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Hi there,

It would make a big difference if we could narrow down the place of origin to a more precise place in Co. Cavan. There are a numer of ways you could try to do this.

You could look for the frequecy of the combined surnames in the locality to see what records might be available. You can check for information about the frequency of just one 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? Have you checked the immigration records in Australia?. Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. These are useul for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, peitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

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).

The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. the tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

Do you know what religion they were?

There is a Voters list from 1843. This is at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI), 1843/71.

1851 Some certified copies of census returns for use for claims for old age pensions (1908 Old Age Pensions Act). People had to prove their age and could do this via the 1841 or 1851 census returns. Most of these census records were destroyed in Dublin in 1922, but some still remain. These can be found at the National Archives of Ireland.

Have you tried lloking at the 1901/1911 census records? You might find information about relatives in them. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

There is also a book you might be interested in by Noel Farrell called 'Exploring Family origins in Cavan', 1993.

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)