Having searched for the scant traces of my own ancestors here in Ireland, I am only too aware of how the merest fragment of information can make all the difference in picking up some lost thread.

I am also only too aware of how much I rely on the work of other people, especially those who contribute online with their photos, documents, and information. I want to express my gratitude for all their efforts, and for their generosity in making it available to the rest of us.

It is my hope that, in one of these photographs, in the lost inscription on an old forgotten memorial, some fellow searcher may find a missing piece of their own far-distant past.