Category Archives: Research

Irish Surname Variations

Many people insist that the way they spell their surname is the ‘exact’ way that they have to find it spelled. They don’t understand that way back then, whenever then was, surnames were spelled phonetically a lot of the time. Take for example my own family, my grandfather was an educated man, he could read and write and he certainly knew how to spell, yet, he had 8 children and of those 8 children, 4 of them have their name spelled one way and the other 4 another way. So I have 4 grand Uncles or Aunts whose surname is spelled Gallivan and then I have another 4 of the same family who surname is spelled Galvan.

If I was a family history researcher and I didn’t know that these 8 children were all siblings, I’d spend the rest of my life looking for the missing 4. If I took it that the surname was supposed to be Galvan and stuck with that, then I’d spend forever looking for their ancestors and I’d never find them. Real needle in the haystack stuff.

On top of this mixed spellings of one family, my gggrandfather and his siblings were all registered with the surname Gallivan, yet, years ago when I told my Limerick mother in law I was off to Kerry to find my Gallivans “Aha” ses she “you’ll not find any Gallivans in Kerry, you’ll only find Galvans” and sure enough, I found no Gallivans but I did find Galvans, and I found all my Gallivans buried as Galvans, where as their brother had been buried in Celbridge, Kildare as Gallivan, the name he had been baptised with.

So, I know this because I knew these people or some of them. I have just found a lovely set of stones with name differences on them, yet, they are the same family so I’d like to show them to you. This photograph was taken at a graveyard in Kilcross, Co. Roscommon. The surname is Maguire or McGuire – the same family spelling their name differently.

McGuire and Maguire family plot

I believe that you will be able to read the surname McGuire on the black stone, then the larger stone was erected by a Maguire living in Passage, N.J., and he erected this stone in memory of his parents, but we also have a Mary Lizzie McGuire named at a later date on the stone.

I hope the knowledge that surnames can be spelled differently will help someone

Roman Catholic Parishes, 1836: Introduction

According to ‘A Complete Catholic Registry, Directory and Almanack.’ (1836), there were 27 Dioceses in Ireland and approximately 3000 Priests: 960-970 Parish Priests, 1500 Curates and 500 ‘Regular Clergy’. (See Queries). These lists can be useful to those who search in a number of ways:

To show the name of a parish at a particular time
To possibly identify when the records for a parish began or were combined with those of another parish
To identify name variations (place and surname)
To identify a locality for a parish
To identify possible locations for a particular surname in a county

These tables list the names of Parish Priests, Curates, Parishes and the nearest Post Town in 1836. While the spellings in the original may be taken to be those of that time or the manner in which the person who wrote the lists spelled the name phonetically, it also can be taken that there may have been typographical errors in the original.

The placenames as presented in 1836 have been checked as follows: The parish listing was compared to that found in ‘Thom’s Directory of Ireland for the year 1931’. Where a parish name was found to be similar to one listed in 1836, it is given as a ‘Suggestion’ for the original as written in 1836. The county in which the Post Town was located as per the ‘General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Based on the Census of Ireland for the Year 1851’ or the listing of ‘Fair Towns in each county of Ireland in 1834’ is the county listed This does not mean that the parish was actually in that county or solely in that county. It does however given some location for that parish. All parishes would have had a maximum area which they covered, if we can take it that a parish was located close to a particular town, then we can take it that while we do not know the actual area covered by the parish, we can in a way, take the town as the central point and from there work our way out, perhaps identifying graveyards or churches in the area and so making our search area smaller.

In some instances, a placename was found to occur in a number of counties or more than one county, which was associated with that Diocese, as townland or town names. In these cases, the location of the Post Town was taken to be that of the placename which indicated a town. When there was no ‘town’ of that name listed in the 1851 index or as a Fair Town, then it was taken that the Post Town was in the main county asociated with that Diocese.

As has been stated, the boundaries of any Diocese could spread from one county to another and those of any parish could also cross county boundaries. While most Roman Catholic Diocseses have a main county associated with them (or more than one), they also include portions of others. A parish might be found to lie mainly in one county and a portion of it in another. There is no listing of counties included with each Diocese in the 1836 directory, while Thom’s Directory for 1931 gives such a listing. I have listed these counties at the end of each page, in some instances there is no mention of the county name or any place name which is listed as being part of that county on the parish tables.

One thing which people do not realise is that the religious parish was not a fixed entity, that is to say that the parishes which existed in 1836 may not have existed in later years and may not be parishes today. The parish or the size of a parish all depended on a number of factors, the first being the size of the population, the second and I guess the most important being whether the Diocese had enough Priests. The size of a parish depended on the Bishop, his management of the area that he was in charge of, so, if the number of people in one parish increased and the number of people in the next door parish decreased, then the Bishop would assign townlands from the larger parish to the smaller parish. The parishes which are not listed in the 1931 directory are marked with **

In some cases Roman Catholic parish names are abbreviated in the 1836 ‘Complete Catholic Registry and Almanack’ so I have compared the names of Roman Catholic parishes listed in ‘Thom’s Directory of Ireland, 1931’ and made suggestions as to the probable full Roman Catholic parish name in 1836. in some cases, where no similar R.C. parish name is found in the 1931 directory I have suggested names from the 1851 Townlands Directory of Ireland.

The first table gives the name of the Parish Priest or P.P., the name of each curate (c.C.) in his parish, and the name of the Roman Catholic Parish. The second table lists the name of the Roman Catholic Parish, the name of the closest ‘post town’ and the name of the county that the closest ‘post town’ is in so long as there is not a town of that name in more than one of the counties associated with this Archdiocese

Research Help: Irish Church Records Explanation

Parish Records

Before the commencement of civil registration in Ireland, parish records are the most important source of information for those researching their ancestry. There is, however, much confusion amongst genealogists and historians concerning the existence or availability of Irish parish records.

The first problem is identifying which records exist for a particular area and the period covered. A parish is an administrative unit, be it civil or religious. In general, the Church of Ireland parish boundaries follow those of the civil parish. However, during the 18th and 19th centuries many new parishes were formed (particularly in urban areas) and some old parishes were united as a result of falling populations. Many of these changes are recorded in Samuel Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1838). The boundaries of Roman Catholic parishes can be difficult to define as, on the whole, they do not conform to those of the Church of Ireland or to civil parishes. Another problem is that the names of Roman Catholic parishes not only differ from those of civil and Church of Ireland parishes, but may also be known by several names.

In Ireland Protestant dissenters, such as Methodists and Presbyterians, do not conform to a parish structure, but are Congregational in their church government. In ordinary terms, this means that their followers were not (generally) tied to attending any particular church, chapel or meetinghouse.

In where the name of a Minister or Priest is known, but not to which parish or congregation he was attached, it is worthwhile consulting the various published directories of the various denominations. The Irish Catholic Directory was first published in 1836; the earliest directory for the Church of Ireland was published in 1814 as the Ecclesiastical Registry by Samuel Percy Lea; the first Irish Presbyterian Directory was published in 1840 as McComb’s Presbyterian Almanac; the minutes of the annual conferences of Irish Methodists have been published from 1746.

Registers

The information contained in parish registers differs, depending not only on the denomination concerned, but also upon the individual who maintained the register. Among Disstenters and Roman Catholics, many registers were simply notebooks and on the death of the minister or priest were often considered that person’s personal property and passed out of the hands of the church. While other register books were in a printed format (particularly so in the Church of Ireland), often all the details that were meant to be inserted were not. Another point to remember is that while many registers were written neatly, some others can be extremely difficult to read.

The information recorded in Irish parish registers will usually include:
* Baptism – Name of the child and date of baptism and birth (usually only date of baptism in early registers), names of the father and mother and their home address. In Roman Catholic registers the mother’s maiden name is normally recorded and the names of least two Godparents. In Church of Ireland registers, the father’s occupation may be recorded.
* Marriage – Usually record the names of both parties and the home address of each and the names and addresses of at least two witnesses. From the middle of the 1850s Roman Catholic registers (particularly in urban areas) often record both parents’ names and their address. In Church of Ireland registers, before the advent of civil registration, the name of the bride’s father is far more likely to be recorded than ever that of the groom. Protestant Dissenters often married in the Church of Ireland because of the legal implications relating to the validity in law of marriage. [Jane – refer here to ‘See also section on Civil Registration’].
* Burial – The name of the deceased and the home address and date of burial. Church of Ireland registers will often include the deceased’s age, occupation and cause of death. More often than not Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters failed to maintain any type of burial records.

Roman Catholic Records

There are very few Catholic records which pre-date 1800. Those that do tend to relate to urban areas and were begun in the very late eighteenth century. In general, records date from the 1820’s-30’s. Few parishes have maintained burial records.

Most Roman Catholic parishes contain a parish church and a number of other smaller churches or chapels. Usually only one register will have been kept for the whole parish, but occasionally it might be found that each church or chapel has its own register. Establishing into which Roman Catholic parish a rural Irish address falls (especially those taken from civil registration records) can be difficult. The best and most reliable source is the Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis, which was published first in 1837. For example, having established that Balgeeth townland falls into the civil parish of Ardcath, in Co. Meath, by looking up the entry for the civil parish of Ardcath in Lewis one finds the description: “In the R.C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district which comprises also the parish of Clonalvy and part of Piercetown, and contains two chapels, situated respectively at Ardcath and Clonalvy…” Thus, we have discovered that the whole of the civil parish of Ardcath falls into the Roman Catholic parish of the same name. The registers of Ardcath R.C. parish date from 1795.

The National Library of Ireland(NLI) has microfilmed almost all of Ireland’s Roman Catholic parish registers up to the year 1880 (and in more recent times filming has been extended to approximately 1900). Microfilm copies of the NLI’s Roman Catholic parish registers for the the six counties of Northern Ireland are also held at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast. PRONI also has copies for most of the parishes in counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, which are part of the province of Ulster, and some for counties Louth and Leitrim (which border Ulster).

Church of Ireland Records

The Church of Ireland, the state church in Ireland, was disestablished in 1869, and from the 1st January 1871 it became an entirely voluntary body. Under the direction of the Irish Master of the Rolls, and through the Parochial Records (Ireland) Act of 1875, it declared that marriage registers dated pre-1845, and baptismal and burial records pre-1871 were public records and should be deposited in the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin. Some parishes parishes opposed this decision and there was a further Act passed in 1876 which allowed records to remain in local custody, provided there was provision made for their safe keeping in the form of a fire-proof safe.

By 1922, the records of 1,006 Church of Ireland parishes had been deposited in the Irish Public Record Office, while a further 637 parishes kept their records in local custody. When the Public Record Office was consumed by fire during the Irish civil war in 1922, all but four sets of registers were completely destroyed. The first thing that people hear when they begin Irish research is that all Irish Church of Ireland parish records were destroyed in 1922, but the above figures show that over one third survived.

This was a loss to all, not just members of the Church of Ireland, because these registers also contained information on both Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters.

The privileged position of the Church, up to about 1800, gave it the exclusive right to administer the rites of baptism, marriage and burial. In reality, an ‘official’ blind-eye was turned and the non-Anglican denominations baptized, married and buried their own (although in large urban areas most burials came under some sort of notice of the Church of Ireland as that church controlled almost all urban graveyards and would thus be recorded in Church of Ireland parish registers).

The best publication to consult to establish the current situation relating to Church of Ireland parish registers is ‘A Table of Church of Ireland Parochial Records and Copies’, edited by Noel Reid and published by the Irish Family History Society in 1994. A typical entry records the name of the parish, the years for which the records were extant up to 1922, whether they survived and where they are now held (in original form, microfilm or transcript). However, bear in mind that this publication dates from 1994 and is now out of date in places.

Only the records of baptism, marriage and burial were covered by the Parochial Records Act (1875), all other records kept by Anglican parishes remained in local custody. In more recent years many parishes from the Irish Republic have deposited their records at the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin (which is a stated place of deposit for Church of Ireland records under the 1987 National Archives Act. The types of records, other than registers of vital events, which can be of use to family historians are such items as vestry minutes, confirmation rolls, lists of names of parishioners.

