Seeking info about my great-grandfather

Hi David,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking in church records for more information?

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. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For The Rower/Inistioge parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Kilkenny&parish=Inistioge&churchid=980

As you can see from the above link the Kilkenny Family History Society have copies. If you would like to contact them here is their email, however a fee may apply: kilkennyfamilyhistory@rothehouse.com

Have you tried looking in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century for record of the family? There are two; The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-64)

Here are the Fitzpatrick?s recorded in the The Rower in 1826:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=Fitzpatrick&firstname=&county=Kilkenny&parish=The+Rower&townland=&search=Search

And in the later Griffith?s 1850,

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=64&Submit.y=9&Submit=Submit&familyname=Fitzpatrick&firstname=First+Name&baronyname=&countyname=KILKENNY&unionname=&parishname=ROWER%2C+THE

With regards to the possible family business you would probably need to check local trade directories. For more information on these check the Kilkenny Library Local Studies Department:

http://kilkennylibrary.kilkenny.ie/eng/Our_Services/Local_Studies/Genealogical_Sources_for_family_research/Trade_Directories/

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

US National Archives/Immigration info: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/kilkenny/index.html

Historic Grave: http://historicgraves.com/

I hope that some of this is helpful. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

Kind regards,    

Genealogy Support