McConnell

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

It is difficult to find information on family history when you do not have a specific place of origin.  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.

The fact that DNA links you to Co. Monaghan is a good place to start.

I did a search of Bernard McConnell in the Tithe Applotment Books. These are land records that were compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland (the main Protestant church, and the church established by the state until its dis-establishment in 1871). There is a manuscript book for almost every parish, giving the names of occupiers, the amount of land held, and the sums to be paid in tithes. Unfortunately, they do not offer any genealogical information so there is no way of confirming if results are relevant or not. However it may be a place to start. One result came back for a Bernard in Monaghan:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=McConnell&firstname=Bernard&county=Monaghan&parish=&townland=&search=Search

This Bernard is from the parish of Donagh, this could be a good place to start your search. As civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864, you will have to look at Church records for events prior to this. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Donagh parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Monaghan&parish=Donagh&churchid=303

www.rootsireland.ie have a vast collection of church reocrds online, however you have to pay to use this website.

www.famiysearch.org also have some Irish records available.

Perhaps you could also try looking in Civil records to see if you can find any record of Owen?s parents? death. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

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

You can search the indexes to these records online at:

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

For more information go to: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html

It may also be an idea to contact Monaghan Genealogy Centre for some assistance or guidance-a fee may apply. Here is their email: theomcmahon@eircom.net

I hope that this is helpful.

Best of luck!

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support