Andrew ALLWELL (1827-1894)

Unfortunately due to availability of Catholic records it’s not looking very promising for your Allwell search, as none of the Catholic Parishes mentioned have records going back to the 1820s - e.g. records for Denn RC parish start 1856, Killashandra 1835, Belturbet 1845, similarly nearby parishes Kilmore 1859, Lavey 1867..

You can check out the various Catholic Parishes on the Catholic Registers sections on the National Library of Ireland website, each entry shows the dates available.

A general search for any Alwell, or similar, Catholic baptisms in County Cavan during the 10 years either side of 1827 shows three results, as Alwell or Alwill, all of these in Drumgoon RC parish - Susanna 1829 to Luke & Bridget Smith, Elizabeth 1835 to Edward and Anna Prior and Philip 1833 to Philip and Rose (poss. Maiden name also Alwell).

The Catholic baptism and marriage records for Drumgoon (Cootehill) parish are available back to 1829.

Hi Richard,

As Shane advised there is a lack of records.  Have you looked at all his records in New Zealand as some countries record the names of parents on their death certificates. Also look for obituaries as his life story may have been recorded.  

Do also look at the wills available at https://genealogy.nationalarchives.ie and the land records on Griffiths Valuation, though making links with the names is difficult.  Also look for records for headstones on Billiongraves, findagrave, historicgraves etc.  There are more and more volunteers photographing and transcribing same.  Concentrate on the names he gave his children in the hope that he named some of his children after his father.  When you look for deaths look to see was he in attendance when any of his relations died, it is a long shot, Alwell is not as common as Clarke or O'Reilly so their occurrance is less frequent.  

Also contact the following, Wicklow in the chance that they have access to church records which were not fully transcribed and Cavan in case they have records not yet transcribed.  It would be normal that if someone got married outside their parish that notification would be sent to their home parish.  Sometimes the genealogical offices have queries from other people that may be looking for the same people as you.

Genealogy Centre Contact Details
Wicklow Family History Centre
County Archives, County Buildings, Station Road, Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow. 
Tel: +353 404 20126
Email: wfh@eircom.net
 

Genealogy Centre Contact Details
Irish Family History Foundation
Cana House
Farnham Street
Cavan
Co. Cavan
Email: enquiries@rootsireland.ie

In looking for Alwell, do consider other spelling variations such as Olwill etc. But in the hope that someone in Co. Cavan recognises this family you could write to The Editor of The Anglo Celt through linda@anglocelt.ie you may reach a wider local audience. There is no guarantee they will publish your story but  if you have photos it would help the story along.

 Regards Carmel.  

Thank you Shane and Carmel for your replies to my message.  This is very helpful and I will follow up the suggestions.

Once again many thanks.

Best regards Richard