Register draws information from memory, public records, books, the internet, newspaper clippings. Diverse sources are destined to yield inconsistencies. In this section, I attempt to evaluate the validity of information, and to report, in continuance, additions and corrections as they are reported. Snatches of stories that don't seem to belong in other sections will find a home here.

The following names were found on index cards associated with naturalization records in the Natrona County  District Court. These names are not in the list I extracted from official naturalization papers: I may have seen the names in naturalization papers and ignored them because they were not Irish born. I have found nothing beyond their names to indicate that they were Irish born. I found many O'Mara immigrants from England and Gibraltar. And there was a McKlose from Budapest. There were a number of Canadian born immigrants with Irish names. Register ID numbers are in parentheses.

John Boyle (403)

Cornelius Brodie (591)

John Lynch (407)

Patrick Madden (406)

Elizabeth Florence McCoy (409) 

James McCullock (589)

Charles Henry Moore (590)

Angus Murray (405)

A letter to small town Ireland usually mentions village, a nearby larger town, and then a nearby city. Thus we have Ahakista, Durrus, Bantry. I believe that many immigrants, out of a sense of economy, simplified their origins to the city (Bantry in this example). By the way, aren't these the loveliest words: Ahakista, Ballydehob, Clonakilty, Durrus.

The major liner operators were Cunard (names ending in ia) and White Star (names ending in ic). (Name endings are only a rule of thumb.)

Today, Cunard's Caronia, its third of that name, among its mix of cruises makes Atlantic crossings. I searched Notes for Casper immigrants who arrived on the original Caronia (1905-1933, 300 first class, 350 second class, 900 third class). Seven arrived in New York City, and four arrived in Boston. Then I searched www.EllisIsland.org for Nonie Donovan (Mrs. Dan Sullivan), one of the seven. There on Caronia's manifest were listed five from Durrus, four of whom were on their way to Casper. Two, Ellen Sullivan (age 19) and Jeremiah Daly (age 22), were not at the time in Register; here's a hint that the list is not complete. At latest count, 17 arrived on Caronia The manifest showed that the NYC arrival date for Tom Ellis was wrong by a month. Mathew Coghlan, one of the four who travelled with Nonie Sullivan, was on his way to Bayonne, New Jersey.

Rawlins John and Denver Tim fail to qualify if their nicknames are the test, but both had property around Casper. Without them Casper would not have blessed, nor been blessed by, the Irish. Marcus Daly never lived in Casper, but I entered his name in the list by mistake. His story deserves to be told, so he remains in the list. Immigrants to Rawlins and Douglas appear in Version 2.0.

I believe that I have the Rawlins John Mahoney and Denver Tim Mahoney extended relationship straight. I set it forth here so that the reader, and I, can see it as a whole rather than have to search through the data base.

John and Tim were first and second cousins.

Tim had three sisters: Hannah, Honora, and Julia.

Tim married Margaret Mahoney.  I have no information on her relationship to other Mahoneys.

John married Tim's sister, Hannah.

Jeremiah Mahoney, John's brother, married Tim's sister, Julia, who had first married Dick Tobin.

Pat Sullivan married Tim's sister, Honora. I read somewhere that she was Tim's daughter, but several facts counter that. She was born in Ireland. They married 7-7-1893, too early, I think, for Tim to have a marriageable daughter.

Here is an over-all look at Rawlins John, his parents, his siblings, and their children. Baptism is noted as 'bp', married is noted as 'm', born is noted as 'b'. Those who came to Casper are noted.

John 'Black Jack' Mahony of Killeen (b 1813, d 1909) married Ellen Coughlan 2-8-1843.

Hannie bp 5-23-1844

Helena

Mary bp 7-27-1845

Jeremiah bp 1-18-1847; to Casper

James bp 4-20-1851; to Casper & returned

John (Rawlins John) b 12-23-1853

Eileen bp 7-12-1858

Bridget bp 1-18-1860

Timothy bp 6-18-1862

 Florence

 Kate

Hannie married Pete Tobin of Galladoo. Eight of their children went to Casper.

Joe

Pete m Margaret Donovan

Dick m Julia Mahony (his first & second cousin, sister of Denver Tim)

Steve m Mary Illif, Florence Twitchell

Elizabeth (Bessie) (Mary) m Eugene McCarthy

Hannah m Marshall Crouch

Nora m William J. Swanton

John m Katherine ?

James returned from Casper and married. Five of his children went to Casper.

Ella m Dan Sullivan

Nora m James Hayes

Mary m Maurice Kelliher

Jo m Denis Daly

Florry (son)

John went to Rawlins. Married Denver Tim's sister, Hannah.

Jeremiah m Martha Moss. Two sons went to Casper.

Jeremiah m Julia (Mahony) (Tobin) (See Hannie's children) (his first & second cousin, sister of Denver Tim)

Frank went to Casper and returned to Ireland.

The spelling of Mahony varies from O'Mahoney to Mahoney, even in the same informed source. You will find each here.

Several articles on Edward McGraugh and Margaret (Crowley) McGraugh appear in Irving Garbutt's Casper Centennial. The articles provide conflicting information on whether they were born in Ireland.

I offer some reasons for duplicate entries:

Immigrants who visited Ireland reported different arrivals on several Declarations of Intent. Conflicting dates may be associated with visits to Ireland.

Names or statistics differed from record to record.

Names came from different sources, and with insufficient information to confirm identity.

Immigration is not a scientific process. As an example, a Greek immigrant to Casper explained to the clerk that Crete, his birthplace, was an island. The clerk heard Ireland, and the immigrant's birthplace is entered on the records as Ireland. He had sworn to renounce his allegience to the king of England. We must blame the clerk.

