James McMullen/Ellinore McCoun Antrim 1823

Hi,

My name is Jeanette and I am a volunteer for IrelandXO.

Understanding what records are available and where to locate them is crucial to locating your family.  The Irish Genealogy toolkit at http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html covers all the basics to get you started.

I can see by James and Rosannas marriage record that the parental names were clearly stated, however I did notice a slight spelling difference for James?s mother, McCouen. You are very lucky to have found such definitive documentation for both sets of parental names. Something to watch for is the variations that occur with this last name. McCowan, McKeown, McEwan, McGowan, McCoun, Etc?

One item that you will need is the religion practiced for the person, as the religion will help determine where to look for the records.

Sometimes a lead might be found by viewing naming patterns in households for the 1901 census, if any family remained in Ireland. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie . There appear to be over 900 McMullens in Ireland during 1901, so it is possible that there were relatives left behind.

The Tithe Applotment books might also give a lead for the time period of James and Ellinora, if they were on property. The article at  http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp gives the overview.

Without knowing the Townland they were from, trying to figure out which James McMullen is yours will require some detective work into the time periods for each instance the name James McMullen comes up. http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk is a favorite to locate a name to a specific area, which can be used to rule out duplicates of James.

Also, in the U.S. about the 1880?s a craze for writing local histories came about that resulted in many publications. Many can be found on Google ebooks and can be free or give just enough info on the preview to help.

Hope this all helps, Jeanette

Hi - 

Thanks for your response, and sorry that I am untimely with my response.  Your information is proving to be a great help in tracing my ancestors, giving me other resources to search.  

Thanks again,

Joanne