Methodist Church Records

When John Wesley came to Dublin in 1747 shortly after Methodism had been planted in Ireland. Those who joined Methodist societies were from all Protestant denominations, but in doing so remained in full membership with their own churches.

There was a split in Irish Methodism in 1816/1817 over the issue of retaining loose links with the Church of Ireland and the administering by Methodist preachers of the rite of baptism (and to a lesser extant that of marriage). The result was that two bodies emerged, the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion (now a formal church) which from then on allowed its preachers to baptize and marry; and the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, which held that its members should still subscribe to the Church of Ireland to the rites of baptism, marriage and communion. However, after the distebalishment of the Church of Ireland, the split between these two bodies appeared to matter little and in 1878 they united to become the Methodist Church in Ireland.

Other branches of Methodism include the Primitive Methodist Connexion, which began in England in 1812, and which was also established in Ireland from 1832; The Rev. John McClure, amongst others, is credited with bringing the Methodist New Connexion to Ireland when he began preaching in Dublin in the autumn of 1800. One year later, in the New Connexion conference minutes, Dublin is referred to as a circuit.

Irish Wesleyan Methodists only began keeping registers of baptism and marriage from the time of the split in 1816/1817, before that one should expect to find relevant records of these events amongst the records of the Church of Ireland (and to a lesser extent the various Presbyterian churches). Primitive Wesleyan Methodists did not begin to perform (and thus record) the rites of baptism and marriage until shortly before the Irish Methodist union in 1878.

Registers are usually maintained on a circuit basis, and their start dates tend to be somewhere between 1816/17 and c1830. A further source for baptismal records of Irish Wesleyan Methodists is the Irish Wesleyan Methodist Connexional Baptismal Register. This record is an official church transcript, compiled during the mid-nineteenth century, of almost all of the then surviving baptismal registers for the various circuits. It covers the period c1815 to c1845. It can be seen on microfilm in both the National Library of Ireland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Very few Irish Methodist churches have burial grounds.

Most of the Methodist churches from the six counties of Northern Ireland, (Armagh, Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry (Derry) and Tyrone) have had their registers and other records microfilmed by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). PRONI has also filmed many, but not all, Methodist records from the counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, which are in the Irish Republic.

Presbyterian Church Records

Presbyterianism was introduced into Ireland in the seventeenth century by ‘planters’ from Scotland. (An explanation of ‘planter’s and plantations in Ireland is in preparation) It should be remembered that the Penal Laws applied to all those who were not members of the Church of Ireland, the state church in Ireland. However, while other Penal Laws remained in force, after the passing of the Irish Toleration Act in 1719, all forms of Protestant dissenting public worship was legalised. Information on Presbyterians can also to be found in the registers and records of the Church of Ireland. While most rural Presbyterian congregations had burial grounds, few maintained burial registers until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

As many Irish towns, particularly in the north of Ireland, had more than one Presbyterian church, to differentiate between each congregation to terms ‘First’, ‘Second’ and ‘Third’ were employed, i.e. Ballymena First, Ballymena Second. A number of congregations existing in a town might have been the result of some historical dispute over doctrine, the choice of minister, or simply because a congregation had grown too big and needed new accommodation.

There were a number of Presbyterian traditions in Ireland, the main ones being the Synod of Ulster and the Seceding Presbyterians (both of which now form a part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Synods of Munster and Dublin which are in union with the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Covenanters; and a number of small divisions.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has microfilmed almost all of the surviving registers for the Presbyterian congregations of the nine counties of Ulster, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry (Derry) and Tyrone. A number of early original Presbyterian registers and records are held by the Presbyterian Historical Society for congregations from both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

This society began in Ulster in the mid-17th century, mainly around Lurgan, Co. Armagh and Lisburn in Co. Antrim and birth, marriage and burial information exists from that time.

Abstracts were made of all monthly meetings from 1860 forward. These abstracts are located in the Dublin Friends Historical Library (DFHL) and are retrospective to the 1670’s. National Abstract Registers have been maintained in Dublin since 1859.

The DFHL holds the following: the registers, minute books and archival material belonging to each monthly meeting; private papers, family photographs, and diaries.

Prof Theodore Moody (TCD)( 1907-1984) created a reference system for Society in 1984, arranging that microfilms of the Ulster province archives were given to the DHFL, and the Lisburn Archives.

Some References:

Methodist Records:

ffeary-Smyrl, Steven C. Exploring Irish Genealogy, No. 1. Irish Methodists – Where do I start? published by the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, Dublin 2000. ISSN: 1393-9645

Quaker Records:

Goodbody, Olive: Guide to Irish Quaker Records, 1654-1860
Eustace, P.B & Goodbody, O. Quaker Records, Dublin, Abstracts of Wills (2 vols.) Irish Manuscripts Commission 1954-58.

Phillimore and Thrift Will Indices, Abstracts

It is necessary to go through this page Diocese by Diocese and see if there is any reference to surnames such as those listed for the Ossory Wills shown here. The main surnames I have or had an interest in are listed in that. In some instances I have taken references to variations on a name which would be missed if you just look for the surname and well known variations. Please refer back to the article on Wills if you do not understand what these indices are. Please do not ask me for any more information on any name here. I have none.

For placenames see the following – Ireland Townland database and Ireland on line Interactive maps. If the name is spelled as it was in 1851 or now then it will be found when you search. The townland atlas also allows for partial searches so that if you cannot find the place as spelled in this file then if you use only part of the word as here it may possibly be found using the IreAtlas.

Ossory Wills, 1536-1800

No Dore, Devin, Devine, Divine, Duan, Duane, Gallivan, Gallivin, Galvan, Galven, Galvin, Leyne, Lyons.

Magher, James, Kilmagony. 1795
(possibly Kilmaganny, Co. Kilkenny. Callan Poor Law Union, 1857)

Maher, Denis, Mount Juliet. 1765 (date of will, no date of probate recorded)
Edmond. 1784
Eleanor, Irishtown, Co. Kilkenny. 1774

Meagher, Derby. 1694
Dominick, Irishtown. 1790
John. Kilkenny. 1703
Margaret, Kilkenny, widow. 1764

Meagher or Magher, Thomas, Newtown, Co. Kilkenny. 1769

Murray, Emanuel, Kilkenny. 1800 (date of will, no date of probate recorded)

Nash, Vincent, Ballyguirk, Co. Kilkenny. 1795

No Porter.

Leighlin Wills 1652-1800

No Devine, Divin, Divine; Dore; Duan, Duane; Galvan, Galven, Galvin, Gallivan, Galliven; Leyne, Lyne.

Lyon, John, Watercastle, Queen’s Co. (Laois) 1776.

Lyons, Edward, Finescourt, Co. Carlow. 1796 (date of will, no date of probate recorded.

Maher, Timothy. 1778
Maher, William, Glanehary, Co. Carlow. 1797

Mathers, John, Croneskagh, Co. Carlow. 1771
Mathers, Thomas, Rathduffbeg, Co. Wicklow. 1729

No Meagher.

Murray, John, Tinekinly, Co. Kilkenny. 1791
Murray, Thomas, Ballynekilly, Queen’s Co. (Laois). 1700

No Nash.

No Porter.

Ferns Wills, 1601-1800

No Devine, Divin, Divine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan; Leyne, Lyne.

Lyons, Richard, Taghmon, Co. Wexford.

No Maher, Meagher.

Mory, William, Tomnearly. 1669

Murray, Deniss, Knockrow, Co. Wexford. 1774
Murray, Edward, Hiltown, Co. Wexford. 1796 (date of will, no record of probate.)
Murray, John, Enniscorthy. 1753

No Nash.

Porter, Thomas, Captain in the Navy. 1775

Kildare Wills, 1661-1800

No Devine, Divin; Dore.

Galvan, Darby, Tully. 1720
Galvan, William, Tully. 1722 (date of will only , no record of probate)

No Gallivan; Maher, Meagher; Leyen, Lyne.

Lyons, Geffry, Killeen, King’s Co. (Offaly)

No Nash.

Porter, Henry, Dangins, Queen’s Co. (Laois). 1762

Cork and Ross. 1548-1800

No Devin, Devine; Dore.

Gallavan, Hanna, Lissarourk. 1764 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Gallivan, Mathias, Lissarourk. 1763 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

Galvan, William, Milleen. 1761

Leyne, Teige, P.P. 1692
Leyne, Timothy, Cork. 1723

Lyne, Abraham, Cork. 1716
Lyne, Elizabeth, Cork. 1730
Lyne, Francis, Cork. 1738
Lyne, Jeremiah, Cork. 1759 (date of will only, no probate recorded.)
Lyne, Jeremiah, Cork. 1782
Lyne, Rebecca, Cork. 1779.

Lyons, John, Cork. 1751
Lyons, Robert, Cork. 1780
Lyons, Timothy, Cork. 1772
Lyons, Eleanor, Crookhaven. 1778

No Maher.

Meagher, Mary, Cork. 1756 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Meagher, Teresa, Cork. 1799

Murray, George, Gubeen. 1740
Murray, James, H.M.S. “Milford”. 1750
Murray, Samuel, Ann Mount. 1794
Murray, William, Garrylucas. 1796

Murry, John, Cork. 1781

Nash
Abel, Kilcolman. 1679
Edward, Bandonbridge, 1675 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Elizabeth. 1652
John, Bandon. 1726
John, Brinny. 1751
John, Brinny. 1789
Patrick, Cork. 1624 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Rebecca. 1790 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Richard. 1652

Porter
Edward, Tullig. 1740
Isaac, Tralee, Co. Kerry. 1705
John, Tullig. 1746
Thomas, Bandon. 1630
Thomas, Dundanion. 1739
Thomas, Knocknagapull. 1748 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Ursula, Cork. 1747

Cloyne Wills. 1621-1800

No Devin, Devine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan.

Line, William, Curriglass. 1722 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

Lyne, Thomas, Gortmahir. 1741

Lyon, Cornelius, Rathnee. 1775

No Maher, Meagher; Murray.

Nash, George, Farrihy (will dated 1758). 1779

No Porter.

Cashel and Emly, 1618-1800

No Devine, Divine; Dore; Galvin, Gallivan; leyne, Lyne; Lyons.

Maher, Timothy, Cullen, Co. Tipperary. 1763

Meagher
Andrew, (Rev.), Thurles. 1781 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Daniel, curate of Thurles. 1666 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Daniel, Tullow McJames, Co. Tipperary. 1796
Edmond, Thurles. 1717
Edmond, Fethard. 1787
James (Rev.), parish priest, Cashel (Condemned by Decree). 1768
James, Keilnahone, Co. Tipperary. 1799
John, Fethard. 1743
John, Fethard, 1778
John, parish priest of Ballingarry. 1796
John, Farrenrory, Co. Tipperary. 1800
Nicholas, Ballyherbery, Co. Tipperary. 1727
Patrick, Kile, Co. Tipperary. 1777
Philip, Crossard, Co. Tipperary. 1713
Philip, Snugsborough, Co. Limerick. 1796
Thomas, Rathmacarty. 1685
Thomas, Ballintaggart. 1716
William, Derryluskane. 1710
William, Ballywalter, Co. Tipperary. 1763 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
William, Rossestown, Co. Tipperary. 1764

Meara
Thomas, Durush, Co. Tipperary. 1710
William, parish priest of Tipperary. 1712

Murra, Joseph, Thurles.

No Murray.

Nash
Ambrose, (Revd., Fethard. 1712
Richard, Cahirconlish, (Exemplification only) 1728 or 1729.

Naish, Edmond, Fethard. 1661

No Porter.

Waterford and Lismore 1645-1800

No Devin, Devine; Dore; Galvin, Gallivan; Leyne.

