I am the granddaughter of Irene Hines who married Barney Morgan from the United States in the early 1940s. She subsequently moved to the US after the birth of her first daughter. I am looking for any relatives, or information that can lead me in the right direction. I only know that she lived in Derry.
Thank you,
Catherynne Morgan
Thursday 10th May 2012, 10:14PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Catherynne,
It would help a great deal if we knew a more exact place of origin. There are many parishes in Co. Derry. In the meantime, there are other records you can check to help get you started.
Please also bear in mind that there are many variants to the spelling of your surname. You should check these when you are searching records. You can seee a selection of these variants here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID= and for both names in the same area: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Surname2&UserID= and Morgan: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
You could check the 1901/1911 census records here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ The records for the 1926 census have not yet been released, but this is something that will happen hopefully not too far into the future.
If I knew which parish they came from, I could then recommend church records for you. Do you know what religion they were?
You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth'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.
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
Have you tried checking the Ellis Island records (www.ellisisland.org) or the Castle Garden records (www.castlegarden.org)? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at, this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.
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)
Saturday 12th May 2012, 09:25AM