How does the planner build a Surname Trip from a name's heartland?
From the surname dataset behind the map. Find the name on the Irish surnames page and use its Plan a Surname Trip button, and the planner opens with a route already built. It takes the name's heartland counties first, in strength order, then the counties where the name was well represented, and picks up to two places in each county, preferring towns that work as overnight bases, up to six stops in all. The route is then treated like any other planner trip, with days, bases and drive times worked out around the stops. Nothing is fixed: stops can be moved, dropped or added, and a family townland found in the records should always replace a general county stop.
Useful pages: The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · The 1926 Census guide · Coming home · Irish around the world · Plan your journey
Sources
- R. E. Matheson, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland; Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
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