Line, Anastatia, Dungarvan. 1776

Lyne, Patrick, Dungarvan. 1771

Lyon, Patrick, Waterford. 1671

Maher, Anastatia, Waterford. 1800

Mara, Philip, Waterford. 1773

Meagher
Ellenor, Clonmel. 1712
James, Clonmel. 1761
James, Clonmel. 1796
Joan, Clonmel (alias Davin) 1733
Pierce, Cloghnecody. 1768
William, Killimlogh. 1713

Meara, Michael, Clonmel. 1741

Murray, Thomas, Lower Grange, Liberties of Waterford City. 1742

Murihey, Laurence, Rathguagh. 1750

Murry, Patrick, Laharden. 1776

Nash, John, (King’s Officer) Waterford. 1734

Porter
Charles, Waterford. 1750
Hannah, Kill St. Lawrence. 1715 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
John, Waterford. 1717
John, Waterford. 1717
Joseph, Kill St. Laurence. 1711
Josiah, Newtowne. 1715
Josiah, Waterford. 1770
Lucy, widow, Waterford (alias Dove) 1780
Thomas. 1708 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

Killaloe and Kilfenora Wills, 1653-1800

Diviny, Richard, Tureen, Co. Clare. 1788

Dawne, (Duane) James, Balimacka. 1770

No Dore; Galvin, Gallivan; Maher.

Lynn, Robert, Carrigetoghir. 1696

Lyons, John, Carromurry, Co. Clare. 1767

Meagher
Martin, Parish priest of Boorny. 1768
Michael, Asmeare. 1733
Thomas, Moneygall, King’s Co. (Offaly). 1742
Timothy, Newgrove, Co. Tipperary. 1752

Meara
Dermot, Knockbehagh. 1706 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Laughlin, Slivoir,Co. Tipperary. 1791
Patrick, Garrinakill, Co. Tipperary (dated 1684). 1750
Patrick, Killnashanally, Co. Tipperary. 1756
William, Keappagh. 1666 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

No Murray.

Nash
Denis, Clare. 1738
Mary, Limerick City. 1781
Thomas, Gortacorky, Co. Clare. 1748

No Porter.

Limerick Wills, 1615-1800

No Devine, or Divin; Dore;

Dower, Michael, Ballykenny, Co. Limerick, farmer. 1784

No Galvan, Gallivan.

Lyne
Auliff, Rossbane, Co. Limerick, farmer. 1725
Derby, Downes, Co. Limerick, farmer. 1771

No Lyons.

Maher, William, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, breeches maker. 1785

Meagher, Thomas, gent. Limerick. 1686

No Murray.

Naish, Silvester, Ballycollen, Co. Limerick. 1737

Nash
Patrick, Ballycullen, Co. Limerick, gent. 1741 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Ralph, Cahirconlish, Co. Limerick, gent. 1755
Richard, Ive Gallaghoe, Co. Limerick, gent. 1714
William, Limerick, tobacconist. 1754 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

No Porter.

Ardfert & Aghadoe Wills, 1690-1800

No Devine, Divine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan.

Leyne
Donogh, Cullie, Killarney. 1789 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Jeremy, Tralee, doctor of Physic. 1772 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Timothy, Gortnagree, gent. 1797 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

Lyne
Denis, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Corporal, Kerry Militia. 1800 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
Elizabeth, Ballynessy, Co. Kerry, widow. 1761
Jeremy, Gortreigh, Kilfenane, Co. Kerry. 1785 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
John, Grovepoint. 1787 (date of will only, no probate recorded)
John, Annaghbog, Co. Kerry, farmer. 1796
Kerry, Ballynessy, Co. Kerry, lieutenant. 1748
Thomas. 1800

Lyon, Christopher, Templenoe. 1794 (date of will only, no probate recorded)

No Maher, Meagher; Murray.

Nash, Frances, Dingle, alias Payne. 1757

Porter, William. 1764

Dromore, 1678-1858

No Devine, Divine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan;

Lines, Mary, Lurgan. 1770

Lion
Andrew. 1738
John, Ballinamaganach. 1726

Lynas (or Lynes) Joseph, Lurgan, Co. Armagh. (lodged 1746). 1745 (date of will only, no probate recorded).

Lynes, Elizabeth, Monbraverty (Mongraverty), P., Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1728

Lyness (or Lynes) Joseph senr. Carn, P. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1824

Lyon, James, Bagnie. 1737

Lyons
Andrew, Ballydown. 1774
James, Anaghbane (or Lions) 1819
John, Maghry

No Maher, Meagher.

Murray (or Morrow) Adam, Ballygown. 1770

Murray
Brian, Drinn, (lodged 1838). 1838 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
James, p. Donaghcloney. 1727
James, Creevy. 1742
James, Kinego, p. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. (lodged 1836). 1833 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
John, Corcreny. 1750
John, Belfast (formerly of Creevey). 1816
John, Shankill. 1817
Patrick. 1796
Robert, Waringstown. 1761
William, Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 1705
William, p. Donaghclony. 1721
William, Derrytrasna, p. Montiaghs, Co. Armagh. 1846

McMurie
John, Garvaghy. 1742-43 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
Thomas, Ballinafoy. 1720

McMurray
John, Dromaghadon. 1752
John, Warrenpoint. 1854
Mary, Ballygargin, p. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1842
Newell, Ballygargin, p. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1837
Robert, Glaskerbeg. 1837
Samuel, Gransha. 1757
Samuel, Gransha. 1832
Sarah, Upper Bottear, p. Moira. 1787
William, (senr.) Ballinaghey, p. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1827

McMurrey, John, Bleary. 1750

McMurrie, Alexander, Grainghue. 1714

McMurry
Alexander, Deemet, p. Drumgoland. 1765
Ardle, Drumlough. 1825
David, Dromore. 1795
Grisell (alias Boyle), Belleny. (lodged 1770). 1765 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
James, Bellanafau, p. Anaghloan (Annaclone). 1720
John, Ballynaghy, p. Seagoe, Co. Armagh. 1785
John, Drumaghdene. 1789
John, Skeagh. 1831
Robert, Ballymackelrany, (lodged 1745). 1742 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
Samuel, Bellany. 1760
Samuel. 1806
Thomas, Dromaghdone. 1762

No Nash.

Porter
Alexander, Duchry. 1771
Alexander, Shanachan. 1820 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
David, Dunmore. 1814
George, Dromore. 1773
Hugh, Tillinasky, p. Garavaghy. 1747
James, Weringsford. 1728
James, Dughary. 1759
John, Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 1723 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
John, Fedney. 1815
Margaret, Drumbrony (lodged 1770). 1769 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
Nicholas, Aughnacavin, p. Donaghmore. 1840
Robert, Dunmore, (lodged 1803) 1803 (date of will only, no probate recorded).

Newry & Mourne (exempt jurisdiction), 1727-1858

No Divine, Devine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan; Lyne, Lyons; Murray; Nash.

Porter, William, Ryan, Co. Down. 1802

Derry Wills, 1612-1858

Devin, Hugh. 1759

Diven
Francis, Strabane. 1772
James. 1805
John, Bearney, p. Camus. 1800
Michael, Altahunny (Altahoney). 1834

Divine, Henry, Belaghs, p. Donaghedy (lodged). 1821

No Dore; Galvan, Gallivan.

Gelvin, Patrick, Cavan, p. Donaghmore. 1808

No Leyne, Lyne.

Lyon
George, Londonderry City. 1835
James, Argry, Co. Donegal. 1626 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
James, Strabane. 1744 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
James, Bunareen alias Seavew, p. Clonmany. 1802
John, Magilligan. 1720

Lyons
John, Strabane. 1811
Robert, Carrick, p. Cappagh. 1784
Robert, Alt, p. Urney. 1816

No Maher, Meagher.

Murray
Anne (alias Connor), Dumbrock. 1791
Edward, Drummuck, p. Maghera. 1828
Aeneas, Londonderry City, gent. 1768
George, Carriaugh. 1793
Henry, Elaghbeg, Co. Donegal. 1770
James, Ardstraw. 1776
John, Coshquien, liberties of Londonderry, p. Templemore. 1739
Margaret. 1797
Mathew, Carnshanaugh, p. Taughboyne. 1775
Robert, (nuncupative). 1780 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
William, Carricue, (Carrickhugh), p. Faughanvale. 1764

Murry, William, Cabragh. 1814

O’Murry, Daniel, Maghera. 1751

No Nash.

Porter
Alexander, Derryvain, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal. 1757
Alexander, Drumsane. 1765
Alexander, Bewheelan (Bohullion, Burt), p. Templemore. 1769
Alexander, Ballymoney, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal. 1799
Charles, Drumgowan, Co. Donegal. 1799
Daniel, Buncrana. 1802
Gabriel, Mullenny, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal, gent. 1766 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
Henry, Drimsamney. 1810
James, Muloughmore, p. Cappagh. 1737
James, Clady, p. Urney. 1777
James, Elaughmore, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal. 1783
James, Castlecooly, Co. Donegal. 1836
Jane, Omagh, p. Drumragh. 1821
John. 1798
John, Strabane. 1804
John, Carnanee, p. Ballyaghran. 1817
John, Cranny, p. Cappagh, farmer. 1823
John, Magheracregan, p. Ardstraw. 1828
John, Speenogue, p. Burt, farmer. 1845
John, Greysteel, Co. Londonderry. 1846
Joseph, Ballymoney. 1855
Mary (alias Coyle), Buncrana. 1783
Moses, Elaughmore, liberites of Londonderry, p. Templemore. 1786
Nehemiah, Mullaughaneery, p. Donaghmore. 1789
Richard, Castleculie, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal. 1702
Richard, Burt, Co. Donegal. 1731
Richard, Milltown, Co. Donegal (nuncupative). 1798
Robert, Castletown, p. Leckpatrick. 1783
Robert, Glencahin, p. Moville. 1785
Robert, Strabane, gent, (original sent to Prerogative Court in 1801). 1793
Samuel, Buchilin, (Bohullion), p. Burt. 1718 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
William, Sceog (Skeoge), Burt, p. Templemore. 1749
William, Killybogan, p. Desertmartin, farmer. 1766
William, Newtownlimavady. 1801 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
William, Clady, p. Urney. 1802
William, Moleny, p. Templemore, Co. Donegal. 1807

Raphoe Wills, 1684-1858

No Devine, Divine; Dore; Galvan, Gallivan; Leyne, Lyne, Lyons; Maher, Meagher.

Murray
Catherine, Drumbarnet. 1806
John, Gartan. 1718 (date of will only, no probate recorded).
John, Maghrihober. 1739
John, Drumbarnett. 1851
Richard, Ballyshannon, surgeon, (entry in Will Book only). 1833

Murrey, Hugh, Creven. 1739 (date of will only, no probate recorded).

Murry, Denis, p. Conwall. 1803

No Nash.

Porter
John. 1702
John, Raphoe, surgeon. 1778
John, Drumbarnet. 1843
Lavinia, alias Colhoune, alias McClean. 1822
Martha, Raphoe. 1754
Robert, Ballyholy. 1753
Stephen, Bogay. 1707 (date of will only, no probate recorded).

Research Help: Vicar’s Will Index Abstracts

In some instances I have taken references to variations on a name which would be missed if you just look for the surname and well known variations. Please refer back to the article on Wills if you do not understand what these indices are. Please do not ask me for any more information on any name here. I have none.

Dore
Alice, Killnockane, Co. Waterford – Spinster. 1722
Mary, widow of Ralph Dore, Nuck Crack, Co. Cork. 1764
Ralph, Cork City, gent. 1789
Thomas, Lisnebrin, Co. Cork. 1740
William, Bantyre, Co. Cork. 1726
William, Belview, Co. Cork, gent. 1808

No Divine or Devine

Divan
Nicholas, Roestown, Co. Louth, farmer. 1768

Duan
Elizabeth, Dublin, spinster. 1758

Duane
William, friar in the Carmellite Convent of Kildare. 1791

No Gallivan, Galvin, Galvan, Gallivin.

