I have expressed the same thoughts and been beaten down by the Irish genealogists. Why should he spend 2 hours getting to the GRO? They don't seem to know that we have access to the same records on microfilm as they do. We can research at home and spend quality time in Ireland. We are returning in May and I have a new townland to visit where my 2nd ggf starved to death in the Famine. Whatever else we do, at least two days are spent in Mayo. I did the GRO visit on my first trip to Ireland. The only thing I found there that I had not researched at home were the indices to the later births so that I was able to identify my living relatives and their mothers' maiden names. Remember, I research my grandmothers' families as they had rare Irish surnames so everyone is related someway or other. The Heritage Centres have the RC records indexed and supplied each Parish Priest with a copy of that work. If you call at the Rectory, the PP will get that resource and then can make a certificate of baptism or marriage. I did that by mail. Just to satisfy my own needs, I went to the churches where I have found my ancestors' events. I made a courtesy call on the PP but they really didn't care. One had to go about his daily duties of burying the dead so could not give me much time. The greatest thrill, on our first visit to Ireland when all I knew was that my grandmother was from Mayo, was sitting in the reconstructed cottage at Bunratty Folk Park, moved stone by stone from Mayo. Himself considers that as when I became born-again Irish. My grandmother was born in such a cottage. Joe Egan just posted a note about his database of the work he has done in San Diego There are over 1,200 entries for the Melvin surname extracted from microfilms of parish church records and civil registration records of counties Mayo and Sligo; the 1901 census; and some Griffith and Tithe records for those counties. Most of these Melvin entries are for the Parishes in the general area of Ballina in Co. Mayo and Co. Sligo. Go see it at http://richpettit.com/melvin/familyhistory.htm Ellen [email protected] wrote: >In a message dated 10/14/01 4:46:14 AM, [email protected] >writes: > ><< Re - the 'warning' about the Dublin GRO - Linda Merle would do well to >remember that this is not just a list for americans alone. There is life >beyond the US, and postings of this nature are insulting in the extreme. >> > >You missed the entire point. No, I don't live in Ireland. No, I wasn't born >there. No, even my father wasn't born in Ireland. None of that makes me >stupid or means that I don't know how to do Irish genealogy! >Anyone who has been involved in genealogy more than ten minutes, knows that >there are always hard ways to do things and easier. Note, I did not say >easy. I can walk across the country to look at an archives there but, why >would I do that if the same information is available in my back yard? >Would I love to go sit in the National Library for about a decade? You >betcha! I'd love to have a bed in the back room so I didn't have to leave >the place. To suggest that the only "real" way to do Irish research is by >standing on the "emerald shores", is just plain silly, unless emerald refers >to cash. >This past summer I visited an out-of-state Library. I spent a great deal of >time reading through their online catalog so that when I walked in the door, >I had a reference number for what I wanted. I would do less when I had to >fly across an ocean to get there? >For whatever reason, the GRO evidently refuses to come in to this century. >That's fine. That's an Irish choice, but if I only have ten days in Ireland, >I won't be one wasting my time standing in line at the GRO when I can be in >the National Library. Contrary to popular belief, not every American is a >trillionaire and can afford to dance around the schedules that the GRO seems >to have. We have to make the very most of the time we're there. >And, last but not least, I'd prefer Linda's humor over anger any day of the >week. > > >==== IRELAND Mailing List ==== >Visit the Ireland List Homepage: >http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irelandlist >De nobis fabula narratur, their story is our story > >============================== >Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: >Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. >http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > >