In my younger (and more naive days) I took great pride in my surname O'NEILL. I allied my feelings with the Irish Catholic who left Ireland during the potato famine to seek a better life in America. In researching my ancestry, I learned that my ancestors in fact were in this country prior to the revolutionary war. What pride I felt in learning that I am descended from a patriot! More research has brought me back to earth. My relatives are O'NEILL, O'NEIL, and O'NEAL. The spelling may in fact have been determined by a clerk since not all of my relatives were literate! As a Catholic, I am the exception to the rule since most were Methodist. In fact, at least one may have fought with William of Orange in the Battle of the Boyne. Some were loyalists during the Revolutionary War rather than patriots. I sign my correspondence O'NEILL since that is who I am, and I use the same spelling when I refer to the "clan", but I use the appropriate spelling of an individual when I know it. There is no "correct" or standardized spelling and I see no need for one since there seems to be no real confusion. Even so, this is a fun topic for discussion. (upon re-reading this, I realize that it sounds like I'm pontificating even though I do not mean to do so. Maybe I really am Irish after all!) Richard O'NEILL San Antonio, TX [email protected]