My second great grandfather was Skelton Brooks. He was born in Dec. 1804 in Kinawley Parish, Co. Fermanagh. His parents were John Brooks and Susannah Hillock but I cannot find out anything about them. Skelton met Catherine Brady of Co. Longford while en route to Canada. There they married and raised a family. Skelton died in September 1854. I would appreciate any help in learning more about this branch of my family. Hoping to visit your lovely country before the end of 2013.
Warmly, Jane Hamilton
janeadairhamilton
Monday 8th Apr 2013, 08:33PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Jane,
Thank you very much for your message.
Unfortunately, given Skelton?s date of birth it may be difficult to find more records/information relating to his parents. Civil registration did not begin officially in Ireland until 1864 so prior to this records were kept by the local parish church. However, 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.
Using the Irish TImes websites you can see that Catholic records for Kinnally/Kinawley parish do not begin until c. 1835.
Church of Ireland records sometimes tend to have earlier start dates so if they family belonged to this church you may be lucky and find some records. Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
It may be an idea to contact the Irish World Heritage Centre to see if they can offer any more assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: info@irish-world.com
Some other websites that you may find useful in your research 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
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/fermanagh/index.html
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Lastly, we have recently added a new link to the top of our website for people who are planning on visiting in 2013. It takes you to a short web form. We would really appreciate it if you could take a moment to complete this. Thank you!
Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Emma Carty
Wednesday 22nd May 2013, 10:51AM