with a couple of guys who had the last name of Record. I hadn't given the genealogy aspect a thought. That's worse than the John Lawrence name I struggle with.

in newspapers because of those darn maiden names!

Separating the wheat from the chaff is a daunting task.

I eventually was able to push on past those very generic names and find their parents and further back. I still don't know when they died, however...

I think I finally have her narrowed down to which of the half dozen or so Mary Morgans born in the correct time frame in Cardigan several of whom were daughters of David Morgans, but it's taken a while to get that far.

Some day I hope to travel to the village where she married and where all her children were born. When my sister visited there, she met people who remembered the family - but any records she made were lost after she died.

And Patrick is likely more common than John, as St. Patrick is the patron saint of the isle.

You might say "Kelly" is the "Jones" of Ireland.

if you have Irish ancestors who came to America because of the famine? You might know where in Ireland they were from, but good luck finding anything beyond that.

When I saw that on my great-grandfathers death certificate I vowed to give up then and there. Luck and tenacity got me through the brick wall.