EDITOR – I spent most of my working life at a local newspaper in Wiltshire and once you’ve worked for a paper I don’t think it ever leaves your blood.

I remember we would sometimes get a letter or e-mail from someone living outside the UK who was trying to trace ancestors of their relatives who had lived in Wiltshire and I wondered if that was even still a thing?

For the past year I have been trying to trace the townland where my great-great grandmother Eliza Donovan was born. As you will know trying to trace a Donovan in West Cork is not an easy task, an English genealogist told me I’d never manage it, but carrying the spirit of the Rebel County in me I just felt like saying ‘watch me’.

My family moved over to Derby at the time of the Great Hunger and by getting the Derby electoral roll I managed to find some Donovans still in Derby, and learnt from one of them that the family were believed to come from somewhere between Skibbereen and Clonakilty. I have found some DNA matches on ancestry [website] but as tracing your family in Ireland is a lot harder than in the UK most of them have a lot less information than me.

My family were Daniel Donovan b. c. 1800, his wife Mary (don’t know her maiden name) b. c. 1806 and their children Eliza b. c.1829, Jeremiah b.c. 1931, Ellen b. c. 1834, Mary b. c. 1835, Dennis b.c. 1839 and Daniel b. c. 1846, all born in Ireland. Living at the same address in Derby is Jeremiah Donovan b. c. 1801 and family, and I’m wondering if maybe that was my ‘grampy’ Daniel’s brother.

I wondered about the feasibility of putting out a request in case any living relatives in your circulation area have been tracing the family history and any of this rings a bell with them. I am aware that for family staying behind they may already carry their family stories with them and know their roots so don’t feel the need to take a DNA test or search online.

I have always felt such an emotional connection to Ireland, even though it’s only a small part of my ancestry, and would really love to find out exactly where they are from. I know it might only be a slim chance I’m willing to give it a go.

I would love to hear you thoughts

Viv Wright

Wiltshire, UK

(email: [email protected])

Hoping for clues to trace West Cork ancestry.

Thousands of children on Cork waiting list

EDITOR – With many early years providers reopening after the summer break, up to 4,500 children under the age of three in Cork remain on waiting lists for a place due to ongoing staffing challenges.

The message is clear: demand for early years places across Ireland continues to grow rapidly, while the capacity of many of our members to provide a space for every child is being stretched at an unsustainable rate.

High-quality early years and school age care can make an extraordinary difference in children’s lives, especially for those experiencing disadvantage. The number of families struggling to find a place for their child or reconsidering their own working arrangements because of a lack of provision can no longer be ignored and simply should not be acceptable to us as a wealthy, developed nation.

The figures paint a picture of an unsustainable system in which families with small children feel forced to book a place in more than one setting.

To resolve the issue of long waiting lists, the government must prioritise increased pay for early years staff in the upcoming Budget. This would help to stem the tide of qualified staff leaving for better-paid jobs in education and other sectors, with many currently being paid just €15 per hour.

Without this, we will continue to lose highly skilled staff and the demand for Early Years places will only further outstrip capacity in many parts of Ireland.

Frances Byrne

Director of policy

Early Childhood Ireland

Bantry bottle bank must be removed and fast

EDITOR – I am writing to highlight a serious issue in our local community in Bantry. Cork County Council’s continued maintenance of a ‘temporary’ bottle bank directly onto a public footpath adjacent to a recreational and viewing area is a blatant breach of planning laws.

What was introduced as a short-term measure has hardened into a permanent eyesore and a hazard. By placing these industrial bins directly on a public footpath, the council has obstructed a pedestrian right of way and compromised public safety. Parents with prams, wheelchair users, and children heading to the beach or shop are routinely forced off the path and onto the road.

The surrounding area is now plagued by broken glass, overflowing waste, and late-night noise pollution. This completely undermines the efforts by our magnificent Tidy Town volunteers.

It is the height of hypocrisy for a local authority to penalise private citizens for planning infractions while completely ignoring the law themselves. Local authorities must follow the same laws as every citizen.

With a little bit of outside the box thinking and creativity the council could easily move the bottle bank to be incorporated within their yard across the road from its present location.

We ask Cork County Council to remove this bottle bank immediately and move it to a safe, proper location that does not rob the community of its footpaths.

Tommy Barry

Dromleigh,

Bantry.