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I have definate Irish ancestry but don't have much of a clue as to where in Ireland I come from.
The trail ends for me when I know my ancestor William H. McCormick married Esther Barry in Portsmouth, New Hamphsire, USA in 1864.
Their marriage certificate simply says they were born in Ireland. After New Hampshire, they went west to Chicago.
US Census records going forth simply say 'Ireland" as both of their birthplaces.

Esther Barry's parents were John Barry and Mary Ash and from her headstone I know Esther was born in July 1847.

The only thing I know about William H. McCormick is that he was born roughly about 1838 and that his father was called Hiram and he was a farmer. (listed on William / Esthers' marriage certificate)

i have no idea when they all came across, nor where they come from, except family gossip said we had relatives in Cork and Ulster. How true that is I don't know.

Thanks in advance

C. McCormick

travelfurther

Saturday 4th May 2013, 10:38PM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi,

    Thank you very much for your message.

    Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

    Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.

    There are some places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:

    www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

    www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

    http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered.

    Have you tried looking into the family?s emigration? Sometimes more infomation can be found at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. You may be lucky and find a place name here. For information on US immigration records check http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

    Some other websites that may be helpful 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

    The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

    The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

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

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

    Remember to post any new information that you find here. 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.

    Kind regards,

    Genealogy Support

     

     

     

    Emma Carty

    Tuesday 11th Jun 2013, 10:03AM

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