Michael Dempsey of Bandon, 1818.

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for your message.

As civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864, one of the best sources of information we have for births, baptisms, marriages, deaths are church records so it may be an idea to try looing into these. Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which you may find helpful however is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Bandon follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Cork%20South-West&parish=Bandon&churchid=17

For Church of Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. 

There are also some online sites where you can search for records:

www.familysearch.org This has a huge collection of records available, however the collection is not complete.

www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html This a an ongoing project whereby church records are being uploaded free of charge by county. So far it includes records for Carlow, Dublin, Kerry and parts of Cork.

Have you tried searching for the family in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century? 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/     

It may also be an idea to look into Michael?s emigration as a source of more information. For immigration records in the US check the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

If you would like to check if there were any Dempsey?s still living in the area at the turn of the century you can check the 1901/1911 census records here:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Some other websites which you may find useful are:

Failte Romhat: www.failteromhat.com

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

Irish Newspapers: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

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

I hope that some of these links are helpful. Thanks again for your message. 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