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I am looking for information on Hanora O'Brien.  According to her Australian death certificate she was born in Limerick in 1832.  Family history is that her parents were James O'Brien and Mary Osbourne.  James, Mary and their three children (Hanora aged 18, James and Mary) emmigrated to Australia (South Australia) in 1850.  Hanora Married Patrick McMahon in Gawler Adelaide, South Australia in 1850.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Tuesday 28th May 2013, 10:20AM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Vikki,

    Thank you very much for your message.

    Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. 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 Limerick 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.

    Have you tried looking into the family?s 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.The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

    Some other websites that you may find useful 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/browse/#Limerick

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

    Limerick Library: http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/

    Alternatively, you could contact Limerick Genealogy to see if they can be of any assistance. Here is their email, however a fee may apply: research@limerickgenealogy.com

    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

     

    Monday 24th Jun 2013, 02:56PM

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