Jane Shannon

Fiona:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Unfortunately, RC church records start late and many churches do not have records back to 1859. I searched on Roots Ireland and was unable to locate a baptismal records for a William Woods around 1859. Civil registration started in 1864.

I looked at the 1857 Griffiths Valuation head of household listings and the surname Woods was mainly found in southeast Donegal close to the Tyrone border. The parishes were Raphoe, Stranolar, Donaghmore and Ramoghy.

You may want to consider autosomal DNA testing.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you so much for looking into my family.

Kind Regards

Fiona Blake

You say you are trying to find out when Jane left Ireland. There were never any passenger records for what was just a domestic journey but in general people migrated when they became of working age and could look after themselves. So from about 15 onwards. Have a look for her in the 1841 Scottish census. My guess is she probably won’t be there so that pinpoints her departure to 1841 to 1848. Probably around 1845 or 1846 I would guess. Bear in mind that it was a very easy, short and cheap overnight crossing (Londonderry to the Broomilaw) and that folk went back and forth all the time (they still do). People went home to Ireland for weddings and the harvest, and in later years for the Glasgow Fair holiday etc.

If you think the family ever claimed under the Poor Law, then it’s worth checking those records as they usually record a person’s parish of origin in Ireland. Records for the Glasgow area are in the Mitchell Library. They’ll do a look up for a small fee.

http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/the-mitchell-library/archives/collections/poor-law-archives/Pages/default.aspx

Thank you Elwyn, this gives me lots to look into.

Kind Regards

Fiona