Just Beginning

Hi,

Thanks 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 placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names in Clare at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.

There are some places where you can search online, however these websites do not have complete collections:

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.

I did a search for James Kennedy (senior) in the Tithe Applotment Books (land records dating 1823-38). There were a few recorded in Co. Clare, one of which was in Clondagad parish:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=kennedy&firstname=james&county=Clare&townland=&parish=&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=&pager.offset=0

There was also a John Scanlan recorded in the parish:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=scanlan&firstname=john&county=Clare&parish=&townland=&search=Search

Unfortunately, Catholic records in Clondagad Catholic parish (sometimes also known as Kilchrist) do not start until 1846 so if they were from this parish there will be no birth records. However depending on when they married you may be able to find their marriage certificate. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Kilchrist parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Clare&parish=Kilchrist&churchid=770

As they are possibly from Clare, I suggest that you check the Clare Co. library family history page. They have an excellent family history collection including a donated materials section (on the right hand side of the page)

www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm

Some other websites that you may find useful 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

Irish Genealogy Tool kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/clare/index.html

From Ireland: www.from-ireland.net

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support