Colette

Thanks very much for your input.and it is very interesting

I know Ronnie Mathews, and have met him a couple of times in Portarlington. He is very knowledgeable on the history of the town.

The problem with Portarlington is both a lack of records and a welter of common names through families. The Blong - Holmes marriage that you spotted is unfortunately too early for the one that I am after, which would have been around 1830

You are right though, that the answer will come from family trees, and that the families who emigrated carried more information on family history than the families who stayed in Ireland