Relatives appearing out of the woodwork

This post is all about how in the space of less than a month, no less than two new relations suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The funny thing was, they were both called Alan. Now there must be something in that, I suppose.

First of all, just before we went to Ireland, I had an enquiry from the first Alan through Genes Reunited saying that it seemed like we had two people in each of our trees who appeared to match. On further analysis, and with the help of my cousin's wife (Linda is the family history expert - she does it almost professionally), we established that (in common with other members of the Allison family), he was related to us both through his mother, and also through his father. The latter was easier to prove, but his mother (who is still alive) was the more direct match. All the while this research was going on, I and my wife were perusing gravestones in Mountshannon churchyard and studying records in Clare County Library in Ennis.

Next up was another family link, again to my grandmother's family (the Allisons). This time another Alan, this one living in Tasmania, had been to visit a family member in North Devon, where my grandmother had lived each summer after my grandfather had died in 1942. The Tasmanian Alan was researching my grandmother's uncle from whom she inherited her Devon home. I was able to provide Alan with more information about uncle Robert, who in his days in Parracombe, was the local excise agent.

I wonder who else will pop out of the woodwork next.......