Seeks Information: Convict Ancestor

Hi,

Thank you 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 place-name, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Also, you should know that 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. Given Patrick?s date of birth it may be difficult to find records on him.

There are some places online that you can search however.

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/ Irish Genealogy have begun a project to upload church records to their site free of charge. So far only a very small number of counties have been covered, however Carlow was one of them. As Patrick?s trial was in Carlow it is possible that this may be where he was from so hopefully you may be able to find some records relevant to him here.

Do you know the name of Patrick?s father? If you do you can check for him in the land acts pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. Although these do not offer any genealogical information they can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place.  There are two:

The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Also, it may be an idea to look in newspaper archives from Carlow to see if you can find any mention of PAtrick?s trial. This may give you a place of origin from which to start your search. The National Library of Ireland have a huge newspaper database:  http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

Carlow Library will also have a good archive: http://www.carlowlibraries.ie/newspapers.html

You can search some newspaper archives online here: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ Please note that you can search for free but to view the actual article you have to pay a small fee.

Some other websites that you may find useful are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

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

Irish TImes: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/

I hope that some of this is helpful. 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