I can attest to that, especially about Linde Lunney who is the grand niece of the husband of my 1st cousin 3 times removed. She is one of the kindest and intelligent people I have met on either side of the Atlantic. And as for someone breaking the lock on the chest of treasures, well, that happened to us. Prompted by an inquiry from Linde, I was able to track down the wills of some wealthy mutual relatives whose legacy should have gone to the Irish cousins as well as the American ones, and we still have not tracked down the money. As for crossing the sea, I wrote letters and enlisted the help of a local historian in County Antrim who was also interested in genealogy. I followed up the letters with a phone call. Thus, I have become friends with 7 of my distant N. Irish cousins, separated by time, and culture. Most are at the 4th cousin level. And the truth is that lots of the expressions and behaviors I experienced growing up were in common parlance there in Antrim - so personally, I felt at home instantly. I think they did too. However, after several letters and a phone call (spoke to him personally) I have still not heard from a man who has the burial records at a church there, BUT I know it is true that he farms and takes care of his mother in a nursing home and works at another job too. Deb On 12/14/11, Lunney Family <jglunney@eircom.net> wrote: > This thread still isn't going quite the way I'd hoped! I do NOT want > to put people off trying to contact their relatives in Northern > Ireland; quite the opposite. Northern Ireland people are not scary; > probably less scary in general than anyone else you will encounter > worldwide; most people are decent, warm and welcoming, and even if > you don't make contact with actual relatives, someone else in the > locality may well turn out to be an interesting contact, so if you > don't get a response from your initial attempt, look for someone else > online who may be able to help. Check out the local history society, > or the local Women's Institute, or the church that your ancestors > went to > What I was trying to say in my two previous communications was that > you have to make allowances for a few cultural differences, > (especially note that when we get a letter we would expect that a > return address will be on the letter and not just on the envelope), > and don't feel rejected if for some reason you don't receive an > immediate reply. There may be a perfectly valid reason why someone > doesn't reply; family distractions, going on holiday, wrong > address...so just don't take it personally! > > Linde > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCOTCH-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >