TUBBER:

Hi,

Thank you very much for your message.

It may be difficult to find a birth/baptism record for Thomas as the reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist. In addition you really need to know what parish he was born in in order to determine which records are relevant to your search.

It may be an idea to contact Irish Midlands Ancestry for some assistance, however please note that a fee may apply. Here is their email: info@offalyhistory.com

A website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes in Ireland, and also where there are copies available from. For Catholic parishes in Offaly follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/offalyrc.htm

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

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

Irish Genealogy Toolkit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/

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

From Ireland: www.from-ireland.net

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

I too am looking for the church name in that area.  I was in touch with a local genealogist and was about to find out when I discovered he only takes PayPal.  He has very reasonable pricing for info.  I do not use PayPal.

Anyway, he explained that all the people used a small church that was in the area for RC baptisms.  Thewere married in the larger church which I assume to be St. Mary's in Athlone.  I thought the next thing to do would write St. Mary's to ask them if they would know the name  of the church in Tubber. 

Then you write to the smaller church to see if they have those names in their records.  Sounds too easy so it will probably be a hassle.

I found the church in Tubber.  Church of the Holy Family.  Very close to the border of Offaly and Westmeath.  Now we have to make sure it was open in the early 1800's.

I do not know if this would be helpful, but have you tried contacting the Dun Na Si Heritage Centre in Moate? They might have information that could be helpful in your research.