Ancestors from Armagh, Armagh, Ireland

The parish records for the City of Armagh only start in 1796, so it probably won’t be possible to get back any further than that due to the lack of records. Most Irish research comes to a standstill around that period. Genealogists here call often it the 1800 barrier. Occasionally you can get a bit further if the family were wealthy or notorious as sometimes extra records exist for them. But if they were typical labourers or small farmers there are few or no records to search.

You may be able to trace forward to find family who remained in Ireland but I’d need a bit more information on the family to do that.

Hi Elwyn,

Thanks for responding to my request!  The information I've found has been from the Catholic Church records.  I'm wondering if there is a cemetary worth checking out for the family name of Donnelly in Armagh.  Also, I can send you all the information I have on Patrick Donnelly's family to help you find more family.  I would be more than willing to pay for your time.

Thank you,

Lorraine Morrow  

Lorraine,

Donnelly (and its variant spellings) is a very common name in Co. Armagh. I had a look at the 1901 census (the oldest complete census in Ireland) and there were over 1100 people of that surname in the county. So finding your family may be challenging.

There are several graveyards around Armagh and they’ll contain plenty of Donnelly families but identifying any related to yours will be the tricky part. Roman Catholic churches don’t generally keep burial records and statutory death registration didn’t start till 1864. So there are no burial or death records to consult. The other thing to bear in mind is that only wealthier folk could afford a gravestone. The majority of the population in the 1800s were buried without one. That’s why knowing the family occupation helps. If they owned a business you might expect a gravestone but if they were labourers and weavers (as much of the population were) then they probably couldn’t afford one.

Send me what you have on the family, especially details of anyone believed to have remained in Armagh, and I’ll see if I can find anything for you.

Hi Elwyn,

Thanks for all that very interesting information.  I had no idea about the graveyards, etc.  I kept getting an error message when trying to attach family group sheets to this message for Patrick Donnelly's family and for his parents with sources listed.  Can I send them directly to your email address?  My email address is lorraine.morrow@outlook.com  I don't want to take up too much of your time, but as I said, I'd be more than happy to pay you for your time.  Let me know what you think and thanks so much for even offering to help me!

Thank you,

Lorraine