Researching my Riley heritage, looking for anything regarding George Mason Riley

Hi,

Thank you very much for your email. I hope that someone with information makes a connection with you and helps you to further your research.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find more information on George without knowing what parish he came from. 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 placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names in Dublin at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.

There are some places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/  Church records are currently being uploaded here free of charge. However to date, in Dublin, only records from Dublin City are available.

Have you tried looking into his emigration? Sometimes more infomation can be found at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. You may be lucky and find a place name here. For information on US immigration records check http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

Do you know George?s father?s name? If you do, you could try looking for him in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. These do not give any genealogical information but can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. There are two:

Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38):

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

Griffith?s Valuation (1848-64):

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Some other websites that may be helpful 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

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

Irish Genealogy Tool kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/dublin/index.html

From Ireland: www.from-ireland.net

Dublin Heritage: www.dublinheritage.ie

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