The project received support from the second year history classes of the Ennistymon Vocational School in County Clare Ireland.  They took on the task of connecting our New Ireland families to their Irish heritage.  They provided a look at the locale and historic conditions that these new immigrants to the United States had left behind in mid nineteenth century Ireland. 

We would like to thank Alan Cantwell and Sinead Crowley of Clare FM Radio in Ireland for broadcasting our research efforts throughout County Clare.  They allowed four students to explain the project to their listening audience in hopes of making connections with any possible ancestors still residing in Clare. 

The classes would like to express their sincere thanks to NYgenweb coordinator Kim Harris Myers, Cattaraugus County Museum Curator, Ms. Lorna Spencer, Cattaraugus County Clerk Mr. James Griffith, and Mr. Frank Hannaway our local Irish historian for their assistance.  Special thanks to Mr. Larry King, his technical expertise and ever present sense of humor has made the creation of this website possible.  Without their help and encouragement our work to date would have been much more difficult. 

On one of our first trips to Limestone, we were lucky enough to receive the help of Betty and Wayde Thrush, along with Mary Jeanne McCarthy-Lucco who provided us with pictures as well as a great deal of secondary research data on New Ireland.  They showed us St. Patrick's church and cemetery in Limestone which was the parish of the New Ireland families.  In the church we were shown stained glass windows that were donated by three of the original families in New Ireland.  We would also like to thank Mr. James Keough who is a surviving resident of the original settlement and now resides on the west coast of the United States.  When Mr. Keough was nine years of age he served as the janitor in the school that existed in New Ireland.  Part of his job would be to arrive an hour ahead of the other students and make sure that the fire/stove in the classroom was lit so that the room would be heated for the start of school each morning.  We also had the honor of interviewing Mr. John Walker who was 103 years of age at the time.  He lived at a time when many of the original families still resided in New Ireland.  Mr. Walker worked in both the oil and lumber industries around the Limestone area.  His stories gave our class a refreshing look at what life was like in the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th Century.  He also provided us with something no archival record could show us: a personal side to many of these same people we were researching. 

We would like to give special thanks to one of our "guardian angels": Sue Rood.  Sue was in constant touch with our class from the beginning of our project.  She provided good insight as well as suggestions as to how to solve various problems that confronted us. Teresa Townsell a descendent of one of the original New Ireland families, who is now living in Seattle, provided us with a family manuscript along with great enthusiasm for our project .  Teresa interviewed James Keough in regard to his colorful remembrances of New Ireland and those who lived there and passed on the data to us to use on our website. 

Through the efforts of these helpers we have been provided with pictures of some of the original houses, barns, the schoolhouse and some family members.  These are posted on the Family Album page of this website. 

Two additional sources of help and enthusiasm were Hook France and Janet Pfohl who accompanied us on one of our expeditions to New Ireland. Both are very familiar with the area and helped our team make a positive identification of certain foundations.  Special thanks to Phil Blair of Allegany for resolving the mystery of one of the missing O'Laughlin houses that we had searched for over the last two years. 

Mr. Lewis and some of the students that worked on this project are available to speak on the various educational topics included on the site.  They have made presentations to several schools and organizations throughout the Western New York and Pennsylvania area such as; the University of Buffalo Graduate School of Education, the Allegany State Park Historical Society, the Salamanca Genealogical Society, the Cattaraurgus County Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Ellicottville Historical Society, the Allegany Limestone Elementary School, the Irish Festival in Olean, New York and others.  You may contact them at the following e-mail address:     plewis@buffnet.net