I thought those of us who are doing research involving Irish ancestors might be interested in a new genealogy tool getting ready to be published. This is an email sent by Jane Lyons to my Irish county lists and I have copied it. Jane is an engineer living in Dublin where she is a professor and does genealogy on the side. She is on many Irish mailing lists and is constantly sending wonderful Irish culture/history item. If you are interested in this please email Jane at: mailto:jlyons1@iol.ie Many who read this will know me and my posts, you will know how long I have posted to the various newsgroups as Jane O'Brien and as Jane Lyons. Most of you probably realise that I try to help, that I am so aware of being here in Ireland with access to so much and how so many want access to what I have. Some of you like what I post, some of you don't. Some of you know how frustrated I can get at not being able to pass everything on easily and quickly, as well as other things. Many have told me that they have a folder or a file into which they put what I post or some of what I post. Many have told me that they love the bits of history and folklore which I post as well as whatever I post with names. There are people in various parts of the world who have asked my permission to pass something I have posted on to a particular newsgroup they are involved in, those who have asked my permission to use something I have posted in their local Genealogical Newsletter; people who have asked to put my posts on their web sites...... and then there are all those people who mail me and ask "can you help me?" - not realising that because I am subbed to so many groups that I get so much mail and can't take time to reply immediately if the answer isn't on the top of my head or in one of my databases. Believe me, I would like to be able to answer everything yesterday if not sooner - but it's not possible. There are those who know that I can talk too much once I begin, so I will just ask what you think of this idea. I am going to publish/produce a 'Newsletter' - in this newsletter, each of the thirty two counties on the island of Ireland will be dealt with. It will be published once every two months to begin with. Initially, it will simply be a document emailed to the recipients. Eventually, it is hoped that this will become a hard copy (paperback)or on-line publication. Every two months there will be an article on each of our thirty two counties, the article may be one of real 'hard-core' genealogical data - just names and addresses - these may include 5-100 names for a county; it may simply be a poem or a ballad specifically relating to that county; it may be a list of references for that county; it may be the original transcription of one graveyard in that county. The information may be held by the Family History Libraries around the world; someone else may have the information posted to some web site (unbeknown to us); it may be a list of URL's for a county; it may be the description/history of a parish in that county. The list of maybes is long. The 'Newsletter' will also contain Irish history, explanations of whatever documents are included, documents will be analyzed and the people found therein will be listed as being from a particular county, the document itself not being one that those searching for those people would be inclined to look at. The 'Newsletter' will contain information from unpublished sources, will abstracts, graveyard transcriptions, documents held by some archive here in Ireland and as yet not filmed by the LDS. It will contain stories as the various pieces of folklore which can be collected from different sources. I was talking to people last weekend who have and are collecting/documenting music/songs/stories here in Ireland and who when I said "That should be published" replied "how can this be published, who is interested in the different versions of this song or that song" or who said "You can't publish this kind of thing" We will ask those people to write articles for inclusion. The 'Newsletter' will try to tell people about life here in Ireland - as it is and as it was. The first edition of this newsletter will be issued in the month of January 2001. It will be sent to anyone who is interested free of charge, so that they may assess it. There is a magazine produced in Ireland called 'Set Dancing News', see www.SetDancingNews.net there are six issues in any year and the cost is USA$30, Canada - CAN$40, Australia - AUS$50, Britain - STG£15. It is believed that annual subscription to this Newsletter will be of a similar price. Currently what we have is 30 pages long (unedited) with the Province of Munster still to be dealt with in issue one. It is intended that this newsletter will be produced by people who are very much involved with all things Irish, our culture, our history. Those who never expect anything for what they do, those who would say "Who would appreciate this?", those who do what they do simply because they love it. We would like to know how many of you who do not live where we do, yet who do love things or the idea of these things as we do, would be willing to give us your support in what we are about to attempt, in what you know that I (personally) have done over the years, and that you would appreciate that I know others like me who say to themselves "There is no-one but me who likes this kind of thing........." We would like to know what those of you who would be interested in such a publication would like to see included in it. We would like to know if you would like to see some newsletter coming from Ireland, written by Irish people for you (mainly). We would like to try - and then, we would like to build - to learn as we go, to make what we can do now better than now,and be able to teach those who come behind us that there are those who want to know what we know, to make them want to find more and to share more. In the Ireland of today, we can only begin if we can show people that there are those outside who are interested. Thank you for reading this. Jane Pat Connors, Sacramento CA, listowner