Hello, My name is James Woods. I am retired and living 'Where the Pines meet the Ocean' in New Jersey. A couple of years before retiring I began to do some research on my families of origin. Since retiring I have had more time for this. I am now at the clinical stage best described as obsessed/fanatical <G> Let me give you a brief synopsis of my Woods family. My great grandfather, Bernard, was born in Keady, Armagh @ 1846. He emigrated at some point (?) to England and married my great grandmother, Dorothy Taylor, who was from South Sheilos (on the south side of the mouth of the river Tyne) I think, but do not know, that Bernard may have worked in the mines in Newcastle. While in Newcastle Bernard and Dorothy's oldest two children, Terrence and Sarah were born. By 1875 Bernard and Dorothy were in Lonaconing, MD, a coalmining town in Allegany County, Maryland. That is where my grandfather was born. I do not yet know which ship/port/or exactly when Bernard came to the States. I have not yet determined who his father and mother were, though since he named his oldest son Terrence, that may have been HIS father's name. One thing I do know is that Bernard's sons went into the mines. I also know from family oral history that Bernard ran a general store for a time in Lonaconing and went bust by giving out credit. I suspect he may have given credit to miners on strike or who went on strike after he had extended credit...I am guessing, but hope to get to Lonaconing to do some research. It is possible he was not a very good businesman <G> Some Woods folks still live in Lonaconing and many have dispersed--in my grandfather's case, to Pittsburgh and then to a small farm in Cambridge Springs, PA. I have another Irish anscestor--James Mooney--whose family had emigrated to Pictou in Nova Scotia. That was James' father Andrew and his wife. James emigrated to Lonaconing and married the daughter of a family who had come there from Newcastle--Elizabeth Ternent. James and Elizbeth's daughter, Anne, married my grandfather Patrick at St. Mary's church in Lonaconing, MD in 1903. I would be very interested in hearing from any Woods' who, like me, have ancestral roots in Armagh or elsewhere in Ireland. Any help or assistance that I can give to anyone, please feel free to ask. Thank you, Jim Woods