Gallphin
Catherine, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. 1789

Leyne
Alson, Dublin, widow. 1706
Gerald, Tramore. 1801

Leynes
Gerald, Tromon, Co. Meath, gent. 1715

Leyns
Christopher, Kilballyporter, Co. Meath, farmer (the contents established by decree)

Lyons
Ann, North Ann Street, Dublin, widow. 1786
Charles, Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, shopkeeper. 1803
David, Belfast, linendraper. 1772
Denis, Croom, Co. Limerick, farmer. 1777
Denis, Croom, Co. Limerick, esq. 1809
Elizabeth, Grafton St., Dublin, widow. 1807
Hannah, Dublin city, widow. 1804
Henry, River Lyons, King’s Co., esq. (Offaly) 1783
James, Newcastle, Co. Dublin, farmer. 1793
Jeremiah, Rainsford St. Dublin, grocer. 1784
John, Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, gent. 1703
John, Ladestown, Co. Westmeath, esq. 1743
John, Dublin, silk mercer. 1798
John, Ladestown, Co. Westmeath, esq. 1804
Mark, Dublin, Merchant. 1756
Patrick, Old Graig, Co. Meath, farmer. 1764
Philip, Dublin, esq. 1782
Redmond, Kilkenny City. 1811
Samuel, Watling St., Dublin, tanner and skinner. 1803
Samuel, Canwick, Co. of the City of Lincoln, esq. 1806
Susanna, Dublin, widow. 1742
Thomas, Dublin, alderman. 1741
Thomas, Old Park, Co. Antrim. 1808

Maher
Daniel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, gent. 1808
Elizabeth, Eden Hall, Co. Kilkenny, widow. 1800
James, Dublin, apothecary. 1800
John, Dublin, apothecary. 1788
Nicholas, Dublin city. 1810
Patrick, Kilrush, Co. Kildare, farmer
Timothy, Pill-lane, Dublin. 1803 (See Meagher)
Timothy, Nicholas St. Dublin. 1810

Meagher
Chas., Thurles, Co. Tipperary. 1751
Dorothy, Dublin, widow. 1734
Edmond, Castletown, Queen’s Co. (Laois), farmer. 1802
Edmond, Thurles, Co. Tipp. 1811
Elizabeth, Dublin. 1757
Henry, Doran, Co. Tipperary, farmer. 1791
James, Kilkenny, innholder. 1753
Jas., Kill, Co. Kildare, farmer. 1760
John, Clonelne, Co. Tip., gent. 1684
John, Toomivara. 1758
John, Tullymacjames, Co. Tipperary, gent. 1761
John, Ballymorris, Co. Tipperary, esq. 1800
John, Castletown, Queen’s Co. gent. 1805
John, Castletown, Queen’s Co. (Laois), farmer 1807
Luke, Kilkenny city, gent. 1784
Michael, Cloneen, Co. Tipp. 1810
Nicholas, Golden Bridge, Co. Tipperary, shoemaker. 1729
Thomas, Kilkenny, merchant. 1715
Wm., Corville, Co. Tipperary, farmer. 1796

Murray
Alexander, D.D. dean of Killala. 1701
Alexander, Dublin, esq. 1771
Alexander, Mountmurray, Co. Westmeath, esq. 1771
Andrew, Fannet, Co. Donegal, esq. 1756
Andrew, Henry St., Dublin, gt. 1772
Ann, Dublin, spinster. 1771
Anne, Dublin, spinster. 1766
Archibold, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, merchant. 1799
Bridget alias Shore, Dublin, furrier. 1790
Bryan, Lishoy, Co. Westmeath, gent. 1788
Catherine, Richmond, Co. Dublin, spinster. 1789
Charles, Dublin, gent. 1744
Creagh, Stratford, Aungier St., Dublin, gent. 1781
David, Dublin, furrier. 1782
David, Gorey, Co. Wexford, shopkeeper. 1792
Edward, Wexford, esq. 1769
Emanuel, Kilkenny city, mchr. 1803
Florinda, widow. 1799
George, Dublin. 1761
George, Belfast. 1789
Geo., Mecklenburgh St., Dublin, gent. 1810
Isaac, Ballintra, Co. Donegal, gent. 1778
James, Killybegs, Co. Donegal. 1752
James, Brocka, Co. Wicklow, farmer. 1793
Jane, Camden St. shopkeeper. 1806
John, Ballyhogodan, Queen’s Co., clerk. (Co. Laois). 1699
John, Warringstown, Co. Down. 1767
John, Waterford, mercht. 1769
John, formerly surgeon to earl Rothes’ regt. 1769
John, Meath St., Dublin, hatter. 1788
John, Monaghan, esq. 1792
John. 1800
John, Grafton St., Dub., haberdasher. 1804
Marcella, Dublin, widow. 1770
Margt., Rainsford St., Dublin, widow. 1790
Michael, Ballymaconnolly, Co. Louth, smith and farrier. 1746
Nathaniel, Dublin, goldsmith. 1805
Patrick, Coolcor, Co. Meath, famer. 1751
Philip, Brayfoot stret, Dublin, clothier. 1758
Richard, Dublin, glover. 1780
Walter, Ravilly, Co. Catherlough, gent. (Co. Carlow) 1696
Walter, Rath, Queen’s Co. (Laois), farmer. 1792
Wm., Ravilly, Co. Catherlogh (Carlow). 1696
Wm., Thomas St., Dublin, innkeeper. 1765
William, Glenevy, Co. Antrim, linendraper. 1774
William, Feikanaughan, Co. Tyrone, esq. 1776
Wm., Lifford, Co. Donegal, esq. 1781
Wm., Drumilihue, Co. Down.

Murrey
David, Douglas in the Isle of Man. 1703
John, par. Of St. Martin in the fields, Middlesex, gt. (copy). 1700
Thos., Braithwaite St., Dublin, widow. (sic.). 1761

Murry
Bryan, Dublin, gent. 1730
Jas., Newtowndally, Co. Dublin, farmer. 1786
John, Harbourstown, Co. Meath, gent. 1664
John, Dublin, woolendraper. 1761
John, Little Mary St., Dublin. 1790
Robert, Dublin, Coachmaker. 1776

Nash
Andrew, Dublin, gent. 1768
Andrew, Ballygalan, Co. Waterford, esq. 1800
Catherine, Mallow. 1751
Charles, Carn, Co. Mayo, esq. 1809
Christian alias Stackpole, Limerick, widow. 1769
David, Kilmichael, Co. Limerick, gent. 1669
Henrietta, Dublin, widow. 1774
James, Limerick. 1790
Jane, Limerick, spinster. 1793
John, Ballymacooley, Co. Cork. 1802
Lewellin, Cork, esq. 1794
Lewellin, South Liberties of Cork, esq. 1805
Mathew, capt. In Royal Irish Artillery. 1800
Michael, Dublin city, gent. 1804
Nicholas, Dublin, esq. 1746
Richd. Ardtagit, Co. Clare, gt. 1725
Richard, Limerick, esq. 1794
Thomas, Ballyscanlan, Co. Limerick, gent. 1780
Wm., Rev., Farrihy, Co. Cork, clk. 1770

Porter
Anne, Dublin, spinster. 1736
Arabella, Dublin, widow. 1743
Frederick, Strabane. 1795
James, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, merchant. 1781
John, Dublin, alderman. 1739
John, St. Martin in the fields, Middlesex. 1789
Mary Anne, Dublin, spinster. 1727
Mary, Dublin, widow. 1729
Mary, Redcross, Co. Wicklow, farmer. 1774
Richard, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, yeoman. 1654
Richard, Miltown, Co. Donegal, farmer. 1774
Robert, Dublin, gent. 1678
Robert, Dublin, gent. 1723
Robt., Farganstown, Co. Meath, gent. 1734
Simon, Carrinchagain, Co. Cavan, gent. 1746
Thomas, parish Ballintogher, King’s Co. (Offaly), late commander of the ‘Viper’ sloop of war. 1775
Thomas, Waterford, esq. 1782
William, Oldbridge, Co. Meath., gent. 1638
William, Liverpool, Lancashire, merchant. 1700
William, Birt, Co. Donegal, merchant. 1742
William, Dunnabore, Co. Armagh. 1778
William, Digges St., Dublin. 1790

Research Help: Irish Parish Records

Galway
Catholic Church Parish Records of Tuam, Co. Galway,

LDS film # 0926234,
Baptisms March 3, 1790 – July 2, 1804
Marriages Jan. 26, 1799 ? – March 6, 1832
Baptisms Oct 24, 1811 – Oct 5, 1829
Baptisms Nov 1, 1829 – April 12, 1845 (the baptisms for 1837 and 1838 are a bit mixed up – it looks like the pages may have been loose and gotten filmed out of order for last of 1837 first of 1838)
Handwriting and ink are pretty good with a few exceptions where the ink has faded.
Note from Laurie Baker : 06 January 2000 22:59
—————————————————————————————————-
Co. Galway Parish Records: (& Co. Cavan – note from Carol Granville)
LDS Film 0989748
Diocese of Elphin – Parish of Roscommon and Kiltivan
Parochial Records 1860-1880

LDS Film 0989756
Diocese of Elphin
Parish of Ahascragh and Killosolon
Parochial Records – 1835-1881

***************************

Cavan:
Co. Cavan:

LDS Film 0926175
Diocese of Meath
Kingscourt/Enniskeen RC Church Records 1838-1880

The records are in English, however, in the earlier records the Christain names are in Latin, e.g., Maria Murphy.

The condition of the films was pretty much the same, great in some parts, poorly photographed in others, some pages were totally illegible.

In the records before mandatory civil registration, the handwritten records (taken from the Cavan film) looked like this:

Nov. 4, 1838
CATHERINE John Reily and Bridget Lynch(?) Sp: Jas. Reily and Anne
Donnelly

Nov. 25, 1838
CATHERINE Terence Reilly and Rose Haggerty(?) Sp: John Hag. and Mary Marin

Dec. 18, 1838
JAMES Owen Clarke and Catherine Reilly Sp:Owen O’Reilly and Rose McMahon

After civil registration, there was more information in the baptisms:

32. MARIA CLARKE Born: March 5, 1864
Jocabus Clarke and Margarita Berns (?) (Briens)
Res: Collops Bapt.: March 18, 1864
Sp: Margarita Berns

38. ROSA CARROLL Born: March 23, 1864
Thomas Carroll and Rose Reilly
Res: Collops Bapt.: March 27, 1864, by J. Maglore, Vicario
Sp: Joannes Lannon and Rose Lannon

45. CATHERINE CARROLL Born: April 16, 1864
Patricius Carroll and Anna Finnegan
Res: Corlea Bapt.: April 17, 1864
Sp: Patricius Finnegan and Rosa Early

The name of the priest who performed the baptisms was also included, as were the occasional notations such as when the person later married, legitimacy, etc. As I recall, this held true for the two Galway parish films.

————————————————————————————-
Limerick
Film # 1279253. Ballybricken &Bohermore Parishes
This film contains a wideassortment of items apparently from a private collection at PRONI, allvery interesting and valuable to anyone searching in Limerick. The
Parish Records Item to which I refer is the 2nd item on the list, and I
feel quite certain would not be found on a regular search for Church
Records.
The number of pages in this item on Ballybricken & Bohermore Parishes totals about 175, with each page containing, on the average, about 25 entries, for a total of well over 4000 names not counting the names of sponsors. >From 1802 on the name of the parish is entered with each entry, and later on there are additional comments such as “illegitimate”, “gratis”, or the amount of fee paid is shown. It is completely typewritten and easy to read.
Note from Ann Staines: January 06, 2000 10:16 PM

Westmeath

LDS film 1279227 items 9-11, description says 1830-1916 but it also included
records from 1820’s. In Latin, fairly legible registers of marriages,
deaths, births. Catholic Parish of Moate and Mount Temple covered parts of
the civil parishes of Kilcleagh in Westmeath, Kilmanaghan in Offaly, and
Ballyloughloe inWestmeath. It was formerly known as Kilcleagh and Ballyloughloe.
There are three chapels: St. Patricks in Moate, St. Kierans in Castledaly
and Corpus Christi in Mount Temple. Requires high magnification reader.

