My ancestor John Edward Closs was born about 1778 in Parish of Ahoghill, County Antrim, Ireland. He married Elizabeth McCrudden before 1815. She was born about 1792 in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland.
They emigrated to Canada about 1821 on the Earl of Buckingham from Glasglow, Scotland. I have a great deal of information on them once they arrived in Canada but none before that.
Their ancestors in Antrim County were apparantely employed in the wool and/or timber trades. I have learned that all records of earlier life seem to have been destroyed in a fire that ruined a great deal of family records and were lost forever to the Archives of Ireland in 1912.
Any previopus information on the earliest Closs family in Ireland would be greatly appreciated.
Diane
Friday 28th Dec 2012, 05:42PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Diane, thanks for your message.
Unfortunately, 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. Please also note that the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country and therefore the bulk of information that does survive for earlier periods is often from these registers.
For Church of Ireland records check the following:http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which may help you is the irishtimes where they give you an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Agohill parish follow this link:
Some other websites which may help you are:
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
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
Perhaps you could also try contacting the Ulster Historical Foundation for assistance-a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:
Ulster Historical Foundation,
49 Malone Road,
Belfast BT9 6RY,
Northern Ireland.
Phone: +44 (0) 28 9066 1988 Email: enquiry@uhf.org.uk
I hope that this helps.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Wednesday 20th Feb 2013, 01:53PM