Donna, Don't be surprised about the Protestant / Catholic connection. About 9 years ago, Hillary Murphy helped me end 10 years of searching for my Catholic ancestor's gravestone which was ultimately located next to a Protestant Church in Whitechurch which is a few Km south of New Ross. I never would have thought to look there becuase of my American naivete regarding Catholic and Protestant relations. I've only just rejoined this list and am especially pleased to see that Hilary is here. He was a wealth of information for me and always very thorough in his efforts. By the way, it's very nice to see you here, Hilary :) I trust all is well with you :) Regards, Kevin Lacy -----Original Message----- From: Kentch's <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:15:34 -0600 Subject: [WEX] Re: Catherine McGrath letter of reference Hilary Thank You for the information. How wonderful to find that the Curate was really Thomas Harman. Catherine's parents were buried, along with a few of her brothers and sisters, in the Adamstown Cemetery, New Ross. Do you know if that would that be Catholic or Protestant? I found that information out about the burials a few years ago from someone on this site. Catherine stayed in Boston awhile then came out to Nebraska and married Ed Monaghan, also from Ireland via Scotland. They lived out their lives in Percival, Iowa but are buried in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Nebraska City, Nebraska (across the river from Percival, Iowa. We've always assumed she was born Catholic. If so I'm surprised she would get a reference from a Protestant Curate although he just says he has known her since her childhood. He could be a neighbor or family member. I really shouldn't say that surprised me because an awful lot of genealogy research finds come as a surprise. Thank you for taking the time for my questions Donna Kentch in South Dakota ----- Curate describes the lowest order of priest, below that of Parish Priest or Pastor in the Catholic church and Rector in the Protestant church. Thomas Harman was the Protestnat Curate in Old Ross. He died in 1871 and is buried in the cemetery at Old Ross church. The only church in Old Ross is the Protestant/Church of Ireland one. The RC church is in the townland of Cushinstown, beside the N25 Wexford-New Ross route, and in the civil parish of Carnagh. Both civil parishes were incorporated into the R.C. parish of Cushinstown and the New Ross Union of parishes. ==== WEXFORD Mailing List ==== The Wexford Surnames List can be found at http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/wexford.html