I am unable to get any further back than my great-grandfather Patrick Duff (c1825-86). He was an army man and in the 1860s a sergeant-clerk at Castle Barracks, King John's Castle, Limerick. He was a Barrack Master by the time he retired with his family to Garryowen, just outside Limerick.

He married twice. The name of his first wife is not known, but they had a daughter, Catherine (Kate), in 1850. His second wife was Maria Kelly (Kiely), whom he married c1862. They had children James Charles (1863-1928), Agnes Mary (1866-1943), and Amy (1870-91) who married Jack Pigott in 1890. It is suspected she died in childbirth.

The Duff name seems to have been uncommon in south-western Ireland, so it would be interesting to find out where they came from originally. Eldest daughter Kate went off to Lisdoonvarna with her friend Margaret Dowling to run a grocery/spirits/lodging house business in the 1890s. It's possible she came back to Limerick in 1891 when Amy died and Agnes married. She returned to Lisdoonvarna until 1908, when her friend Margaret died. She then went to live with her step-sister Agnes in London.

I wouldbe interested to hear anything, however insignificant, about Patrick Duff's family, siblings (if any) and where the family originated.