Sheehan from County Cork to Boston in about 1870

Hi John,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking at church records in Cloyne to see if you can find any relating to the Sheehans?

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. For Cloyne  parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Cork%20East&parish=Cloyne&churchid=35

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.

Civil registration became mandatory in 1864, so you should also be able to find any births, deaths, marriages after this year in civil records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Have you tried looking at the 1901/1911 census records to see if any family remained in the area? You can search these online at:

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

If you want to check if there were Sheehans in the area earlier in the 19th century you could check the land records. 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/

Have you tried looking into their emigration? Sometimes more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure so it may be a good idea to look into it. Here are some websites:

US National Archives/Immigration info: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

The Boston Pilot: http://infowanted.bc.edu/

Castlegarden: http://www.castlegarden.org/

Some more general websites that may help you with 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

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

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

Failte Romhat: www.failteromhat.com

I hope that some of this is helpful. Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support