Note from Jim Claffee

LDS film 1279227 items 9-11, Kilmanaghan in Offaly
description says 1830-1916 but it also included
records from 1820’s. In Latin, fairly legible registers of marriages,
deaths, births.Catholic Parish of Moate and Mount Temple covered parts of
the civil parishes of Kilcleagh in Westmeath, Kilmanaghan in Offaly, and
Ballyloughloe in
Westmeath. It was formerly known as Kilcleagh and Ballyloughloe.
There are three chapels: St. Patricks in Moate, St. Kierans in Castledaly
and Corpus Christi in Mount Temple. Requires high magnification reader.
Offaly

Film #926,091 – Registrations of Baptisms – Parish of Birr, King’s Co.

Quite illegible, due to the quality of the writing years: 1874 – 1879.
Most of the surnames were undecipherable, even with a magnifying glass.
Only the names of the child, parents and sponsors were recorded. No
addresses. The records were not organized, just sprawled across the pages.
The language was English.

Film #1279226 Diocese of Ardagh & Clonmacnois
Parish of Cloghan & Banagher (St. Reynagh’s), King’s Co.

This film was much more readable. It contained Baptisms, marriages beginning in 1838 (I think) until at least 1904, and Confirmations right up until sometime in the 1950s.

T births had clearly defined columns forBaptismal date, given name(s), date of birth, parents’ names, sponsors and the priest’s signature. The years 1900 – 1904 were recorded in Latin and easy to read.

Marriages showed bride and groom, names of fathers, sponsors and priest.
Also in Latin, Addresses (at least the name of town) in some of the earlier years.

Note from Valerie

FHL BRITISH Film
571397
Title: Register transcripts, 1613-1860
Authors: Society of Friends. Mountmellick Monthly Meeting (Leix, Ireland)
Contains births, 1613-1860; marriages, 1650-1860; deaths/burials 1648-1860.
——————————————————————————–
The Mountmellick registers are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd items on the film, but there are no title boards nor item numbers listed, and the registers are generally unlabeled.
——————————————————————————–
Mountmellick Monthly Meeting was located in the civil parish of Ardea, county Leix. The city of Mountmellick was divided into two parishes: Ardea and Rosenallis.
——————————————————————————–
Roman Catholic Parish Records:
Diocese Of Killaloe:
Roscrea
Baptisms: Jan 1st 1810-June 13th 1822,
Baptisms: June 17th 1822- July 31st 1832
Marriages: Feb 10th 1810- Aug 4th 1822
Marriages: April 30th 1823- Aug 4th 1832
National Library of Ireland Film No. Pos. 2479
LDS ref: BFA 0979696, Item 1

Baptisms: Aug 5th 1832- Dec 26th 1863
Baptisms: Jan 1st 1864- Dec 24th 1880
National Library of Ireland Film No. Pos. 2480
LDS ref: BFA 0979696, Item 1
Condition of film:
Script:
Info:
Number of pages:
Condition of Film:
Script:
Info:
Number of pages:

Marriages: Aug 14th 1832-Nov 27th 1842
Marriages: Jan 20th 1842- Nov 13th 1880
National Library of Ireland Film No. Pos. 2480

Diocese of Dublin:
Athy
Baptisms: Dec 7th 1779 – March 21st 1797
Baptisms: Sept 11th 1803-Aug 21st 1807
Baptisms: Aug 23rd 1807 – Nov 26th 1816
Baptisms Dec 10th 1821 – March 5th 1837
Baptisms: March 17th 1837 – Aug 14th 1853
Baptisms: Aug 21st 1853 – April 7th 1873
Baptisms: April 9th 1873 – Dec 31st 1880
National Library ref. Pos. 6479/80

Baptisms: 1753-1899:
Kildare HGS.

Marriages: Oct 18th 1779 – Nov 27th 1794
Marriages: Feb 21st 1787-June 11th 1796
Marriages: May 15th 1797 – July 19th 1830
Marriages: Apr 22nd 1826 – Dec 1st 1838
Marriages Jan 27th 1839 – Nov 26th 1863
Marriages Jan 25th 1864 – Oct 25th 1880
NLI Pos. 6479/80
KHGS: Marriages 1779-1899

Diocese of Ossory:
Durrow: Pos. 5013 (No mention made of Seitkyran as being a Laois parish in Grenham)
Grenham however, has this listed under Offaly. The names which appear are similar to those found in Laois films, it’s on a film which mostly has Durrow and Rathdowney.
The overall condition of the film is not too bad. Some placenames are legible.
First Parish on film:
St. Kyran (Seiykieran)
Baptisms: April 11th, 1830 – May 3rd 1857
Marriages: July 4th 1830-June 14th 1857.
Note: Baptisms 1830 – Writing not great but legible.

Second part of film:
Baptisms: June 19th 1857 – December 17th 1880
Marriages: July 9th 1857 – November 27th 1880
Note on film:
“This register is now used as a register of first communions and confirmations – these entries will be found after the Baptisms and marriages respectively. It also contains accounts of other events of Parochail importance”

The script in this section is nice and clear, childs name, sponsors , parents residence – Baptisms.
Marriages: – Nice script, faded though. Bride and Groom, sponsors and residencee in some instances. All in English.

Durrow Parish:
Baptisms: Jan 1st 1789 – March 30th 1792
Baptisms: Jan 2nd 1801 – Feb 28th 1805
(Also a modest transcript of those two sections)
Baptisms June 9th 1811 – Jan 27th 1820.

Marriages: July 29th 1811 – March 27th 1820

First page in terrible condition, ink faded, blotched, legible only in spots.
Jan 6th and 9th 1789 were partly legible – the rest of that year was almost faded completely. Other baptisms for that period were filled in from the transcript which was very clear and legible – written c. 1911
Note – very easy to confuse the letters P for B in this register. In places there are names which should be spelled with a B but which I was writing down initially with the P until I realised this and that it was the way the B was written at that time or by the person who kept the record. Flowery.

July 6th to 27th 1790, very difficult to read. I couldn’t manage it properly.

Durrow & Aughmacart:
Baptisms: May 19th 1822 – Feb 18th 1827
Marriages May 23rd 1822 – Sept 18th 1827
No note in Grenham of Aughmacart which is listed as an R.C. parish in Lewis, in Durrow district, but with a church in Cullohill.

Pages are nicely laid out, relatively quick to read through – 10-15 mins as opposed to 25 for other parish records. There are approximately 49 pages of records.

On the Baptismal records the mothers married name is given and not her maiden in many in the first few records at least

Durrow Parish:
Baptisms: May 26th 1832 – Feb 1st 1857
Marriages: July 17th 1832 – May 28th 1860.

No notes made on condition of register. About 20 mins to transcribe a page and there are approximately 264 pages.

Baptisms:
March 1857 – 1880
Approximately 105 pages. 15 mins to transcribe one full page.

Durrow
Marriages: June 9th 1861 – ?Nov 18th 1880.
First page lists groom name & surname where from, bride names and surname where from and witnesses – check!!

Pos. 4202 Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin
Ballydams Parish
Baptisms Feb 9th 1845 – June 14th 1874
Marriages: March 31st 1843 – April 25th 1874
(Modern transcript made in 1940)
Lovely neat script.
Baptisms: Child’s Name, Parents, place of Birth and sponsors names

Approximately 98 pages

Marriages: Hand writing not as neat, harder to read.
Date, parties involved, residence, impediment, sponsors
March 31st 1845 not 1843 as noted on title piece of paper.
Appriximately 39 pages

Ballyadams Parish:
Baptisms Jan 3rd 1820 – Feb 28th 1847
Marriages Jan 12th 1820 – November 24th 1853
Writing ‘squashed’, spidery, notebook small.

Approximately 69 pages.

Ballinakill Parish
Baptisms: April 1877 – Dec 20th 1880
Name, Surname, Parents, Placename, date, Witnesses. Some further notes re marriages etc.
Real register – headed columns. Writing ‘spidery’
Approximately 13 pages

Marriages May 22nd 1877 – nove 3rd 1880
Names, Where they were from date and Witnesses.
2 pages only.

Ballinakill, Ballyroan, Abbeyleix and Knocgordegur parishes
Marriages Nov 3rd 1820 – Nov 25th 1875
Baptisms: Dysert Galen Parish. Sept 29th 1872 – June 11th 1876
Approx 20 pages. Small notebook. ‘Squashed, spidery’ writing, difficult to read.

Ballenakill, Ballyroan, Abbeyleix, & Knocgorderger parishes.
Baptisms:
Nov 4th 1820 – Sept 29th 1872
Terrible condition!!
Approx. 356 pages.

Ballynakill Parish
Baptisms Oct 14th 1794 – March 19th 1855
Jan 16th 1820 – May 26th 1820
Marriages Oct 27th 1794 – Feb 7th 1815
Jan 15th 1820 – July 78th 1820
Deaths Oct 30th 1794 – Feb 25th 1815
Unctions Oct 29th 1794 – Feb 28th 1807
The earlier register pages – from 1794 are all mixed up – deaths, unctions, marriages – Pages are small and further subdivided into two columns – marriages may be on one side of pae and then unctions or deaths on facing page. Bad condition – difficult to read, squashed spidery writing!!!

LDS Film # 883818

1. Carlisle, Cumberland England (St. Cuthbert), marriages, 1752-1862
2. Ryde, Hampshire England, marriages, 1719-1837
3. Shalden, Hampshire England, marriages, 1687-1836
4. Stabannan, Louth Ireland, marriages, 1698-1844
5. Drung, Cavan Ireland, marriages, 1751-1827
6. Doneraile, Cork Ireland, marriages, 1741-1880
7. Computer printout of Ecclesfield, Yorks. England
8. Rathkeale, Limerick Ireland, marriages, 1743-1845
9. Templemichael, Longford, Ireland, marriages, 1777-1819
10. Drogheda, Louth Ireland (Saint Peter), marriages, 1747-1772
11. Dundalk, Louth Ireland, marriages, 1750-1803
12. Donaghmore, Tyrone Ireland, marriages, 1741-1825
13. ?? (nothing listed here)
14. Kill St. Nicholas, Waterford Ireland, marriages, 1730-1861
15. Tallow, Waterford Ireland, marriages, 1776-1796
16. Mallow, Cork Ireland, marriages, 1776-1880
17. CastleIsland, Kerry Ireland, marriages, (Roman Catholic Church) 1822-1880
18. Currow, Kerry Ireland, marriages, (Roman Catholic Church), 1803-1880
19. Glen Flesk, Kerry Ireland, marriages, (Roman Catholic Church) 1831-1880
Anita in Philadelphia.

Clogher Diocese (R.C.)
Killeevan (Newbliss)
Baptisms: Jan 29th 1871-Dec 30th 1881

Marriages: Jan 29th 1871-Dec 30th 1881

All in Latin. Script is bad, books are in poor condition before filming.
Ink faded. Very difficult to read!
Bride and Grooms names; where they lived, their fathers names (in most
cases); the date, priests name; witnesses and where the witnesses lived.
P. 5577 National Library Dublin.

Each entry takes two pages, straight line across – about 18 pages of entries in all.

