Newry, Donaghmore,
Loughbrickland & Banbridge Web Site
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NewsBuilding of This
Site
Site constructed Jan. 7,
2001
Someday, I hope to "Finish" the Site!
After
several years of searching and digging of all kinds of data on the family tree
and realizing the difficulties in obtaining the needed data on the family,
building this web site was thought to be a "good thing" to
do. There did not appear to be much information on the internet in
the Newry, Donaghmore, Loughbrickland and Banbridge areas of Co. Down,
regarding specific genealogy information on the families in these areas.
So, I thought that there should be a place where all the families from these
areas could come to and share their information. The County Down
Web site is aimed in this direction, but not really set up to focus on a
particular area of Co. Down or to focus on families in Co. Down. Having
a site for a specific area, makes this more possible to do.
The
first trial of creating a web site for the area was to create one on the
Ruddock's and McConnell's of Donaghmore Parish. This was done on the
myfamily.com web site. After months of use, it became obvious that
between the sites limitations and the narrow focus of the site, that it would
be better to try and broaden the coverage of the site to include all the
families from the areas that my family had been found in Co. Down. This
of course was done to hopefully get more of you to aid me in finding out more
of the families from the area, including my own. If I shared what I
have, then in turn you would share what you have, with me. Nothing like
being honest!
In
the past month, running into the Harshaw Martin Web site on the internet and
interacting with Marge Harshaw Robie and Suzanne Ballard has resulted in some
of the hoped for results for creating the site. Finding of such
remarkable information on the exact area of my search interest, is truly a
gift to me. Well worth my efforts! Other findings such
as having found Raymond Kelly and his web site plus his volunteer lookups, and
Brian Killen and his Caora site are also good things. It is hoped that
there are more of these kinds of sites and individuals who have significant
information in their possession or know where the information is, that will
surface and share with the rest of us.
Over
the past several years, the opportunity to have become acquainted with many
people on the internet, including "cousins" I didn't know existed
before, has also been a rewarding experience. They have been very
helpful to me in gathering the information I have and have posted on
this site. My cousins Alvin Ruddock(Ireland), Mary Ruddick
Silzel(California & Canada), Bill Ruddock (Michigan and East Coast),
Evelyn Ruddock (Ireland), Judy Ruddock Veenstra (Michigan) and others
come to mind. Brother Bryce (Colorado) has also been very helpful as
well. My Sisters Patricia and Gwen had preceded me in the genealogy
quest and paved the way for Bryce and I to get as far as we have.
Being
retired, not a world traveler and living in Wisconsin, limits my access to
information a bit, so I have to rely on the internet and local sources.
This is probably not a unique situation to most of you who are in the same
boat, information wise. My contribution is that I am a "wee
bit" computer savy and have some time to devote to the web site in
posting the infomation.
To
think that a few years ago I thought I was an American "MUTT (Mixed Heritage)" and
today know that I have "Irish Roots", now what can be better than
that?
Norm Ruddock
To See the
"real" Norm and his Siblings Click here-From l-r Norm, Gwen, Bryce, Pat
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