I've blogged previously about my 3X great-grandmother, Elizabeth McKlveen/McElvaine/ McIwain, who was supposedly born in Ireland in about 1792. McKlveen family researchers believe her father, Henry, was born near Glasgow, Scotland. So far we have found no records.

At the recent Celtic Connections Conference, I attended presentations by Scottish experts Christine Woodcock and Dr. Bruce Durie. I tried to soak up as much Scottish history as I could.

Perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part years ago that led to my conclusion the McKlveens were Irish seasonal workers. Only about thirteen miles separates Northern Ireland from Scotland, leading me to presume they travelled back and forth to work the harvest in the lowlands of Scotland. But how common was that in the 18th century, I now wonder, and did the workers routinely take their families with them? I wish I'd asked those questions at the conference. Maybe the McKlveen/McElvaine/McIlwain family was Scottish, not Irish? Might Henry and his wife have emigrated to Ulster in the early 1780s, before the birth of their children?

This morning I read with amusement an IrishCentral announcement about a research paper confirming St Patrick was actually born in Scotland! Read more here.