Hi Cathy: I don't know whether being "Irish" is necessarily a barometer for why or how someone died young or lived a long useful life. If you were doing a study of one particular area, where conditions were the same for all, perhaps you would see a pattern emerge that would be interesting sociologically and medically. But, I fear that given the diversity of environments that one could encounter as an immigrant to the United States, you may emerge at the other end with just too many variables and contributing factors. Not to mention that all Irish do not necessarily have the same genetic background. Depending on where your Irish ancestors came from in Ireland, they could have Scottish or English ancestry or perhaps Norman or Viking ancestry. Ireland was invaded so many times by so many other groups that it would be hard to sort this out first before you even began to look at what the influences of their being in the United States, Australia, Canada, or elsewhere might be. With that said, it is an interesting thought and if you are doing it for your own family it can be a very important window on your family's health history and disease patterns. Even so, however, you are probably only going to be able to do this (with any real reliability) for the 20th Century. I think that for this information to be helpful to you or to others you have to break down the cause of death into at least two parts; natural and unnatural. Disease or Accident? Also, where did they live? In a cramped tenement in a city or on a farm? The time period when someone died is very important. What century and within that, what decade? Were there antibiotics available? Was there even Aspirin in production then? Was there an epidemic (flu, smallpox, measles...) or an outbreak of environmentally produced illnesses (malaria...)? Was an illness related to dietary or sanitary habits? Was an illness due to an occupational hazard (lead or mercury poisoning...)? There are almost too many variables to list. But, if you (not you personally, everyone) don't take the historical context into account you are most likely going to miss the bigger picture. Drownings were common because people didn't know how to swim. In fact, for most, a bath was thought to be the direct road to illness because they thought getting wet was what caused a cold, the flu, etc. Suicide was common because there was no medical relief for physical or mental illnesses. Childbirth could be very deadly. Poverty was a huge contributor. Sanitation, or lack thereof, was a huge contributor. And so on and so forth. My husband's gggrandfather died walking home from work. He froze to death because he didn't have good clothes to protect him from the elements. His death certificate reads: "Frozen." He was 24 years old. Luckily (for my husband) he was already married and had two kids by then! 1862. My own (fully Irish) father is 86 now and disease free. His mother lived to within a few days of her 90th Birthday and died of age related disease. His father died of pneumonia at a very early age (he was 9y) of 38y. His paternal grandmother lived to be 100y 25d and died of age related disease. His paternal grandfather lived to be 83 and died of age related illness. His maternal grandmother died young at 47y due to chronic asthma and bronchitis combined with heart disease. His maternal grandfather died at age 59y of TB. Although all of these deaths occurred in the 20th Century, the decade for each tells much more about "why" they died when they did. There is no real pattern here; each is a separate case in time. Diseases that are easily cured today were deadly back then. A common cold could lead to pneumonia and death relatively quickly. In the case of my grandfather, it was a matter of two days from onset to death. Christmas Eve 1928. The farther back you go, particularly before the 20th C., the more skeptical you also have to be about the diagnosis of the cause of death. The just didn't have the diagnostic tools that they have today. If the heart stopped beating did it automatically mean the person had a heart attack and that is why they died? Not necessarily. A very common "cause" on hundreds of death certificates that I've seen simply said "exhaustion" or "senile debility." One even said "worn out." Many others said "old age." The truth is that whoever was attending probably just made his best guess unless the physicality of the illness was obvious. There are some very interesting websites that outline medical history, epidemics, etc. A google search will bring up lots of them. For medical terminology, a good site is: http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm There are many others that will get you started with understanding the terminology used (depending on when the death occurred). There are also other places where you might find health related information on your ancestor, particularly if they did have a chronic illness. Censuses sometimes include notes about a person's health or disability. And, if your ancestor died during a census year you may be able to find a mortality schedule (depending on the decade) that gives some further details about their death. Last but not least, do a few searches in historical newspapers about health issues in the decade your ancestor died. Very often they will report fully on deaths due to heat stroke, storms, fires, floods, shipwrecks, epidemics, etc. It's a terrific way to get a clear picture on what the issues of their day were. Hope this helps some. Best regards. Nancy. NLColeman@worldnet.att.net Nassau NYGenExchange www.genexchange.org/county.php?state=ny&county=Nassau www.genealogypro.com/ncoleman.html