Shanagolden/Ballyhahill

Hi Trevor and Debbie,

Thank you for your message.

Have you found their marriage certificate? Sometimes the couple?s fathers? names were listed on Catholic marriage certificates so you may be lucky and find a lead here. If they were  married in Ballyhahill it is most likely that this is where Ellen was from as usually weddings took place in the bride?s parish of origin so you should be able to find her birth record there. Hopefully patrick was born here too.

Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Shanagolden parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=West%20Limerick&parish=Shanagolden&churchid=866

As you can see from the above link, copies of these records are available from Limerick Genealogy. Here is their email address if you would like to contact them, however a fee may apply: research@limerickgenealogy.com

Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

You could also check for record of the family in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:

The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family that remained in Ireland after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Please note that when you are looking at land records, civil records etc. they will be based on the civil parish divisions, so for Ballyhahill you will be looking at Kilmoylan civil parish.

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/townlands/index.cfm?fuseaction=TownlandsInCivil&civilparishid=1594&civilparish=Kilmoylan&citycounty=Limerick

Some other websites that you may find 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

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

Familysearch:  www.familysearch.org

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

I hope that some of this is helpful and that you are able to find some lead on Patrick and Ellen. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

Kind regards,    

Genealogy Support