Julie wrote: >Have been tracing all siblings of my g-grandfather >from Derrinkip, Fenagh, Co. Leitrim and have question >about Abby vs. Alice. Based on an obit in 1910 when >my g-grandfather died, I believe he had a sister Abby >O'Rourke. Abby's birth date per census >records/marriage records/death records could be >anywhere from 1838-1851. There is no record at the >Fenagh Catholic Church for an Abby - there is however >a daughter born in 1835 that I haven't been able to >trace. This entry is in latin - Alicium which I >thought would be Alice. For any latin scholars, could >Alicium be Abby or could Abby be a nickname for Alice >or do I have 2 different people? Abby would be a very unusual forename for a Roman Catholic in the Leitrim area. It was one of the pseudo-translations used for the Gaelic name Gobnait in the area of West Cork - Kerry - Limerick. Outside of that region it was almost unheard of in R.C. families. Aliciam is certainly Alice. I wonder whether your source for "Abby" was oral or written. Is it possible that you misread "Abby" for "Ally"? The latter was a pet form of Alice. Paul Gorry What's What in Irish Genealogy http://indigo.ie/~gorry