While the baptisms are supposed to have begun in 1871, I thought I saw a date of 1869

Clogher Diocese
Roslea Parish
Baptisms: Jan 6th 1862-Dec 26th 1880

Script is bad in the beginning and only a bit better later, ink is still ok, book was in bad condition before filming. Entries can be hard to read and some even more difficult because of repairs to book.
In Latin

First page:
MacKenna, Catherin, 5th Jan 1862.
Father: Patricius McKenna (or Mateus??)
Mother: Anna Fye
From:??????????
Sponsors: Patricius McKenna & Catherine McKenna
Jacob D????: Priest

Clearkin, Patricius, 6th Jan 1862
Father: Thomas Clearkin
Mother: Anna Murray
From: ?Grah????
Sponsors: Eugenius Clearkin, Rosa Mac ??Martin
Thomas Murphy: Priest

Eugenius Smyth, 7th Jan 1862
Father: ?Edward Smyth
Mother : Marguerite Smyth
From: Coordulage
Sponsors: Maria Smyth (one only)
Thomas Murphy: priest

?Quin, Teresa, 8th Jan 1862
Father: Hugo ?Quin
Mother: Catherine D????egan (might be Donegan)
From: ?? Mullinahinch
Sponsor: Anna Mac Coy
Thomas Murphy Priest

Jacobus King, 8th Jan 1862
Father: Jacobus King
Mother: Helena ?McEnany
From:??Scrabby
Sponsors: Johannus McKenna
Maria Anna King

Bridgitta King, 9th Jan 1862
Father: Patricius Rooney
Bridgitta Biggan
From: Derry??ann
Sponsors: Michael Rooney
Maria Boyle

Patricius Murray, 12th Jan 1862
Father: Patricius Murray
Mother: Rosa McAloon
From: Gragharevin
Sponsors: Michael Murray
Bridgitta Murray

Anna McCaffrey, 16th Jan 1862
Father: Michael McCaffry
Mother: Anna Boyle
From: Annagolgra
Sponsors: Patricius McCaffry
Catherine ?Swift

Sara Anna Benson, 20th Jan 1862
Father: Gulielanus Benson
Mother: Marguerite ?Connolly
Sponsors: Jacobus McKenna
Maria ?Connolly

Rosa Quigly, 22nd Jan 1862
Father: Hugo Quigly
Mother: Maria Anna Martin
From: Derryh??
Sponsors: Patricius Carolan
Maria Carolan

Patricius Mullarky, Jan 21st 1862 (may be Killarky)
Father: Patricius Mullarky
Mother: Helena McGuinness
From: ?Bantoher
Sponsors: Johannes Martin
Elizabetha Mullarky

Patricius Short
Father: Giovanius Short
Mother: Elizabeth Smyth
From: D?????????
Sponsors: Johannus Smyth
Anna Smyth

Alicia McCormick, 28th Jan 1862
Father: Johannus McCormick
Mother: ?Elizabetha Brown
From: Derry???den
Sponsors: Jacobus Brennan
Helena Brennan

Edwardos Maguire, 31st Jan 1862
Father: Michael Maguire
Mother: Catherine ????
Sponsor: Bernardus ?Handy

Jacobus Doran, Jan 28th 1862
Father: Jacobus Doran
Mother: Elizabetha McMahon
From:???
Sponsor: Maria Smyth

Patricius Creighan, Feb 6th 1862
Father: Patricius Creighan
Mother: Helena Maguire
From: A??lee
Sponsors: Bernardus ?McElguin
Catherine ????

There are approximately 2000 entries in this register and the reading does not get easier!! Entries straight lines across on two pages. The above is an example of how many entries are found on any two pages.

Names found: (other names from the first pages on. Overall there is no really noticeable difference in the surnames from the early entries to the later ones – the name McAloon is spelled as McAloon in the early entries and seems to be McLoon in the later ones

Surnames:
?Bright
?Farmer
?Troy
Ardle
Beighan
Boyle
Breslin
Brians
Brown
Butler
Cadden
Cadin
Callaghan
Carbin
Carrigan
Cassidy
Clarke
Clifford
Conlan
Connors
Conroy
Coogan
Corr
Cosgrove
Coyne
Cunningham
Curley
Dallon
Dawson
Devitt
Dogherty
Donaghy
Duggan
Elliott
Fields
Finlay
Flannigan
Flynn
Fole or Tole
Fye
Gallagher
Gunn
Halfpenny
Hanavan
Hanigan
Hare
Henderson
Henry
Higgins
Howley or Hewey
Johnston
Keenan
Kernan
Lally
Leech
Leonard
Levy
Loughman
Lynch
Magilly
Maginty
McAree
McCabe
McCarron
McCart
McClane or McClare
McCluskey
McDonald
McElroy
McElry
McEneny
McEntee
McGinly
McGinty
McGorman
McGuirk
McLoon
McManus
McPhillips
McQuade
McQuellan
Meehan
Moyna
Mullarky
Nolan
O’Hara
O’Kane
Prunty
Rooney
Ross
Rourke
Rush
Sherridan
Sherry
Shiels
Slowey
Sweeney
Swilly
Thompson
Toale
Traynor
Tunney
Veldon
White

Research Help: New to Genealogy or the Internet?

The internet has opened up a whole new world for so many, it brings in all age groups. I have met people from the age of fourteen to the age of eighty who seek their Irish Ancestry and use this medium. The world has become a very small place thanks to the internet, yet, people can wander all over and get lost very, very easily. I would like to try and give you some directions to take as you begin, and you will learn as you go along.

The first place to point you to is the Rootsweb site. It doesn’t matter what part of the world you live in, this is a centre for genealogy. Here, you will find mail lists, dealing with every country and every surname imaginable. Sometimes, the home page can be a bit confusing or mind boggling.

If you only have a surname to begin with then your search will be harder. For example, when I do a search for the surname ‘Lyons’, filling in Lyons as the given name and Lyons as the surname, then I get many results. One of the results is this:”SearchThingy has 10432 matches for keyword(s) Lyons Lyons” . If I change my search from simply the surname ‘Lyons’ and look for given name ‘Matthew’ the same SearchThingy search engine gives me 1098 matches. It would take a long time to go through all of these results.

So I would like to try and make the first steps into genealogy a bit easier for you.

We will begin with how to subscribe to mail lists at Rootsweb and then deal with searching the list archives.

If you have only a surname from Ireland then one of the best things to do is check out the Matthesons On line Report which gives the most common locations for some surnames. You will find this located on the PRONI website. That will give you some ideas for county lists which you may decide to subscribe to.

Rootsweb Mail Lists

County or Area

If you know the county your ancestors came from, or the area in a county, you can do the same with the county mail lists or area lists. Rootsweb maintains the following mail lists which relate to Ireland: Please note that while this is the list as shown on the Rootsweb site, there is at least one county mail list that I know of missing from this table and that is the County Fermanagh list, which is called just that – FERMANAGH

There are two ways of subscribing to any list. You can subscribe in the full ‘List (L)’ mode or the ‘Digest (D)’ mode.

If you subscribe to any list in the ‘L’ mode then you will receive all mail which goes to that list, including any you send to it as and when they are sent. If you subscribe to the Digest mode then you will receive a mail from that list once a day, or once every two or three days, depending on how the List Administrator also known as the List Manager sets their list.

To subscribe to any of the above lists in the ‘L’ mode, you simply click on the list name when you are on the Rootsweb Ireland page a new page will open up giving you subscription details for that list, once you click on the subscribe mail address a new e-mail will open up in your browser which will be addressed to:

NAME OF LIST-L-request@rootsweb.com

You do not put anything in the ‘subject’ line of your e-mail and you simply type the word subscribe in the mail body and then send. A few minutes later the list robot will send you back an e-mail saying ‘You are now subscribed to NAME OF LIST and with details pertaining to that list. Normally, this will have the List Administrator or List Manager’s welcome message, telling you what the general content of the list is, there will be a portion on how to subscribe and how to unsubscribe and a section on how to subscribe to the ‘Digest’ form of that list.

If you are a busy person, or it is a busy list, then to subscribe to the digest mode is much handier. When you receive a digest mail it comes as one e-mail with all the e-mails which were sent to the list over the period set by the List Administrator (a day or more) as ‘attachments’. One thing to note here, the sending of a Digest is an automatic process, the Digest will be sent to you automatically and if no posts had been sent to the list itself, then you will receive an empty e-mail. There will be no attachments. With a digest mail, you can just read through the contents and see if any of those mails are of interest to you and if not, simply delete the ‘Digest’ mail and it’s attachments. This can save a lot of time with a busy list. Particularly when a List Administrator has a ‘Roll Call’ period when many people send in their family details. To subscribe to the digest form of any list the e-mail address you click on the mail address on the page you are looking at which has a ‘D’ in the address e.g. WEXFORD-D-request@rootsweb.com and then key in subscribe to the body of the mail with nothing on the subject line.

One thing to note here, the sending of a Digest is an automatic process, the Digest will be sent to you automatically and if no posts had been sent to the list itself, then you will receive an empty e-mail. There will be no attachments.

Surname Lists

Go to the mail lists themselves and see if there is a surname list to go with your name. Rootsweb has a Surname Mail List section, on the Mail List page. Follow the subscribe instructions for any Surname List. With surnames, you have to watch out, because there may be more than one variation on your spelling and everyone likes to think that theirs is the original version and so should be the only one. The fact is that all variations will probably have come from the same root source but will have changed differently depending on phonetics. If there is more than one – search them all. If there is more than one – subscribe to them all also, if you wish. You never know who will turn up some day, just as confused as you were in the beginning and who has that missing link that you seek.

Following Subscription

Messages and posting to a list.

When you have subscribed to any list no matter which type, and you have received that welcome message, then you will begin to receive the mail which goes to that list. Here again, List Managers can set their list to one of two ways for replies. Most lists will be set so that if you reply to author then the reply you write will go to the person who wrote the mail initially. not to the list. However, some List Managers have their lists set so that all replies to any mail which goes to that list will go to the list itself and not the author of the mail, for example the IRL-TYRONE list above is set in this way. So, that is something to watch out for also.

If you want to reply to the person who sent in a mail and have the other people on the list see your reply – then you ‘Reply to All’.

When you are writing a mail to any list you write to the

NAME OF LIST -L@rootsweb.com. You do not write your mail to the

NAME OF LIST -L-request@rootsweb.com because that will not go to the list, but to the list robot who will send it back to you. You remove the “-request” from the email address first, then your post will go to that list

The majority of the lists are pretty friendly places, most of them have at least one person who is very interested in the county or area and who has some knowledge about how to do research, so just read the mails that come to your mail box from any list for a few days and then join in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and if you put in a request for information on your surname, don’t give up when you get no immediate reply. Researching your ancestors can take a long, long time and maybe some day someone new will turn up on that list who will search the archives and find your original message and say ‘Hey, I have those names in my tree’.

Searching the Archives of Lists.

There are two ways of searching the Rootsweb Archives. Interactive Search and Threaded Archives. We’ll take County Clare as an example here. IRL-CLARE

Open the Rootsweb Home Page, scroll down to Mail Lists and you will see the ‘Interactive Search’ and ‘Threaded Archives’

Interactive Searches

An interactive search will give you results for a specific word, words or name – even an e-mail address. On the search page you key in whatever word or words it is that you seek, you tick the year you are searching the archives for and then you search. The result will tell you how many posts were made to that list in that year, and how many results there are for your search. The posts are numbered from the first to the list in a year to the last, so the number you get is simply the order in which the posts went to that list.

Threaded Archives Search

Highlight the Threaded Archives on the Rootsweb Home page, and then highlight the letter ‘I’ click this, don’t be frightened by the box of ‘I’s’; scroll down the box until you find Ireland and you will find a section of mailing lists relating to Ireland, beginning with * IRELAN * IRELAND and the last mailing list for Ireland in this box is IRL-WICKLOW * The list is the same as the list I give above. Once you highlight any of those list names you will get a page which looks like the following for County Clare. In some instances the archives may only have begun recently and in others such as this one, they will go back to 1998

IRL-CLARE Mailing List – Threaded Archives Search Results.

The month, the year and the number of messages to that list in that month.

