This month, after 20 years of searching, I discovered where my MACKIN ancestors came from in Co. Mayo, Ireland. My third-great-grandfather Thomas MACKIN was born in 1802 near Kilmaine, Co. Mayo, Ireland. I discovered this information in the obituary of his wife, Bridget COSTELLO MACKIN. Fortunately for me, their son was Fr. William P. MACKIN, pastor of St. Cecilia's parish in Louisville at the time Bridget died in February 1890. Therefore, a wonderful obituary was printed in the 6 Mar 1890 issue of the Catholic Advocate, published in Louisville, Ky. >From this obituary, I also learned Bridget's maiden name was COSTELLO. She was born near Tuam, Co. Galway, Ireland, just about 19 miles from Kilmaine. It hadn't even occurred to me that she might have been born somewhere other than Co. Mayo. For anyone else interested in searching the Catholic Advocate, I found microfilm copies of it in the Louisville Free Public Library's Main Branch at 4th and York. The drawer isn't labeled, but it's in with the Catholic Record microfilm (the name of the current Catholic newspaper in Louisville). While not everyone had obituaries printed there (which is why it never occurred to me in the last 20 years to look there), if your ancestor was a member of a religious order or closely related to one, there's a better chance. Prominent Catholics also got preference, I suppose. I had found the obituary for Fr. Mackin in 1893, but it didn't occur to me to look for Bridget's there. I didn't even know she died in Louisville, as she had lived in Lebanon for 30-40 years after immigrating to Kentucky. She and Thomas are both buried at St. Augustine's in Lebanon. Other Irish family names related to this family are WALSH and JOYCE. I'd love to hear from anyone researching these names in the Marion, Washington, and Jefferson county areas. Rita <rfox@mis.net>