Bernard TRAYNOR born 1816, 1811, 1817 or 1821

The first place to start your search is in your own home - talk to elders in the family - find out abouttheir parents, grandparents etc. Perhaps they have a story of one of your ancestors? Things to enquire about include: occupations, places of residence, who they were living with(people often stayed with others from their home villages after emigration), siblings & other familymembers, first names (important -as usually past from father to son/mother to daughter) ages attime of emigration, possible dates of birth/death, religious denominations. Also ask if there are anysurviving photographs, old documents or letters - record all the information you can find. Write/telephone other members of your family to check details -perhaps they can remember otherfacts about your ancestors? Hopefully when you have done this - some clues will emerge! After youhave identified the emigrant- begin tracing the steps back to Ireland. Do you know much about their emigration? The dates, the reason why they left, who they mighthave travelled with..etc.? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than theport of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool, Ellis Island), this could be agood place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. Shippingmanifests can be checked ?which may lead to more clues. The next thing you could do is find the counties and places in Ireland your family names are mostprevalent. Look at the website http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/ and perhapssomething will match some other clue you may have found elsewhere? If nothing turnsup ? it is advisable to try different variations of the spellings of the names. If you have a possiblefirst name you could try the Irish Census 1901, 1911 at www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ or the landvaluation record called Griffiths Valuationhttp://askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml Also have a look at some of these sites good luck. The National Archives of Irelandhttp://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/ The National Library of Irelandhttp://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 Irelandhttp://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm The US National Archives:http://www.archives.gov/

Thank you for your tips. I shall look at the Irish sites by and by. It is only Bernard's and Mary's birth and wedding years and places in Ireland and Mary's maiden name I am interested in. The information on the UK censuses and the children's birth certificates is confusing. The UK census 1841,1851,1861,1871,1881 and 1891 have varying years and places of birth for Bernard and Mary:for Bernard 1811, illegible,1821, 1811, 1817 and 1816;for Mary 1816, illegible,  1821, 1813 and 1819.. The UK census 1881 gives "Monaghan Co" as Bernard's place of birth, 1891 gives "Dublin". The UK census 1881 gives "Thurles Meath Co" as Mary's birth place but Thurles is only in Tipperary. One birth certificate states clearly HOYLE as Mary's maiden name but another states just as clearly HOEY. The US wedding document for one of Bernard's sons also clearly gives HOEY as Mary's maiden name so I believe it will prove to be HOEY. Bernard is a tailor.

Thank you for your tips. I shall look at the Irish sites by and by. It is only Bernard's and Mary's birth and wedding years and places in Ireland and Mary's maiden name I am interested in. The information on the UK censuses and the children's birth certificates is confusing. The UK census 1841,1851,1861,1871,1881 and 1891 have varying years and places of birth for Bernard and Mary:for Bernard 1811, illegible,1821, 1811, 1817 and 1816;for Mary 1816, illegible,  1821, 1813 and 1819.. The UK census 1881 gives "Monaghan Co" as Bernard's place of birth, 1891 gives "Dublin". The UK census 1881 gives "Thurles Meath Co" as Mary's birth place but Thurles is only in Tipperary. One birth certificate states clearly HOYLE as Mary's maiden name but another states just as clearly HOEY. The US wedding document for one of Bernard's sons also clearly gives HOEY as Mary's maiden name so I believe it will prove to be HOEY. Bernard is a tailor.