Hello. I would like some guidance. I have a GGGrandfather born in Kells, Co Meath in 1810. His name was Christopher Kiing. He married a woman from Ireland named Mary Fitzsimmons. One child was born in Ireland, Mary Ann, born in 1855. Christopher emigrated to the USA in June of 1852. Christopher's parents' names were Christopher and Mary Mangin.
Since I have more information about him than any of my other ancestors, I want to try to find some more about this family. I know they were Roman Catholic. Can anyone suggest a church or parish that I could write to? Perhaps there may be some record of marriage and/or baptism but I haven't found anything so far.
In addition, I'll be traveling to Ireland in April and would like to visit that area but was hoping to make some contact prior to my trip. Any help would be appreciated.
ChristmasCarol
Monday 21st Jan 2013, 01:25PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi
Thank you for your message.
How long will you be in Ireland? If you would like to share the details of your trip with us via info@irelandxo.com- we will endeavour to conect you with a volunteer who could assist or advise you.
In the meantime - you can try posting information on the Kells civil parish page. If you haven't already - you could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/ for information pertaining to the family?
Do you know their religion? Most Catholic records are held locally - One site which might be of use is - http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/ - where you can ?browse? an overview of available records per county. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for possible assistance.
Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870-are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes, however many were destroyed in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. A list of all surviving registers is available in the National Archives. http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf
Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at ). www.failteromhat.com
Some other sites that might be of use to you are:
British parliamentary papers on Ireland can be found at: http://eppi.dippam.ac.uk/documents/9824/eppi_pages/215093
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/
Irish Newspaper Archives: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/
Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. 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.
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
Monday 21st Jan 2013, 03:58PM