Re variations Phelan Whelan etc. So much has already been said re these variations,I am a little hesitant to ad further to the controversy. It really is not surprising the variations ,when one considers the original Gaelic name. "O'Faolain" pronounced o phwaylawn . One can quite easily see what happens if the if the oph is dropped it becomes waylain which then progresses to Whelan or Whalen ,On the other hand if the w is dropped the name can then progress Phelan or Phalen.A large number of these developments occurred on registration due to the dialect used by the person registering. There is also the possibility of the owners themselves making these changes ,like dropping the o and the elongated vowel sounds to lose their Gaelic origins due to the difficulties when seeking employment in those bad old days. I wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments already expressed regarding the commercialization of the availability of these church registers which to my mind goes against al sense of the meaning of true Christian charity. I am certain that in the main the churches concerned would gain far more by taking a leaf from the Mormon Church which throws open much easier access to their records and at far less cost. Sent from my iPad On Oct 3, 2011, at 22:51, Terry Phelan <Tphelan100@aol.com> wrote: > Jan, > Not a nickname but other variations: > Phelon > Phalen > Phalon > > > On Oct 3, 2011, at 12:53 PM, Janet Crawford <reojan@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi all, There is a chance the Phelan's, in addition to using the >> variation Whelan, may also have used nicknames but I have never seen >> any. Has anyone run across a Phelan nickname? >> >> Janet >> Please double-check subject line & snip your messages when replying. >> >> Please search the Archives of this list for your surnames at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=waterford >> >> ------------------------------------- >> The Ireland GenWeb County Waterford website is up for adoption. Check it out at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlwat/ >> If you would like to take this site over, contact: Waterford-admin@rootsweb.com >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WATERFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > Please double-check subject line & snip your messages when replying. > > Please search the Archives of this list for your surnames at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=waterford > > ------------------------------------- > The Ireland GenWeb County Waterford website is up for adoption. Check it out at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlwat/ > If you would like to take this site over, contact: Waterford-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WATERFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message