Hi all. Strangely enough, my dad and I were talking about the Wexford/Newfoundland connection this weekend - and I hadn't seen the list yet. Apparently, one of the reasons there is a connection, not just with Wexford, but also with Waterford and the southern parts of Tipperary and Kilkenny, is that the English fishing trawlers would dock in Waterford for supplies and would take on hands there. The boats were a great source of employment, and eventually, some of the fishermen began to settle in Newfoundland. This would have been about 200 years ago when the coast of Newfoundland was a major fishing ground. I would imagine that some of the men used the trawlers as an excuse to get to the new world to improve their prospects, and if they were of an agricultural bent, may have moved inland to more crop-friendly regions. However, that last is strictly a surmise on my part! Anyway, that's one possibility for the connection. Edel -----Original Message----- From: Westmilli@aol.com [mailto:Westmilli@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2000 12:29 PM To: WEXFORD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [WEX] Gananoque/Lansdowne Perhaps many of us, if not all, have asked that question. My grandparents left beautiful Ballyboggan/Castlebridge for Baltimore City, Md. in 1889, 50 years after the famine. He and one brother emigrated, while one other brother and their sisters stayed, and my cousins there, as well as others, say that CO. Wexford was not as affected by the famine, anyhow. My cousin suggests that since his father got the house, there was no place else to go. But I do not understand that logic, or culture, as it were. Milli ______________________________