John Kelly,b.1827, moved to USA abt.1848.

Hi Carolyn,

Could you please post your message on the Castleterra parish page here: http://www.irelandxo.com/group/castleterra-cavan

Do you know what religion he was?

There are Roman Catholic church records available for the diocese of Castletara (Kilmore). These date from 1763 for both baptismal and marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 5350, 6430, or the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI), MIC.1D/81. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.

You can information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/

Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. Have you tried checking the Ellis Island records (www.ellisisland.org) or the Castle Garden records (www.castlegarden.org)?

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38). Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS).

1796: Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement Lists This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The majority, were in Ulster, but some names appear from every county except Dublin and Wicklow. A microfiche index to the lists is available in the National Archives, and in PRONI. www.failteromhat.com 2,400 names for County Cavan.

1813-21 Freeholders. National Library of Ireland (NLI), Ir. 94119 c 2.

1821 Many parishes including Castleterra. National Archives of Ireland, LDS, films 597154-8.

1843 Voters list. National Archives of Ireland, 1843/71.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Thanks for your response and suggestions.  Yes, he was Roman Catholic.  I did post on the Castleterra site although it said it wasn't active at this time.  I really know so very little about him, only his obit. saying he came from Daggen, Cavan,Ireland.  I will try checking those other sites you recommended and hope I get a lead.  I will be in Cavan on June 29 and 30th prior to the family tree tour beginning with Kathy Worth July 1 in Dublin.

Thanks again,

Carolyn