CAIN - County Tyrone

Irishkiwi,

Statutory birth, death and marriage registration (in some jurisdictions called Vital Records) only started in Ireland in 1864, save for non RC marriages which were recorded from 1845 onwards. So you probably won’t find a statutory birth, certificate for James. For earlier years you usually need to rely on church records, where they exist. You obviously need to know the precise denomination in order to search the correct records. Not all churches have records for that period and not all are on-line.

RC records are mostly on-line on the nli site:  

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

For other denominations, the churches usually hold the originals but there are also copies in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them. Access to the records there is free. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

You haven’t said what denomination James was but if Roman Catholic, the records for Pomeroy parish start in 1837 (with some gaps). So you might just scrape in and you might find some siblings born after him. The surname was often spelled Kane so bear that in mind too. Spelling of names varied all the time in Ireland and folk didn’t always use the same one. Likewise they used and dropped the O’ prefix on a whim, so it could be O’Kane or O’Kain in some records.

I had a quick glance at the Pomeroy records and I do see a baptism on 9th Feb 1838 of a Mary Kaine to Laurence Kaine and Isabella Grant. Sponsors were Daniel McGladrigan and Mary Gate (?). The couple’s townland (address) was Pomeroy.  So that implies they lived in the village of Pomeroy, not just the parish. You might want to see if there are nay other baptisms to that couple.

I looked in the statutory records for a death for Laurence, 1864 onwards in the Cookstown area (which includes Pomeroy). I did not find one.  So he may have died before 1864. There was an Isabella Kane who died 19.1.1884 aged 84, widow of a bootmaker. Daughter Ann Jane Kane was the informant.

https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ 

There was another death in 1877, aged 60, which isn’t free to view yet, but if you want to view it you can do so for £2.50 on the GRONI website.

Hi Elwyn

Looking now for a MARY CAIN born abt 1859 Tyrone, married Newcastle upon Tyne and died there 1907.

Really want to know who her parents were, as I am DNA matching a descendant of hers. We think the MARY is related to my James CAIN, son of Lawrence CAIN and Isabella GRANT. We pretty sure we have now traced this family to Newcastle, UK then on to USA, Australia and NZ. Which means we have made leaps and bounds! (This was them when you said "I had a quick glance at the Pomeroy records and I do see a baptism on 9th Feb 1838 of a Mary Kaine to Laurence Kaine and Isabella Grant")

I have a feeling Mary b abt 1859 is a niece of my James CAIN.

I don't want to pay for her marriage cert as too expensive. 

Looking for baptism but as you say it would have been before 1864

Have searched on https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ no luck...

Any help/tips  much appreciated 

Lisa Donnelly 

Lisa,

My advice is that you need to buy that English marriage certificate to find Mary’s father and his occupation. Otherwise you are likely to be chasing the wrong families altogether. Looking at the 1901 Irish census there were 1008 women named Mary Cain/Kane.  Obviously none of them were your lady who was presumably in Newcastle then but you will realise how common the name was in Ireland generally. Pretty much like Jane Smith.

Thank you so much Elwyn