Hi Roger,
Hello, again, and thank you very much for your previous assistance! Was wondering if you could help me with some additional questions about the areas in Roscommon and Westmeath where my father's mother's family lived. My great grandmother, Margaret Shine, was born in Cloonown (Clonown), County Roscommon. Apparently there were a number of Shine families living in that area, and my cousin (in the USA) told me that we were related to the John Shine family (house number 52 in the 1911 census). She got this information many years ago from Rosaleen Fallon, co-author and editor of a wonderful book called "A Sense of Place Clonown, A County Roscommon Shannonside Community". Unfortunately, the book is out of print, but I was able to buy a copy online. My sister and I visited the area late last summer, but were unable to find anyone who could bring us to Clonown, or to tell us anything about it. I tried to contact someone by way of the Clonown website. but apparently it is no longer being maintained.
Our great-gandmother, Margaret Shine married Michael Henson of Bunnahinly and they raised 14 children in Bunnahinly, one of whom was my grandmother, Ellen Henson. During our visit, my sister and I couldn't find anyone to bring us to Bunnahinly or to tell us anything about it. We have a general idea of the location of the house in Bunnahinly, based on Griffith's Valuation. We also know from looking at Google Maps that the area is currently very sparsely populated. We plan to visit the area again this summer and are continuing to do research online. We will visit Dublin this time to view the Catholic Church records for Roscommon and Westmeath. We tried to view the records during our visit in the summer, but were told that the records for these locations are only available in Dublin. Of course we have researched what we can online, but the records are not complete and are often difficult or impossible to read.
Would greatly appreciate any advice you can provide!
Sincerely,
Kathy (Condron) Shinopoulos
Boston, Massachusetts, USA