Jeremiah Donovan's town is Inn of Bantry. Should it be Town of Bantry?

Jerry Donovan's wife was Edna McNelly. Was she Irish born?

Gouladoo and Galadoo seem to be interchangeable, as do Sheeps Head and Sheepshead.

Father McBrien may or may not have served in Casper.

Daniel Daly should probably be in the list. I have no information beyond the name.

The Arrival Date entry sometimes is the arrival date in Casper, and sometimes the arrival date in U.S.

A lot of naturalization activity took place around Christmas.

Many arrived about age 21.

The notation 5-2,3-1930, e.g., indicates that there is conflicting information: Did an event occur 5-2 or 5-3?

The earliest arrivals: Patrick George Sinclair (1864), Matt Montgomery (1875), Rawlins John (1877). There were some before Rawlins John and Denver Tim, but those two started the avalanche.

In Notes I list Casper addresses for many sheepmen. I don't believe that they all commuted. Some addresses were probably rooming houses, and others mailing addresses.

Many entries include port of embarkation, port of arrival, arrival date, and ship name. A number of these list Liverpool as the port of embarkation, even for those who lived within 50 miles of Cobh. I believe that this anomaly is merely an artifact of record keeping, that the ship's manifest listed only the port from which the ship started her voyage. Some manifests have a port of embarkation entry for each immigrant.

Still curious about the Liverpool originations, I studied the first 62 Irish entries in the 1910-1921 Declaration of Intent volume.

Of 61 who entered from Europe (one came through Canada), 54 arrived in New York City, and 7 in Boston.

Of  61 who entered from Europe, 8 left Liverpool, 53 left Queenstown (Cobh).

Port arrival dates have the following distribution (Canada arrival excluded):

March                4

April                 33

May                 16

June

July

August                2

September          4

October             2

---------

Total                61

Fares were probably most expensive in June and July. The Atlantic was very unfriendly in the winter months.

In the Version 2.0 I have entered the names of immigrants who were going to Rawlins and to Douglas. Some of these made their way to Casper. 'Rawlins' appears after the immigrant's name in Notes. Casper and Douglas are so close that I mention Douglas only within the text of Notes. A great number of immigrants listed John O'Mahony (with and without the O) of Rawlins as their sponsor. John is obviously Rawlins John.

I found 125 records for James Buckley at www.EllisIslandRecords.org. As I stepped through them, 25 at a time, I noticed duplications as if manifests had been entered more than once. I mention this only to pass along the state of the Ellis Island web site. It's a great resource, but has problems: A very clearly written Bantry on an original manifest appears as Bastri on the computerized version.

I remember asking my mother when I was a child what a grandmother was. Few of the immigrant's children knew their grandparents.

In 1920, when Ireland was battling for her freedom, American women marched on the British embassy in Washington, DC. Their banners read, 'Down with British Militarism.' Arrested, jailed, they refused bail. The next day their comrades flew over the embassy in a light plane, and bombed it with leaflets. Later one of their banners was displayed in the windows of the embassy (I can't explain). Source: New York Times, dateline April 6, 1920.

In History I offered 'Mary's Land' as the English equivalent of Muintirvarra (misspelled as Mintivarra in early versions). I had several sources to support me. Recently Frank Ellis sent me an article on Sheepshead from the Southern Star of May 14, 1960 that his mother, Bridie, had saved. It was written by James Coakley. He describes Muintirvarra as a '…rough mountainous peninsula about 20 miles long with an average breadth of 2 miles running between Dunmanus Bay and Bantry Bay.' He shows alternate spellings: Muintir Baire and Muintir Barry. He quotes J. M. Burke that the words mean O'Baires's people.

The article tells the story of 'the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo' who was a resident of Ahakista about 1900. The article is a great read.

The Diary of Frank O'Mahony (see Sources) mentions names Billy McCoy, Miss Lessie Dunn, and James Hennessy. Should they be in Register?

I encourage you to read Sources. Its main purpose is to identify the sources of information, but it also documents books and films that I hope you will find of interest. There, for instance, you will find references about Irish who were enslaved in Barbados and Algiers.

During a roughly 60 year period beginning about 1600, 50 to 80 thousand Irish men, women, and children were shipped to Barbados to serve 7 years as indentured slaves. The 7-year limit was frequently extended.

In 1631 Algerian pirates kidnapped the entire population of Baltimore, County Cork into slavery. Only one returned to Ireland. Baltimore fronts on the ocean not far from Skibbereen. After the Algerian attack Baltimore's commerce moved along the Ilen River to the more sheltered Skibbereen. These same pirates are memorialized in the Marine Hymn in the phrase '. . shores of Tripoli'.

I have a note from Canadian Kathryn Ellen Fowler, a cousin of Eugene 'Sonny Boy' McCarthy. The note tells of the 1933 visit to Casper of another 'Sonny Boy' cousin. The cousin met Eugene, missed Mike who lived near Casper, and learned that Mike and Florence Sullivan were working for Eugene near Cody. The note seems to say Patrick (no surname mentioned) also worked for Eugene there. The note lists the following McCarthys as if they were brothers of Eugene: Jere, Owen, Nore, Pat, James, Dennis, Mike, and Tim. Of these, Mike and possibly Pat were in Wyoming.

Ireland's townland borders follow topographical borders and farmers' fields. I've read that the system has been in use for thousands of years. I recommend  a web site that lists townlands. I searched it for a number of Cork townlands, and got only one match. Why, then, would I recommend it? Well, there's a problem and a trick. Spelling varies wildly, but enter a partial rendering of the name (say, Reen and you'll find Reenacoppul – not the way I've spelled it elsewhere – among others). The site:

http://www.seanruad.com/  Also try http://www.proni.gov.uk/research/local/townland.htm.