Two small comments on this issue. First, in Ireland, clergymen are almost universally underpaid and overworked - many of them serving at least two and sometimes three or four churches. Genealogy does not figure high on their priority list. Second, local folks with the same name in one town, especially if it is a common name, usually consider themselves not related to any but a small circle of family. They therefore have little to tell you. And anyway, most will not know their family history much further back the about 70 years so it is no use asking them about folks who left Ireland in 1744!! Some also consider family business to be private and are unwilling to discuss it. These are the reasons why you will not get a reply. Best to stick to good old fashioned dusty old records. Having said that, as Dan McFeely recently pointed out in his posting of 19/06/07, he did manage to make contact by telephone with a "cousin" in Donegal, who was able to help him fill in lots of details about his ancestry and the two now communicate regularily. But I think this is the exception that proves the rule. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "E Macklin" <emacklin@rogers.com> > To: <Patii01@aol.com> > Cc: <NIR-DERRY-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 6:29 PM > Subject: Re: [NIR-DERRY] Church records & questions > > > > Hi Patti > > > > The churches will not respond and if they did they'd refer you to > their > > archives division. They will only reply if you can pin point the actual > > Parish Registry > SNIP >