Thank you Deirdre! -- My email directly to you got rejected :-( I guess my next step to request the microfilm at my local Family History Center. As to my O'Neill ancestors input to the correct spelling of their name, I am almost certain they (the ones on the record in question) could neither read nor write - so they certainly would have had not much ability to have any input... and - who knows - they may have been Gaelic speakers. So - however the priest recorded it - is how it came out. (Although, unless precluded by prohibition in Ulster at the time - the original record would have been in Latin.) As to contacting the UHF, my luck in that regard has not been particularly good. Thanks again. Charles O'Neill McEvoy, Deirdre wrote: >Hi Charles > >This record would have been taken from a microfilm of the original RC >parish records for Dromore and is NOT a PRONI record, as such. The >microfilm can be accessed in PRONI as well as the National Library in >Dublin and can also be ordered from your local Mormon Genealogical >centre. As far as I know, "Banbridge" would not have been on the >original record but it is possible that the people at UHF added >Banbridge to let people know whereabouts Balleny is located, i.e. in the >district of Banbridge. You would have to contact the UHF to find out >why they did that, not PRONI. > >As to the spelling of Balleny/Bellany, it could be a mistranscription on >the part of the UHF or it could be how the priest spelt it in the parish >register. Spelling of placenames and surnames was fluid up to the early >part of the 20th century, not standardised as it is today and names were >written down the way the person who was writing the record felt it >should be spelt. That is why people with surnames like O'Neill, >O'Rourke, O'Reilly, O'Sullivan, etc. will frequently find that their >ancestors were written down as Neill, Rourke, etc.. They would have had >very little input into the correct spelling of their names at that time. > >Hope this helps. > >Regards > >Deirdre (McEvoy) > > >IBI Corporate Finance Limited is a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland Group. IBI Corporate Finance Limited is regulated by the Financial Regulator. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individuals or entities to whom they are addressed. If you are not an intended recipient of this email, do not duplicate or redistribute it by any means. Please delete it and any attachments and notify the sender (and [email protected]) that you have received it in error. It is possible for data transmitted by email to be deliberately or accidentally corrupted or intercepted. For this reason, where the communication is by email, IBI Corporate Finance (or any other member of Bank of Ireland Group) does not accept any responsibility for any breach of confidence which may arise through the use of this medium. IBI Corporate Finance Limited, 40 Mespil Road, Dublin 4. Registered in Ireland. Registered Number 89053. > > > >