Dear Glenda, Faoláin is not an unusual spelling of Phelan at all. In fact it was the original spelling of the name in Ireland. I went to an Irish Special Interest Group meeting of our local genealogical society last night... 40 present. One of the web sites mentioned was Ireland.com/ancestor/surname. It gives the number of households in each county in Ireland with the surname search - from Griffith's Valuation (1848-1864). For Phelan, there were 469 in Kilkenny, 254 in Laois, 234 in Waterford, and 158 in Tipperary. The other counties had fewer than 15. The site also gives a history of the surname, the coat of arms and other info. Glenda, your Whelan name history is given with the Phelan, too. Apparently there were only three Whelans listed in Griffith's. Did you mention the web site "theshipslist.com" a couple of weeks ago? It's a good one, too. My problem is that my earliest Phelan was already here in 1790, so none of these are much help. The surname population is a possible resource... Brenda