But it is interesting that they almost always erred on the side of making themselves younger than they really were.  Virginia ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 3:39 PM Subject: Re: [NY-IRISH] variable reported ages PJ-  You have certainly covered the field in enumerating reasons for a variation in age. I'm thinking that if I had been born         150 years ago on a farm in a rural area of a country that was now 3000 miles away over an endless ocean, would I really           know (or care) precisely how old I was. It would be by guess or by gosh, and the least of my troubles.     Jack Langton -----Original Message----- From: pjsalis <[email protected]> To: ny-irish <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, Mar 26, 2014 12:12 pm Subject: [NY-IRISH] variable reported ages Ted -- My grandmother was born in Kingstown in 1888, according to her official birth certificate, but she later said/?believed? that she was born in 1892.  Others in her extended Co. Dublin and Co. Clare families had sometimes highly variable ages from one record or year to the next. I think there could be several explanations.