William Quinn, John Quinn roots

Christine:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I searched on Roots Ireland from 1827-1837 and found a few baptismal records for William Quinns in Co. Laois but none had a mother with the surname Coughlin.

The best possible record was an 1832 record in Portlaoise with a father John and mother Sally Dune. See below. Any other information? Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Let me know what questions you have.

Roger McDonnell

Name:William QuinDate of Birth:00-Apr-1832
Date of Baptism:
Address:
Parish/District:PortlaoiseGender:
CountyCo. Laois
Father:John QuinMother:Sally Dune

Dear Mr. McDonnell,

Thank you so much for your work.  We will confer and see if we have anything more to share. 

Sincerely,

Christine Hart
 

Dear Mr. McDonnell:

Some further information about William Quinn is:

          -William's middle initial is "T." 

          -In the 1900 U.S. Census (when he was 68 years old), he reported that his birthday was in January of 1832.   That census also says that William came to the U.S. in 1855, when he was 23 years old.  William's children were named:  Helen, Ennis, Bernard, William Thomas, Catherine, Mary Ann, Elizabeth and James.    

My sister, Patricia Pounds, and her daughter, Lauren Pounds, had DNA tests done through Ancestry.  Is that the type of test to which you referred in your earlier message?   If so, can you tell us how that might help us find our ancestors in Ireland?

Are there any censensus available for the Laois area before 1832?  If so, how can we access them?

Thanks very much for your help.

Christine Hart

Christine:

The first full available census for Ireland is 1901. There were censuses taken in the 19th century. The censuses for 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 were destroyed in 1922 fire at the Four Courts Building in Dublin during the Irish Civil War. A few fragments remain but none for Co. Laois.

William T. Quinn may very well have been born in January 1832 but many emigrants made themselves older ot younger to fit their circumstances when they arrived in their new country.

Yes, the autosomal DNA test I mentioned is the test that your sister and niece took. You or she need to look at her matches and see if a close match has Quinn ancestors. One of the problems with Ancestry DNA is that many people keep their tree private so you can't tell where the match occurs. It could be on another side of the family. The best thing you can do is send messages tom all close matches thru Ancestry and see if the other person responds.

There is also a site called Gedmatch www.gedmatch.com  Gedmatch is a volunteer run site where you can load your raw DNA data and see if you match someone who tested with another company (and also loaded their data to Gedmatch).

Let me know if you have more questions.

Roger