Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP!

[SSlater]

Can any of you members speak Irish Gaelic? I am deep into finding Harney, and not doing well at all. I believe he may have provided information in Gaelic, or at least with a heavy accent. For example, when he was asked about his birthplace, he said BLAIR. He didn't say "Blair, Pennsylvania." which is what we assume he meant. I have read some of his replies, or read his handwriting, and they are boggled.

When he was captured at College Hill, he was not a "Spook", or "under cover" in any way. So, I doubt that he lied, or purposely gave goofy answers. He spoke as he always did.

If I am having problems, then the interrogator in 1863, had problems too. In one record, he is said to have been born in "Shadberry" or some such place. There is no "Shadberry" in Ireland. That might have been the name of a remote crossroad, or a nick-name of a part of a town. (There is a "Shadberry" bush.) (Did he give a comical answer??)

Is there a word in Gaelic, that sounds like "Blair", but has another meaning? I will not quit - I will "find" Harney.

PS I know exactly where he was from 1853 until he got out of Elmira in July 1865. PS2 That shows some new progress. My next step is to find out if he joined the Fenians and "invaded" Canada.