Hi Rene in the Netherlands As Ken has said, Keppel is mentioned by Hank Jones (Carlow) and I note that Patrick O'Connor also refers to that same man, specifically Charles (p. 168), the last of the line in Ireland (it seems) in the middle of the XIX century. I see no earthly reason why you shouldn't pursue the notion of Palatine origins: Kepper is only a very mild corruption compared with the transformations other IP surnames have undergone - including my own, but even more so the Czeszky, Schweitzer and Bauer constituents, for example .... I had a quick scan in the Familysearch facility and was offered nearly 100 Kepper options, many (indeed, most) in the Rheinland-Pfalz region and some 70 would have yielded Ancestral Files (i.e. b/m/d data, plus localities and children). Maybe they were amongst the ones who went back to Germany from Ireland. Another quick useful reference point is the www.teldir.com site (worldwide phonebook search facility), provided it's not abused. In just a few minutes I found my own family name still represented in abundance in the Palatine key towns: 70 in Mannheim, 40 in Heidelberg, 37 in Worms (even a Pipinstrasse...) and 12 in Speyer. There is still one in the ancestral home village too. You might, for instance, try your original Enkirch area in the German Telefonbuch. I am intrigued by your own sources. What is the URL for the Irish Family Records? Any others, please? Don't give up the search Bye bye Terry Pyper (Lincolnshire UK) Scouring the world for GGF Richard Piper & Catherine Ball of Adare (genesis ca. 1834-40 - nine children, seven survivors. Heigh-ho).