Try a site called "Alabama African American Genealogy" (www.rootsweb.com/~alaag) I would also check the resources at the Alabama Genweb site (http://www.rootsweb.com/~algenweb/). There are several good sites for the slave narratives: the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html (Born into Slavery: Narratives from the Federal Writers Project)is one. Don't discount any piece of information that you have - however small as it could lead to something. You mentioned a derivative of the name in Ireland. Do persons with the name migrate to this country? Is it possible the name changed at some point in your family's history? If you have names of cities, towns or counties - try searching sites devoted to those places. Also libraries or historical societies in those locations. If you have the resources for on-site research - that would be great. It is possible, though, via email, snail mail and phone to accomplish a lot from a distance. Let me know if I can help further and good luck.

-Alva Stevenson