of the reason we're all into genealogy. Ken McDonald, GREAT WORK! What a difference you've made in Terry's life! How nice of you to share this with us, Terry. May it serve as inspiration to all of us who have been beating our heads against what appear to be genealogical brick walls. With patience and perseverance we just never know when or from whence the perfect clue will emerge. Hooray! Susan At 01:14 PM 7/16/01 -0400, you wrote: >Hello good friends > >I came across the IRL Palatine List and its vibrant community of goodhearted >researchers less than a month ago and have learned a great deal, besides >making many good friends. But his weekend I hit upon the most joyful >discovery and would like to share it with you. > >If you're not into Palatine lyrical - look away now. > >A fellow lister tipped me off about the school register data for Rathkeale, >freely available through the IPA at http://www.erin.ie/ipa and it proved to >be a true revelation. I knew my father had attended that school, but thought >the privacy threshold of 1910 would exclude him and would not prove >particularly helpful. At all events I always look into these things with hope >and was justly rewarded; even the tiniest hint is enough to send us into >delirium when records about everything else seem so dismally scarce. > >The register showed the attendance of the entire family I have been >researching for most of my adult life - Grandfather Arthur Piper and his 8 >siblings, right through from 1873 to just six months before my father's 4th >birthday, when he would have been registered in the normal course of events. > >I know enough of the subsequent lives of most of those children to write an >entire chapter, even more - but the register in itself is a brilliant >illustration of the gradual dismemberment of the Palatine heartland in County >Limerick. I was able to correct three essential birthdates for my own tree >and to discover the missing daughter who died in her youth. There is too the >child (a Bovenizer) who would eventually marry one of the Piper girls and >generate his own patriarchal colony - but that too is unlikely to last beyond >this decade. > >Although my father's name does not yet appear, there is the young classmate >who "used to copy" his sums and spelling tests (mistaking 'moustache' for >mouse-ache on one occasion). I know it seems a bit silly, but looking at that >microcosm of family life in a dying community (details that rarely come to us >of children's lives, beyond the scope of b/m/d certificates and census >returns) does bring a little sadness along with the cheer of discovery. > >Am I boring you? Please excuse me. I simply thought you might like to know. > >If you're still reading, I can tell you that three of the boys were >long-serving soldiers - one being Mentioned in Despatches, in Flanders; >another playing out time for 21 years in garrison forts around the coasts of >Britain and Ireland, whilst the third was killed at the battle of Al'Orah in >Mesopotamia, scarcely a dozen years out of school No 2. Son number four >stayed and worked the land at Killeheen until his death in 1940 (his name is >mentioned in Patrick O'Connors' book as the last of the line, although GF >lived on to 1958). > >The land passed to my father and he had to sell it because our home in London >was being blitzed by incendiaries. I have the letter of sale from a solicitor >in Rathkeale. How I would have loved to live there. > >A second sister also died in her youth and a third moved out to Winnipeg, >never married and died in her 90s (how I would love to know about that >woman's life. When did she go and why? What ship took her there? Did she know >someone out there?). > >There was another family of Piper/Pyper children later at the same school and >I have fairly good information on them too. He was gunsmith/whitesmith Julius >Pyper, husband of Alicia Downes and father of eight. I wonder how he was >related to my GGF Richard. > >I could go on, but I think I've burned out your screens by now. Just know >that I am very happy to have happened across your company. > >Many thanks to Ken McDonald and his wife who transcribed this valuable >material. I cannot wait to see the data from the No 3 school, promised for >the near future. If any help is needed with the hard graft of typing the >data, I am only too glad to help. > >Terry Pyper >(Lincolnshire, UK) >__________ > >Preferred address: <A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected] ></A> > > >==== IRL-PALATINE Mailing List ==== >My folks didn't come over on the Mayflower, but >they were there to meet the boat. Will Rogers