I'm looking for any records that may be available on a John and Margaret Phelan of Kilkenny around the late 1800's. Margaret was born in England and I know they had at least four children. Alice and Elizabeth both emmigrated to the US in the early 1900's while brothers Michael and Thomas stayed behind with their parents.
Elizabeth was my great grandmother and we have almost no information other than she crossed to the US in 1910. She married an Italian whose surname was Greco shortly after arriving, and after his death married a John Finkenhofer.
Friday 29th Mar 2013, 06:27AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Kate,
Thank you for your message.
The first thing you need to establish is an exact place of origin in Kilkenny for the family. 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.
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so you may be able to find something in these records. If Margaret and John were married in Ireland, or had any of their children in Ireland there should be a civil record of it. 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
If you can find any of these records it should give you a more specific place. ALso, you could try searching for the family in the 1901/1911 census records. These are available online:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Have you tried looking into Elizabeth?s emigration? For information on US immigration records check:
http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
Some other websites that you may find useful 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
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/kilkenny/index.html
Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm
I hope that some of these are helpful. Remember to post any new information that you find. 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. If you can find a parish name be sure to join that parish and post your message there also.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Thursday 16th May 2013, 11:01AM