I am trying to trace my family in Enniscorthy. My father, William Wilson, left Ireland in 1946 to join the RAF. He is the youngest son of Owen Wilson and Mary Carley, 62 Pearse Road. Mary was Owen's 2nd wife, and he was in his 40's when my father was born. My father is still living but only remembers bits and pieces, as his father did not talk much about the family. I hired someone in Ireland to do some legwork, and have discovered that I am also a Murphy and a Boyce on my father's side. I am intrigued by this statement from the researcher: <<This recorded that on 3rd January 1856 Robert (illegitimate) was born to Robert Boyce and Mary Wilson. The child's godmother was recorded as Anne Redmond. The parish registers for Enniscorthy during the 1840s and 1850s is extraordinary. Nearly every third child is recorded as 'illegitimate'. >> (Robert was Owen Wilson's father, i.e. my Great Grandfather). Does anyone have any ideas as to why every 3rd child would be illegitimate? Was there a shortage of priests to marry people, or prohibition on their doing so? A shortage of eligible men? (The Rebellion of 1798 was 60 years earlier, the Great Famine of course was mid to late 1840's, etc.) Or, was this just a matter of people doing what people do, despite the Church taking a dim view of it? Has anyone else encountered this "extraordinary" result when checking birth registries from that time period? Thanks, Bernard Wilson, Los Angeles, California (Researching Wexford families Wilson, Carley, Murphy, O'Brien and, now, I suppose, Boyce)