Wow!!! This thread may have found something really interesting for me on the O'Neills which I hadn't thought of before. I descend from the Shaughnessy's via William and Sarah Shaughnessy's daughter Sarah. I also have a Patrick O'Neill who married Rebecca Holland in Halifax in 1831. He was born between 1806 and 1810 and was from County Carlow, Ireland. Since William was born about 1810, it is very possible the two are brothers. If so, William's parents would be Patrick O'Neill and Eleanor Byrne, probably from County Carlow, Ireland.