Reilly family from Aughnacur Killashandra

Hi Sue,

I  live some distant from Killeshandra, however I hope I can help you. You are one of the lucky ones to have your family on the 1841 Census.  Reilly and its variant spellings is one of the most common names in Co. Cavan.  I also see that there are other families in the townland of Aughnacur and they may also be related.  

Getting back before civil registrations which started in 1864 is difficult, but you have a good starting point in the 1841 Census, so you will have to assume that some of them survived another 20 plus years.  Most images are available for free on https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/  If not you have to rely on substitutes.  If your family are non catholic you may find more records at the following sites:

1. The Representative Church Body Library is the official archive of record for Church of Ireland records that survived the burning of the Public Record Office in 1922. A full list of its holdings is at http://ireland.anglican.org. All are freely searchable if they are not too fragile to be handled.
2. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk) has freely available microfilm copies of almost all surviving records of all denominations for areas now in Northern Ireland, as well as a good number for areas in the border counties of Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan and Louth. A full list is at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/online_indexes/church_of_ireland_index.htm.
3. Quaker records are very comprehensive back to the 17th century, with microfilm copies in NLI and PRONI. See www.quakers-in-ireland.ie.
4. Some Presbyterian records are only available locally or in the Presbytrerian Historical Society. See www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com.

You may have exhausted the church records that are available on Rootsireland (fee paying) and any records available on http://www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie (available for free).  You can also contact Cavan Genealogy (fee paying) at ​​

Genealogy Centre Contact Details
Cavan Genealogy
1st Floor, Johnston Central Library, Farnham St., Cavan 
Tel: +353 (0) 49 4361094
Email: cavangenealogy@eircom.net

The substitutes for missing records are mainly land records and volunteers have transcribed some Registry of Deeds a link on how to search them can be found at https://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2018/01/registry-of-deeds-index-proje...  If they are farmers search The Tithe applotments and Griffiths Valuations, while you will find names their dates are missing, but with some effort you can track the plots of land and who lived there and hopefully find a link to your family.  For my own family research I have worked out the townlands on spread sheets that my family lived in, tracking the names and trying to prove when the names changed what the relationship was with the next name etc.  I have placed these unrelated on my family tree and with some luck I have had matches with other family trees, which have either confirmed or disproved my research.  The rental valuations in Ireland are available to view at the Valuations Office in Abbey Street, Dublin.  Family Search also have the images but to see them you have to 

• Sign in to Familysearch.org as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Access the site at a family history center.
• Access the site at a FamilySearch affiliate library.

Also keep a look out for burial records, again volunteers have recorded some of the older graveyards, they can be found at various sties including https://historicgraves.com , findagrave and http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/cavan/photos/tombstones/markers….  In Killeshandra old graveyard I see a mention of Kincaid.  Families had traditional burial sites, sometimes travelling for miles to bury their dead so they are not necessarily buried in the most local graveyard or cemetery.  However, not all are indexed yet and many of the older stones have deteriorated, but the volunteers have used many ways of reading them with some amazing results though many are still missing, so do have a look and see if there are any family names and townlands that seem familiar to you and keep a watch out for more records going online and any new additions as technology enhances them.    I have also used DNA, it will give you links and again you are trying to find names, which can be frustrating but it helps you change your focus and will help you find female relations that changed their names upon marriage.  

I have tried to find a historical society in Killeshandra, they probably go under a different name, however there is a facebook page IGP's County Cavan Ireland Genealogy Group that might find you locals that would be able to assist you further with your research once you have brought it a bit further.  I also came across a book  called 'Revolution in Tullyhunco’ by Tomás O’Raghallaigh, a retired national school teacher from Killeshandra.  It is about  unstitching the Ulster Plantation. Killeshandra, Kildallan, Arva, Gowna, Cornafean: from the Battle of the Boyne (1690) to the Wyndham Land Act (1903) written in 2016.  If you write to Tomás O’Raghallaigh in Killeshandra, hopefully he still has a copy of the book that you may be able to purchase.  i have often found mentions of people with surprising results and also subscribe to https://www.irishnewsarchive.com (cancel the auto subscription) and look up The Anglo Celt and other papers, obituaries often detail family members otherwise you may find property sales or courtcases that may help you build up their story.

I hope I have given you some more ideas to try and get your line back further or closer.  

Best wishes Carmel O'Callaghan

Hi Carmel, Many thanks for your prompt reply very much appreciated will look at all your suggestions and hopefully find that bit extra. The Moses Kincaid was Hannah Marie’s father (who married John Reilly Jnr in 1860 and immigrated to NSW in 1863). Moses lived at Bohora Tullyhunco Killashandra. He was noted on the 1841 census as having died of the fever. His widowed wife Mary ,sons Thomas and William (who emigrated to NSW prior to his sister Hannah Marie as he was his sisters sponsor when she and John emigrated in 1863) Also on that particular census for the Kincaid family were two servants John Smyth and Winepher Torney.I wonder whether the mention of the old grave for a Kincaid who that may have been? I am pursuing that son Thomas may have stayed with his mother Mary after his brother and sister immigrated?Other name in the Reilly family in NSW was Goodfellow whom I believe came from the same area. A Robert Goodfellow married Hannah and John’s daughter Hannah. Regards Sue