Welcome! I think my ancestors left around or even before the potato famine. My surname is Kirby, but I am not related to any Kirbys I know, other than my Dad, brother and sister, since my grandfather changed his name from Kyne to Kirby to avoid a wife, debt collectors, and likely law enforcement (he liked to write checks that weren't his).
If anybody thinks ill of the Irish, it may be my grandfather's fault. He actually had two Social Security numbers, and I think he planned to double-dip, but he died before reaching retirement age. Luckily, he set the bar pretty low so I don't have to do much to be relatively more respectable than him.
-- Tom
Thank you an great story
... from the Land of 10,000 Lakes - Minnesota! 
Happy hunting! 