November 1998 – 1 messages
January 1999 – 2 messages
August 1999 – 7 messages
September 1999 – 177 messages
October 1999 – 127 messages
November 1999 – 220 messages
December 1999 – 164 messages
January 2000 – 245 messages
February 2000 – 127 messages
March 2000 – 108 messages
April 2000 – 98 messages
May 2000 – 151 messages
June 2000 – 73 messages
July 2000 – 103 messages
August 2000 – 55 messages
September 2000 – 125 messages
October 2000 – 132 messages
November 2000 – 192 messages
December 2000 – 62 messages
January 2001 – 105 messages
February 2001 – 103 messages
March 2001 – 114 messages

If you click on any of these months you will see all the messages posted to the Clare list in that month, sorted by subject matter. Replies are listed under the original message regardless of the date that they were sent.

So, subscribing to Rootsweb Mail Lists, and searching through the Archives for each mail list is all very simple really.

To Unsubscribe

To unsubscribe from any list you send another message to the NAME OF LIST-L-request@rootsweb.com and put unsubscribe in the body of your mail. Again, nothing in the subject line. Sometimes, you may be told that you have been unsubscribed and still receive mail from that list. Just try again, it usually works the second time around and if you don’t succeed then simply write a mail to the List Manager/Adminisrator and they can manually unsubscribe you.

Latter Day Saints On-line Library Catalogue and Search Aids

The next place to go to is the Latter day Saints Family Library Catalogue – or you could go to their research guides and search for Ireland, (there you will find information on how to do Irish Research).

Once you have opened the Library Search Home Page, you are faced with the following:

Catalogue Search: On this page, you have a box with the following options: Place/Surname/Author/Call Number/ Film or Fiche Search choice.

Clicking ‘Place’ and searching for Laois as our example (Laois was also known as Queen’s County or Leix)

The result is a table showing Laois and Leix in it’s columns (right hand side of the screen). This means that Latter Day Saints Library have all items relating to county Laois tied together under a Laois/Leix heading. Whatever they have relating to either name will be in the next box. There will be no more information hidden anywhere else.

So – from there when we click on Leix we get another table (again on the right hand side of the screen) and with the following headings:

Place: Ireland, Leix

References: (Use for) Ireland, Laoighis
(Use for) Ireland, Laois
(Use for) Ireland, Queen’s

and underneath these are listed the ‘Topics’ covered. Before each topic will be the name of the country and the name of the county.

Topics:

Ireland, Leix – Biography
Cemeteries
Census – Indexes – 1911
Church history
Church records
Church records – Indexes
Historical geography
History
– History – 19th century – Biography
History – 20th century – Biography
Land and property
Manors
Military history
Officials and employees
Officials and employees – Biography
Probate records
Probate records – Indexes
Taxation
Vital records
Voting registers

Lots of headings to search, however, for some topics there is no further reference and then for others there is a reference which is the same reference given for a number of other topics on the above list.

However – this is the way to find out what the LDS library has on film or in hard copy that you may borrow through your local centre. If you have one. once you find a reference under any topic then you continue to follow the links until you find a catalogue or film number for that reference. Most material which has been published in the last century has not been filmed due to copyright law or restrictions.

To do a search for any county will be the same as for Laois. You will get the same topic headings and then some different references. Some references cover more than one county as for example with the Marriage Licence Bonds.

Irish Library Catalogue Searches

There is something else you can do as well – you can search the online library catalogue of some university libraries in Ireland, this won’t give you a book, but it will give you titles of books and from there you may possibly be able to order these books through your own local library if it has an inter-libarary loan facility.

Go to the Home Page for University College Dublin

Click on the word ‘Library’ on the University Home Page and then go to the ‘new catalogue search.’

As an example, I have used the keyword search, and searched for ‘Monaghan’ and my result showed that there are 84 references in the library with that word in their title. However, when I then open the references I am given list a list of titles 1-10 of 63 (small discrepancy)

The Result when I show this first list of 1-10 is actually a table, with four columns.

Title – Author – Date – Classmark – Link and the results down along each column. I am just listing the Titles and Authors here for my result.

RESULT of Search:

Keyword Search Main Catalogue

——————————————————————————–

Displaying references for keyword: ‘MONAGHAN’
Click on a title to display copy information. References : 1 to 10 of 63

——————————————————————————–

Title Author Date Classmark Link
Homelessness in Counties Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan
Agriculture in County Monaghan
Annual report – County Monaghan Committee of Agriculture
The Midlands : Longford, Cavan, Laois, Westmeath, Roscommon, Monaghan, Offa
The territorial organisation of Gaelic landownership and its transformation Duffy, P. J. PC
The plight of Monaghan Protestants, 1912-26 / Terence Dooley Dooley, Terence A. M.
Monaghan urban development plan 2000-2005 / Monaghan Urban District Council Monaghan, Ireland, Urban District Council 2000
Parnham’s 1911 census references for Ireland; Co. Leitrim, Limerick, Longfor Parnham, John
Plean forbartha an Chontae 1999 / Monaghan County Council Monaghan, Ireland : County, County Council 1999
At the ford of the birches : the history of Ballybay, it’s[sic] people and v Murnane, James H. 1999

——————————————————————————–

When you have a result such as this, then clicking the title on the page will give you another result and this gives you details about the book such as listed below for another Monaghan book (not on the above result)

Author Livingstone,Peadar
Title The Monaghan story :a documented history of the County Monaghan from the earliest times to 1976
Publisher Enniskillen:Clogher Historical Society,1980
Description 693p,ill,23cm,
Subject Monaghan (Ireland),History,
Control number 0950104744

In this way, I may not find books which are currently on sale in bookshops around the world, but I can find out the Titles of books or articles which have been written in the past relating to the place/surname/topic I am interested in. From there, I can search the antiquarian book shops and/or try to find a library in my locality which takes part in an inter-library loan scheme, or, I can go to the various web sites which have on-line auctions (such as e-bay) and there I can find whether someone has this book, and wants to sell it. If I search for this book on the internet, I may find the names of of antiquarian dealers in Ireland or elsewhere, who do sell material through the internet and who may have this book.

Research Help: Don’t Pen Them In

By ‘them’, I mean your ancestors.

The Irish moved around, no matter how much any person would like to think that they didn’t – and then, even though this may sound like a contradiction – they didn’t move. They stayed as close to home as possible – generally.

You see, the home place – that was always there, from the time of the Griffiths valuation, for most of us, so long as we knew where they were – where the ‘Home place’ was at that time, and so long as they were farmers, well, to this day, for the majority of us there will still be some member of that family living in that home place.

That piece of property will have passed down through the generations to descendants of the one member of that family who stayed and worked the home farm.

That person – their siblings will have moved around the place. They may have gone to the nearest big town., they may have moved off to another farm in the area – that farm, in that area, may have been right next door to or across the road from the original home farm, it may have been in another parish, it may, like my Grandfathers farm have been in another county altogether, but lying right beside the home farm – they may have emigrated.

Generally speaking, or on average, there will have been 5-10+ children in any family – maybe not all of them will have survived to adulthood. If they were Catholics then at least one girl will have become a nun, at least one boy will have become a priest. In some cases, two or three of each may have joined some religious order – that order, may have records

You don’t have to go picking up all information on any surname in an area – there were a limited number of first names in use, so the changes of John Murphy from ‘A’ place being the same John Murphy as the one listed in ‘B’ place at a later stage are very low – BUT John Richardson in an area where there was only one Richardson family – well, the chances of him being related to the Richardson family in another area are very high.

Pick up as much as you can from any area on the uncommon names – be they surnames or first names. I see people looking to connect with others from the same place the whole time, and I just can’t understand why they stay totally focused on only people from that townland or parish.

Instead of looking at the parish your ancestors came from as being where you will find more descendants of that same family – why don’t you take out a map, and look at it – then, take the townland your ancestors came from and using a compass, draw yourselves a circle with the townland as your focus – you can make your circle any size you want………..work within that circlee initially, check out the first names of other families of that surname in that circle – check parish records from around the area you are interested in – if your circle takes in more than one religious parish, don’t just focus on the records for your parish, don’t kick your heels up and say “woe is me”, as soon as you find out that those particular records don’t cover the time frame you are interested in. Try the other parish records – you don’t know, none of us does, maybe the particular townland you are interested in actualy belonged to another religious parish at some stage, maybe all the records you need are listed in some other parish records, but you’re not thinking with an open mind.

Focus on unusual first names in a family – always remember that only one member of the family could live on the family farm – the rest of the family had to go somewhere else, the majority will have hovered towards the nearest major town or place of employment closest to home. Find out what was around that central or focus point (your townland ) that gave local employment – then, home in on the places around that place. Does your surname occur in that area. Did it occur in that area previously – whatever the earliest records that exist are?

OK -so – there may not be that many official records to work with – and genealogy is quite often a guessing game.

Home is very important, the first and focal point. For men, it was easier to keep this at the centre – girls, not so easy – but, usually, when they were married off, it was to people in their own parish or close to home – or, for upper classes, they’d have married within their own social grouping, regardless of how far that person lived from the home point – the thing is that both families will have known one another through some common connection – for all classes.

Men, boys, young men – they’d have gone for employment as close to home as they could – so long as they didn’t join the army or emigrate. If they couldn’t find employment close to home in the nearest big town, then, it would have been the most accessible town.

Canals – people seem to forget our waterways as modes of transport – rivers also – then, yes, it could take a day or so to get to Dublin by carriage/horse………..but they did it. Once you have that central circle built for yourself, find out about modes of transport from that point – where did it go to?

Walking – your ancestors (and mine) thought nothing of walking ten miles to somewhere for anything – to them, getting from A to B without some form of mechanical transport was nothing – to us, it may be major – don’t think in terms of movement as it is for us today

My father walked a few miles to school every day – we heard about it all of our lives, he’d begin to talk about it and we’d all groan or laugh and say ‘barefoot and through the snow’…………..

I probably walked a half mile or more, to school up to the age of ten and thought nothing of it. Today, there’d be a bus for the same journey.

My Grandfather rode a bicycle from Galway to Longford early in the last century and thought nothing of it.

20 years ago, my brother rode a bike from Laois to west Cork and everybody considered it to be a major event.

My Great Grandfather moved from Kerry to Cork and thence to Belfast. If I didn’t know he had done that, then I’d ignore all people of his surname registered in the Belfast Civil books – but, I do know that he did, and I do know that my Grandmother and her siblings were all registered in the civil books in Belfast with different spellings of their surname, regardless of the fact that my Great Grandfather was an educated man. I do know that my Granny married my Grandad whose family had always been from Donegal, but his father had bought him a farm right next door to the home farm in Donegal, except my Grandfathers farm was in County Tyrone – different county, different parish – and – I also know that their children (incl. my mother) were registered in the civil book in Belfast, County Antrim.

The thing is though, my Granny and my Grampa (Donegal/Tyrone) – they had siblings, and whilst neither of them remained in the family home, each of those ‘family homes’ is still owned and lived in by some member of the family who is a descendant of one of their siblings. The same goes for my Great Grandfather who left from Kerry and went to Belfast – and my Grandfather who went from Galway to Longford.

My Granny – her family (Donegal & Tyrone), the majority of the immediate family (parents and siblings) – they all then moved to Kildare – and my Granny and Grampa with their children also moved.

Anyway – ’nuff said.

Who-ever your ancestor is – whatever part of Ireland they came from, they had brothers and sisters and most likely at least one member of that family was registered on a plot of land in the Griffiths Valuation. That person, is the one of the Home Farm – look for other member of that family who emigrated from that townland if you like, connect with them – but – stay as open-minded as you can in relation to other member of that same family who remained in Ireland. They will not necessarily have stayed in the same
townland – they will have gone where the work was.

The same as it is today.

Research Help: Convert Rolls Explanation and Examples

The ‘Act to prevent the further growth of popery’ was passed in 1703 and it made it obligatory on converts from Catholicism to Protestantism to provide proof of conformity. According to the Act a Protestant was a member of the Church of Ireland and not any other non Catholic religion.

