Researching my ancestors

Hi Kathie,

Thank you very much for your message. I hope that someone with information on this family makes a connection with you.

Unfortunately it may be difficult to find information on William and Margaret?s parents as the period you are looking at is quite early.  The reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist.

Catholic records in Burt only start in 1859:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Donegal&parish=Burt&churchid=351

However, in the19th century new Catholic parishes were created so starting dates can sometimes be misleading. Many parishes changed their geographical spread so you may find earlier records relating to your family in the records of adjoining parishes:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/donegalrc.htm

It may be an idea to contact Donegal Ancestry to see if they can be of any assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: info@donegalancestry.com

Some other websites that you may find useful in your research in the meantime 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

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

Donegal Genealogy Resources: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegal/

All the best,

Genealogy Support