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Hi loord74,

Thank you for your opinion and insights.  I tried overlaying the photos to see how closely they aligned.

I recently came across an undated crew photograph of the USS Nashville that served in the United States Navy as a patrol / gunboat during the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the Boxer Rebellion in China.  My great-grandfather John Devlin served aboard this ship.  I have in possession his official naval portrait that has been passed downed in my family.  I have taken a screen shot of the individual in the crew photo I believe is the same individual.  The two images may be a few years apart and the crew image appears to show an individual who may be sleep deprive, a little more gaunt and haggard but has a similar chin line, lips, ears, and neckline. I would appreciate any insights or thoughts of the likelihood that the individual in the crew photo is also my grandfather. Sorry I could not send a clearer image; Rootschat limited the size of my upload files.

Hi Bookbox,

Thank you to alerting me that the record was in Russian, not in Polish.

Hello Tina,

I am not a descendant of the Birch family but my ancestors worked at Birchgrove for the Birch family starting around 1850 before they immigrated to the United States in the 1890s.

In my original inquiry I was seeking help in trying to establish a link between the Birch family at Birchgrove (Roscrea, Co. Tippeary) and another Birch family in Tullylish Parish in Co. Down.

The Birch family ran a famous whiskey distillery at Birchgrove before government officials shut the operation down.  As the family tried to diversify, they established a flax scutching mill at the former distillery and brought an expert from the "North" or "Belfast" to set up the operation as flax scutching was not a common occupation in the south of Ireland at the time.  That person was my third great grandfather Peter Devlin.

I wanted to see if the northern Birch family and the southern Birch family were somehow connected and perhaps some arrangement existed between the two families to have Devlin sent South to work for your ancestors.  I have a few scant leads about Peter Devlin being born in either 1833 or 1834 but have been unable to nail down his "hometown" (I suspect it may have been somewhere around Tullyish or prehaps Belfast).  The Devlins lived in the "yard" of the estate probably until the 1880s.

Since you are interested in your Birch ancestors I can direct you to a few links you may find interesting:

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/birchgrove-house.html

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/corville-house.html

https://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/midlands-turf-waterways/the-roscrea-canals/

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/files/roscrea-people-2010.pdf
(pages 82 to page 87)

I hope this may help you in your research.