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I am trying to find my 3x great grandmother Sarah Young. The only information I have on her is that she was born in about 1840 in, I believe, Dublin but I cannot say that location for sure. She joined an aided immigration scheme that saw her coming to South Africa in 1859 where she married, had children and eventually died in 1923. She was all alone when she came to South Africa so she might have been orphaned. I have a copy of her death certificate that shows her age as well as lists her birthplace as Ireland. Any help or suggestions on where to look would be very greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Mary from South Africa

Thursday 26th Feb 2015, 02:00PM

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  • Hello Mary, do you have a copy of Sarahs Marriage Cert as it may show her fathers name which would help in your search.
    www.irishgenealogy.ie has Baptism & Marriage records for Dublin which includes entries for name of Sarah Young.

    Regards, Frances

    Thursday 26th Feb 2015, 04:14PM
  • Mary:

    Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

    I first checked www.irishgenealogy.ie which is a free Irish government site which has church records for Dublin city. There were no Sarah Young baptisms around 1840. The closest were 1849 and 1850.

    I then checked Roots Ireland which is a subscription site. They have transcriptions of church records for all of Ireland , however, not all churches are on their data bases and a good number of churches do not have records back to 1840. There were nine Sara Young baptismal records from 1838-1842 including two in 1840. The 1840 baptisms were in Co. Donegal and Co. Offaly. However, without knowing the parents names, you won't be able to confirm that you have the correct record.

    Let me know if you have questions.

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Thursday 26th Feb 2015, 04:14PM
  • Hi Frances,

    Thank you for your reply. I do have Sarah's marriage certificate but unfortunately South Africa does not require that information to be filled in on the certificate. All it lists are the marrying couple's names, the date, location and priest name,so no help from there I'm afraid.
    I have just had a quick look on the website you suggested and will definitely investigate further there this weekend.

    Many thanks, Mary

    Friday 27th Feb 2015, 12:42PM
  • Hi Roger,

    Thank you for replying too. I will look further into those counties that listed Sarah's birth in 1840. It was only through word of mouth from family members that I thought Dublin was her birthplace so I will widen my search.
    As you say without her parents names it is doubtful that I will be able to pin point which Sarah she might be and even her own children's names aren't a hint as her only daughter was named Sarah too. I will keep searching though!

    Thanks again, Mary

    Friday 27th Feb 2015, 01:29PM

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