[4qd-bannvalley] Smyrl / Smirl (sic)

[4qd-bannvalley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Alison Causton)]

On 16-Jul-06, at 8:12 PM, Steven Smyrl wrote:

> Dear List members,
>
> I only came across this List earlier today by chance. I'm descended
> from
> Samuel Smyrl (1764-1853) who from about 1800 resided at Drumconvis,
> Co.
> Tyrone. He married Jane Eakin, daughter of Gabriel Eakin of the
> same place,
> in about 1800. Where he came from before that period is not clear.
> Smyrls
> (and variant spellings) tend to be concentrated around Kilrea/
> Finvoy and
> Coleraine. I assume that Samuel Smyrl originated in either of these
> two
> localities. The first name Paul is very prevalent amongst Kilrea
> Smyrls, but
> not at all in Coleraine - neither has it ever been used within my own
> family. This makes we wonder does my chap fit into the Coleraine lot?
>
> I undertook an awful lot of research 20 or so years ago, but even
> though I
> now work as a professional genealogist (based in Dublin) I've
> hardly done a
> tap of Smyrl (sic) research since! Is anyone else researching Smyrl
> or Smirl
> (sic)?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Steven Smyrl

Steven, welcome to the List.  Derek and Richard Torrens have set up a
fabulous web site at http://www.4qd.org/bann/, and this associated
mailing list, but perhaps you have already surfed to that site?  The
site contains several interesting and informative sections, including
one devoted to transcriptions of church records, though these tend to
pre-date the birth year of your Samuel.  If I recall correctly, there
are Smyrl entries on the site somewhere...  Keying "smirl site:www.
4qd.org" or "smyrl site:www.4qd.org" into Google will turn up a
number of hits for your surname.

Alison Causton
Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

... with Kilpatrick, McKay, Gordon, and Campbell roots at Lislea,
Kilrea parish.