If a Catholic ‘converted or conformed’ to Protestantism and provided this proof then being ‘enrolled’ as a Protestant all rights were restored to him. This took effect from the date of the enrolment and not the date of conversion. The Act said that:
“The said Court of Chancery is hereby required to take care that distinct rolls be kept for the enrolment of such certificates which shall publicly hang up or lie in some public office of place belonging to the said Court to be appointed, where all persons may at all reasonable times resort to and peruse the same without fee or reward, and for the enrolment of each and every such certificate the sum of six pence and no more shall be paid”.

These rolls were known as the Convert Rolls.

In order to convert the person read his renunciation of Catholicism in front of a clergyman and congregation at a public service. He then got a certificate saying he was a convert from the Bishop of the Diocese and enrolled it in the court of Chancery. The Bishops certificate was necessary until 1782 and from there on it was enough that the convert would receive the Sacrament from a Minister of the Church of Ireland, take the oath before him and file a certificate to that effect in the Court fo Chancery.

The Convert Rolls were destroyed in the fire in the Four Courts (Irish Public Records Office) in 1922. But they had been calendared and recorded (as were so many other documents). The Calendar is in two volumes, Volume 1 covers the years 1703-1789 and has about 5,500 names and Vol. 2 covers 1789-1838 with 380 names and of these there were only 73 between 1800 & 1838.

Names are entered in alphabetical order, date of enrolment and date of certification, for some the address is also lists. Most people enrolled in Dublin:

1703-1731 : 700 people enrolled, mainly people who were well off.
1732-1741: 600 people
1742-1751: 549
1752-1761: 864
1762-1771: 1,347
1772-1789: 1,421
1789: 1838: 385

Most of the converts were men, but there are about 1,500 women mentioned. Almost 600 of these are described as married with approximately 40 widows, the remainder being unspecified or spinsters, daughters of gentlemen.

The list of convert rolls was published by the Irish Manuscripts Office in 1981 and could at that time be purchased from the Government Publications Office.

The following is a selection of extracts from the calandars relating to people from Galway, giving examples of the type of information contained therein. This is not the full list for any of the surnames from Galway or with Galway connections. The word Galway, may refer to the county of Galway or the Church of Ireland Diocese of Galway. The calandars contain information on people from all Irish counties.

Adams, Isabella, spinster, Galway, cert. 15 June 1756, enrolled 5 July 1756 (A). Conformity 12 June 1756 (B)

Arcedeckne, Mathias, and Mary his wife, Carrowmore, Co Galway, cert. 9 February 1721, enrolled 23 February 1721 (A). Arcedeckne, Mathias, Co Galway, and Mary Arcedeckne, alias Hannin, his wife, conformity 21 January 1721 (B). Arcedecne, Mathew, and Mary his wife (C).

Arcedeckne, Nicholas, Clonluskeen, cert. 10 April 1733, enrolled 9 August 1733 (A). Of Clonlusket, d. Clonfert, confonnity 8 April 1733 (B).

Archdeacon, Mathew, and Mary, his wife, Co Galway, cert. and enrolled 23 September 1719 (A). Archdeacon, Mathias, gent., and Archdeacon, Mary, alias Hannin, of the Co of Galway, conformity 23 August 1719 (B). Arcedecne, Mat., and his wife, enrolled 24 September 1719 (C).(D).

Arthur, Bridget, spinster, Tuam, cert. 20 February 1745, enrolled 28 February 1745 (A). D. Tuam, conformity 26 January 1745 (B).

Arthur, Cath., cert. 11 July 1737, enrolled 13 July 1737 (A). Arthur, Mrs Aylward, John, Esq., Ballynegare, Co Galway, cert. 20 May 1725, enrolled 21 May 1725 (A). Conformity 19 May 1725 (B). (C). (0).

Barrett, Maurice, Eyrecourt, Co Galway, cert. 30 April 1741, enrolled 23 December 1741 (A). Conformity 6 December 1741, cert. 22 December 1741 (B).

Bermingham, John, Tuam, cert. 12 November 1772, enrolled 9 February 1773 (A). Gent (D).

Bermingham, Myles, Cornomanane, cert. 6 March 1731, enrolled 29 March 1732 (A). Of Cornomenane, Co Galway, conformity 6 February 1731 (B). Enrolled 19 March 1731 (C).

Bermingham, Peter, gent., cert. 28 April 1735, enrolled 6 May 1735 (A). P. Ross, d. Tuam, conformity 27 April 1735 (B). Of Keilbegg, Co Galway (D).

Beytagh, Gerald; gent., Drum, Co Galway, cert. 18 August 1753, enrolled 21 August 1753 (A). D. Tuam, conformity 17 August 1753 (B).

Blake, Andrew, Tuam, cert. and enrolled 13 December 1727 (A). Blake, Mr Andrew, of Fartaghar, d. Tuam, conformity 9 December 1727 (B). Enrolled 12 December 1727 (C).

Blake, Anthony, Esq ., Creggmore, Co Galway, cert. and enrolled 11 May 1743 (A). Conformity 14 November 1742 (B).

Blake, Anthony, Esq., Drum. Co Galway, cert. 1 October 1753, enrolled 20 October 1753 (A). Conformity 22 ApriI1753 (B). (D).

Blake, Bridget, cert. 26 August 1723, enrolled 28 August 1723 (A). D. Clonfert, conformity 17 August 1723 (B). (C).

Blake, Christian, spinster, Moorefield, Co Galway, cert. 1 June 1741, enrolled 26 October 1741 (A). Daughter to Stephen Blake of

Blake, Elizabeth, Dublin, cert. 10 June 1709, enrolled 14 December 1709 (A). Conformity 10 June 1706 (B). (C): Wife to Richard Blake, of Ardfry , Co Galway, Esq. (D).

Blake, Francis, Co Galway, cert. and enrolled 19 February 1734 (A).

Blake, Mr Francis, late of Furbough, Co Galway, conformity 17 February 1734 (B). (D).

Blakeney, Catherine, Moylough, Co Galway, cert. 18 November 1767, enrolled 20 February 1768 (A). Conformity 17 November 1767 (B).

Bodkin, Alexander, Anavally, Co Galway, cert. 31 December 1720, enrolled 2 January 1720 (A). Son to Marcus Bodkin, of Anavally , conformity 4 December 1720 (B). (C). Of Anbally (D).

Bodkin, alias Daly, Anastasia, cert. 11 December 1769, enrolled 12 February 1770 (A). Now of Dublin, conformity 11 December 1769 (B).

Bodkin, Ann-Anastasia, Galway (D).

Bodkin, Dominick, gent., Moylagh, Co Galway, cert. and enrolled 18 January 1747 (A). Conformity 13 January 1747 (B).

Bodkin, Dominick, Moylagh, Co Galway, cert. 30 October 1757, enrolled 9 November 1757 (A). P. Moylough, conformity 30 October

Bourke, James, Galway, cert. 29 April 1738, enrolled 20 May 1738 (A). Conformity 4 April 1738 (B).

Bourke, Patrick, of Derryhoyle, Co Galway, cert. 9 February 1776, enrolled 13 February 1776 (A). (D).

Brady, Michael, Dublin, cert. 2 December 1746, enrolled. 4 December 1746 (A). Confonnity 30 November 1746 (B). Late of Dublin but now of Coorheen, Co Galway (D).

Brand, Mary, spinster, Coorleen, Co Galway, cert. 4 September 1750, enrolled 4 September 1750 (A). Of Coorheen, conformity 2 September 1750 (B).

Browne, Edward, gent., Ardskea, Co Galway, cert. and enrolled 9 August 1766 (A). Now of Dublin, conformity 8 August 1766 (B). (D).

Bryan, Joseph, Eyrecourt, Co Galway, cert. 14 December 1767, enrolled 15 December 1767 (A). Conformity 13 October 1767 [bracketed with Thomas Bryan] (B). (D).
Bryan, Thomas, Eyrecourt, Co Galway, cert. 14 December 1767, enrolled 15 December 1767 (A). Conformity 13 October 1767 [bracketed with Joseph Bryan] (B). (D).

Clayton, Mary , of Gort, Co Galway, cert. 14 March 1766, enrolled 17 March 1766 (A). Conformity 9 February 1766 (B).

Coffey, Daniel, Aghrim, Co Galway, cert. 11 January 1752, enrolled 20 January 1752 (A). Conformity 15 December 1751 [bracketed. with Margaret Coffey] (B).
Coffey, Margaret, Aghrim, Co GaIway, cert. 11 January 1752, enrolled 20 January 1752 (A). Conformity 15 December 1751 [bracketed with Daniel Coffey] (B).

Colehan, John, Eyrecourt, Co Galway, cert. 14 December 1767, enrolled 17 December 1767 (A). Conformity 13 October 1767 (B). Coulahan, John (D).

Comber, James, Corbally, Co Galway, cert. 13 February 1768, enrolled 9 February 1768 (A). Comber, Joseph, now of Corbally, conformity 1 November 1767 (B).

Conolly, James, Tuam, Co Galway, cert. 21 April 1763, enrolled 10 May 1763 (A). Conformity 15 April 1763 (A).

Research Help: Census Returns

Full government censuses were taken for all of Ireland every ten years from 1821-1911. In 1922, during the Civil war most of the returns for 1821-1851 were destroyed during a fire at the Four Courts which was then the public records office, some remnants do remain. The returns for 1861-1891 were destroyed completely before 1922 by order of the government. The earliest surviving complete census returns for Ireland are those for 1901 and 1911.

Information given: The 1901 census returns record the following:

1. Name
2. Relationship to the head of household
3. Religion
4. Literacy
5. Occupation
6. Age
7. Marital status
8. County of birth
9. Ability to speak English or Irish

The returns also give details of houses such as the number of rooms, out-houses and windows and the type of roof and these details were used to classify the house.

The 1911 returns record the same details as the 1901 with an addition which is important for those researching their family history. In 1911 married women had to say how many years the marriage had lasted, the number of children born alive and the number still living. In many cases, women who were widows gave the number of years their marriage had lasted prior to the death of their husband.

For both sets of returns only the initials of policemen and the inmates of mental hospitals were recorded

Census remnants

1821
This census was organised by townland, civil parish, barony and county and took place on May 28th, 1821. It recorded the following information
1. Name
2. Age
3. Occupation
4. Relationship to Head of Household
5. Acreage of land-holding
6. Number of storeys in the house

Almost all the original returns were destroyed in 1922, though a few remain for parts of Counties Cavan, Fermanagh, Galway, Meath and Offaly (King’s Co)

1831
Organised by townland, civil parish, barony and county and it recorded the following:
1. Name
2. Age
3. Occupation
4. Relationship to head of household
5. Acreage of land-holding
6. Religion

Very little of this survives and most of that which does relates to County Londonderry or Derry

1841
These returns were filled out by the householders themselves rather than government enumerators. They recorded the following:
1. Name
2. Age
3. Occupation
4. Relationship to head of household
5. Date of marriage
6. Literacy
7. Absent family members
8. Family members who had died since 1831

Unfortunately only one set of original returns survived 1922 and they are for the parish of Killeshandra in County Cavan. This census was the earliest to be of use when state pensions were introduced in the early 20th century. Copies of household returns from 1841 and 1851 were sometimes used as proof of age, so, those forms (transcripts of the original) which were used for this purpose have survived and are held in the National Archives in Dublin and the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland

1851
The following information was recorded:
1. Name
2. Age
3. Occupation
4. Relationship to the head of household
5. Date of marriage
6. Literacy
7. Absent family members
8. Family members who had died since 1841
9. Religion

Most of the surviving parts of this census relate to parishes in county Antrim

1861-1891

As stated, these were officially destroyed. There are transcripts of portions in the Catholic registers of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford (1861) and Drumcondra and Loughbraclen, Co.Meath (1871)

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