Looking for Irish roots

Hi Robert,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information on James and his family without a more exact 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 place name, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation (either official or unofficial)  belonging to James that mentions a specific place- a townland/parish/village/town or county? This may include census records, death records, wills, letters, diary entries.

Have you tried looking for James in Church records on some of the online sites that are available? If you can find him in these it will give you a place of origin.

www.familysearch.org Has a large collection of genealogical records including some Irish birth and marriage records.

http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html There is an ongoing project to upload Irish church records here free of charge. However only a few counties have been covered so far: Kerry, Dublin, Carlow and parts of Cork.

www.rootsireland.ie Have a huge database of church records, however you have to pay to use this website.

Civile registration began in Ireland in 1864, so if James? parents died after this date you may be able to find their death record. These 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 registers online at: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Some other websites which may helpful/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

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

The Library & Archives of Canada - http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html

I hope that some of these links are helpful. Remember to post any new information that you find here. 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