My name is Hi Martin and I am looking for help in finding out more about my Martin family history. My Father was Patrick Joseph Martin, born in County Tyrone on March 2 1916. His fathers name was James Martin and I believe he was a tailor. My understanding is they lived in or near Five Mile Town. My fathers siblings were Francis Donal, Kevin, Noel and Maureen. There was another sister that passed in her teens or 20's I think her name was Siobhan. My father and his brother Frank were the only ones to marry and my father the only one that had children. The family migrated to the south where Frank was stationed at Dublin Castle as sergeant of detectives and my father worked in the accounts side of a utility firm. We emigrated to Canada in 1956. My paternal grandmother was a Fox, I think. I'm looking for any help I can get and would very much appreciate it. I can be reached at hmartin@martinstaffing.ca. I have started a family tre and am hoping to expand it as much as possible.
Hil Martin
Sunday 7th Apr 2019, 02:05PMMessage Board Replies
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Some of the records you are looking for are on-line free, and some you may have to pay for. (Not all years records are available free yet). I found a birth for Francis Martin in Fivemiletown on 25.8.1916. Parents were James Martin, a tailor in Fivemiletown, and Margaret Fox.
I also spotted what looks like a brother – James – born in the same place on 26.12.1917. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:
You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.
James & Margaret were married on 16th Nov 1915 in Dungannon chapel:
I don’t see your Patrick’s birth on 2.3.1916 (and it would clash with Francis who was born in August 1916, so I think the date of birth you have must be wrong). I think your Francis was born sometime after 1918, as were the rest of the children you have listed. Those later records are not on-line. GRONI is the only repository for birth, death and marriage records in what is now Northern Ireland, from 1.1.1922 onwards. (Ancestry and other websites don’t have them).
Births in Northern Ireland within the past 100 years, marriages within the past 75 and deaths within the past 50 aren’t searchable on-line. They are open to the public, just not on-line. If you know all the key details eg exact date and place of birth, parents names etc, you can order a copy of a certificate from GRONI for £15. https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk
But if you don’t have all the information GRONI need, you need to get in touch with them to get a search done. Contact details for ringing or e-mailing GRONI:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/contacts-az/general-register-office-northern-ireland
Alternatively if you live near Belfast, you can go in person to either GRONI or PRONI (both in Belfast). They are the only places where you can search recent records, right up to those registered yesterday. You can view each cert there for £2.50, and if you want a certified copy it’s an extra £8. (Posted out in 2 to 3 weeks time).
I have assumed all the children were born around Fivemiletown. You don’t say exactly when the family moved south. Obviously if any of the later children were born in the Republic of Ireland, then the records won’t be in GRONI but in GRO Roscommon.
James Martin in the 1901 & 1911 censuses:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fivemiletown/Ma…
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Fivemiletown/Fivemiletown_Town/857019/
Note that the 1911 census tells us James & Alice married c 1881, had 2 children, one of whom had died. So James was their only living child in 1911.
Their 2 children appear to have been Margaret 10.4.1887 and James 19.8.1890. I don’t see a death in the Clogher area for Margaret, but she was evidently dead by 1901. Howver the information on the 1911 census doesn't appear ot entirely accuarte. There was a third child: Mary Alice Martin who was born 7.9.1898 & died 2.4.1899 aged 7 months. Informant for both events was Alice, the mother.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Sunday 7th Apr 2019, 04:02PM -
Thank you so much for this. I made a typo on my fathers birth year it was 1919. I will follow your directions and update as I proceed. Once again, many thanks.
Hil Martin
Monday 8th Apr 2019, 02:16AM