The "Black Snow" could have been the aftermath of a huge volcanic eruption somewhere in the world which would cause the ash to circle the globe for many months, eventually falling to the earth as ash or mixed in with rain or snow. Regards, Joan In a message dated 4/3/2006 6:43:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Dear Cyril, what a fount of knowledge. I'm not sure how to proceed now. I have registered with the Wexford Heritage and Genealogy centre in the hope that someone local will look things up for me. Ellen,(or Helen) Redmond was my grandmother so I feel obliged to bring her out of obscurity! She was never one to pass on information except I do remember her saying she was born the 'year of the black snow' whatever that meant. Research has made more sense of that and it was 1886. Thanks, Margaret.