Coleman; O'Connor; Thompson; Burns

Hi April,

Thank you for your message.

With regards to William and James it is important to be aware that it may be difficult to find information on them due to their early dates of birth. The reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist.

In addition, for your research in general the fact that you do not have more specific places of origin will make also make it more difficult. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.

Civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864, prior to this all births, deaths and marriages were recorded by the local church. So although you know that James and Mary were born in Roscommon and Dublin, without knowing what parish you can?t know what records are relevant to your search. There are some places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However so far in Dublin, only Dublin city records has been uploaded.

As Henry was born after 1864 there will be a civil record of his birth so it may be easier to find his birth information. Once you have this it will narrow down parish of origin and other avenues of research will open up to you. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Do you know when Henry went to the US? If he was still in Ireland in 1901-1911 you may be able to find record of him the 1901/1911 census records. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Do you know Mary?s father?s name? If you do you may be able to find record of him in Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland 1848-64. Although it doesn?t give any genealogical information it can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. You can search this online here:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Some other websites that you may find useful in your research are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/index.html

From Ireland: http://www.from-ireland.net/

Irish Genealogy Tool-kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html

I hope some of this is helpful. Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support