Looking for Black relatives (by name)

Birth registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864 so you won’t find a birth certificate for John. Prior to 1864 you need to rely on church baptism records. You haven’t said what denomination the Black family was.

For Derryvullan, there’s a Church of Ireland in Castle Archdale whose baptisms start in 1842. Records in local custody (ie the Rector has the only copy). The Derryvullen South Church of Ireland’s early records were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. They have nothing earlier than 1877. Derryvullen North has baptisms from 1803. Copy in PRONI in Belfast. Irvinestown Methodist has baptisms from 1829 and marriages from 1863. (Copy in PRONI). Marriages prior to 1863 are likely to have been in the Church of Ireland. Irvinestown Presbyterian has records from 1842. Copy in PRONI. RC has records from 1846. On-line on the nli site.

For Enniskillen, the Church of Ireland in the town has no records before 1861. The earlier records for the 1800s were lost in the lost in the 1922 fire. (There are some records for the 1700s though. Copy in PRONI). Tempo Church of Ireland has baptisms from 1836. Copy in PRONI. Enniskillen Methodists baptisms from 1823, marriages 1864. (Marriages prior to 1864 are likely to have been in the Church of Ireland). Tempo Methodists have baptisms from 1841. No marriage records. RC Enniskillen has baptisms from 1831 and marriages from 1817. Tempo RC has baptisms & marriages from 1845. On line on the nli site.

The records in PRONI are not on-line  and so you need to go in person to view them. (If you can’t do that you may need to employ a researcher).

Regarding the conflict between the place of birth, death certificates often have mistakes because the person recording the information won’t always have first hand information. Birth certificate and marriage information tends to be more reliable, so I’d favour Derryvullan over Enniskillen.  (Enniskillen is about 20 miles from Irvinestown it the Derryvullan area and is the biggest town in the county, so the two are not incompatible, if describing where you came from to someone in another country.

I looked in the 1901 census for Co. Fermanagh. There were 31 people named Black. 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist. The rest were Church of Ireland. (So all the Black families in the area were almost certainly descended from settlers from Scotland or England who moved to Ireland in the 1600s, as part of the Plantation).

Though most Irish censuses pre 1901 have been destroyed, a few fragments exist. That includes part of Co Fermanagh. The 1821 census of Derryvullan has survived. 2 Black families shown:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1821/Fermanagh/Derryvullan/Irvinestown/73/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1821/Fermanagh/Derryvullan/Ballindullagh/14/

Thank you for your quick reply, over here in Australia their denomination started off as Church of England and then turn to Presbyterian. In regards to the Rector having the only copy, is there not a fear that they may get destroyed and lost also?

I now have somewhere to start to try and narrow it all down. With the records In Proni (sorry I'm in Australia so just checking) can I look up and see if they have the information regarding correct people and dates and then maybe employ a researcher to go and sight them, or the search has to be done all in house?

Loretta

Loretta,

There certainly is a danger that the only copy of the parish records might be destroyed.  However there are quite a few churches like that. When the Public Record Office copied a lot of the records in the 1980s, some were missing or unavailable for one reason or another and so got omitted. The Church of Ireland records are public documents, so there was no refusal to copy them, just that they weren’t available at that time.  With many other protestant denominations the records belong to the congregation, not the state, and some declined to allow their records to be copied. So again they hold the only copies, and some won’t let you inspect them at all. Very frustrating if you think your ancestor might have attended that church.

For the Castle Archdale Church of Ireland (COI) records, you can write to the Rector and ask him to search for you. Normally the COI charges for that.  Contact details here:

http://clogher.anglican.org/Parishes/index.php?p=derryvullennorth&pg=10

(Castle Archdale and Derryvullan North share the same Minister these days).

You can use the PRONI catalogue to see what records they hold for any particular parish, but the actual records are not on-line. You would need to get a researcher to look them up for you. The catalogue tells you what years the records cover, and what other records exist eg some parishes conducted local censuses from time to time. Very useful if get one of those. But you can't see what names are in the records without going into PRONI and getting the relevant microfilm out. Catalogue:

http://www.proni.gov.uk/guide_to_church_records.pdf

Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Having said that I have found that the Derryvullan North COI records have been transcribed on another site, and you can view them free:

http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/fermanagh/church.htm

For the other churches records eg Methodist, I think you’ll need a researcher to go to PRONI.

Thank you once again Elwyn, you have been a tremendous help and I really do appreciate it
 

Loretta,

I realize this post is a few years old, but I am also searching for Black family members from Fermanagh. I have William Black b.1831 moved to Ontario Canada circa 1855. From his Canadian marriage cert. his parents are James Black and Margaret. Perhaps if we shared more info we may find a connection..