The 1911 Irish Census is now available at the National Archives of Ireland. Thankfully my grandfather’s family is listed as Sweeney. I realize people say don’t worry about multiple spellings, but I’ve tried to convince myself that I’ve been working with the correct family history information from multiple sources.
In addition to the census, I went to Ireland in August and visited the townlands of my grandfather and grandmother. I was able to meet the person whose father bought the Sweeney property when the last Sweeney there died in the early 60’s. He knew my grandfather’s brother as did other people I met. I also asked him about Sweeney vs Sweeny and he just laughed and said “I can spell my name two ways”. So, I’m putting that issue to bed once and for all. It’s Sweeney from now on and I’ll incorporate Sweeny data I find when I’m sure it refers to the same family.
It was fun to see the Sweeney property. I’ll post more on that in a future blog entry about my trip.
