Shot In The Dark!

Gill Cottage - Gortaran, Clonmany, Co. Donegal

Irish genealogical research can be daunting, especially when you have no idea where to start.  I often receive requests from people who reach out to me armed with very little in the way of information tying their Irish ancestor to a particular location and perhaps only a very vague family anecdote on where they came from in Ireland.  These are the difficult cases which may take years to tap away at until one day you are lucky enough to make a breakthrough, even with DNA analysis.  It is even more difficult when an Irish ancestor left these shores before the mid-1800s.  I can never guarantee that I will find that elusive ancestor's exact connection to Ireland, but I do promise that I will try everything in my power to do so!  That said, sometimes there are very lucky breaks that can literally just land on your lap!

The following family history research story has a local flavour to it, from Clonmany where I live.  It has similar elements of my own family history to it, in the migration to and from Ireland to Scotland and back and also a family tie of sorts...my sister-in-law is married into this family. 

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If you are reading this from a third party social media platform, then you are very welcome to my website. If you have some time to explore the various pages I would be delighted!  I will be posting regular blog articles here and consolidating some of the articles I have posted in various other sites in this space also.

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