All Related!

I had a nice e-mail last evening from a regular reader of this blog in Canada. It was simply recalling her mother in Ballymena saying how all the McIlhagga families in Northern Ireland are connected, though as we know many of the links are not documented. I'm sure there must be many small bits of knowledge 'out there' which could be clues to such links. We don't realise that they are important facts, but however small, they might be. Last evening's e-mail contained several things I didn't know - the birth of a baby who died at birth, where that baby was born, the name by which someone is normally known and the date of birth of a lady who will be 100 on the 22nd of this month! So I'm breaking my rule of not referring to people who are alive. Congratulations to Lily McIlhagga. And whoever you are, please write to me. As I have said before, even the smallest and apparently most insignificant thing may provide a way of linking up our different families.