I am looking to connect western New York State Gilmartins with ancestors in Ireland. After exhausting all obvious resources here, it is time to start using the tool designed for just such a dilemma - DNA testing. My ancestors were born in Ireland ~ 1801 so their birth records are not in any of the searchable databases in Ireland. They don't appear on any passenger lists that I can find either. They may be in the church registries, but with multiple parishes in each county, and 32 counties in Ireland, that is a lot of hand written church records to be studying.

Carmel Gilbride of Eneclann is working hard to nail down a scant few records in co Sligo (no surprise here - this is where most Gilmartins were located in primary valuation property survey of 1848 - 64) of my Gilmartin roots.  That, coupled with a newly found sister to my GG grandfather, produced a NY DOH death certificate with some parents first names.  I should be able to bump my oldest ancestor back to Michael Gilmartin born circa ~1770 in early 2013 when Carmel gets done with her research.  I sure could use some more Gilmartins to help bolster this study.

Now I am wondering if Frank Gilmartin buried in same Montana graveyard as my grandfather's step-sisters might possibly be related somehow, although we have no Franks in our near family line.