Edward Simpson b. 1803 d. 1885

Dear Jeff

Welcome to Ireland Ireland Out!

Yes, the years of birth do seem a little strange. One of the other issues with this situation is that RC records for the parish of Ballysadare and Kilvarnet do not begin until 1842 for baptisms and 1858 for marriages. This means that before that time there will be no baptism, marriage or death records for anyone in that parish and that is why you have had no further luck on the sites you mention above.  If your ancestor was Church of Ireland, records there too begin in 1845 and are therefore of no use to you for that earlier period. 

The only other sources I can think of that would be of potential use would be things like the Encumbered Estates Records in the National Archives, Dublin. Even though these start in the 1850-60s they sometimes refer to earlier rental details for those who rented land later sold off. Unfortunately these are not available online. There are also tenants listed on the O'Hara Estate covering Ballysodare in the National Library of Ireland, again though, not online. 

You may have to consider whether hiring a researcher for a short time would be of any assistance to you or perhaps add this as part of a potential planned visit to Ireland.

Let me know what you think

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support. 

Hello Clare,

Thanks for the help and advice. There may be other children whom have not been identified. But why would the oldest siblings leave and the youngest stay? I may have the wrong people as well.

Census records in Canada indicate they were not Catholic.

I have previously contacted John Grenham who advised that there would probably not be anything more to be found. I think the only real hope is to locate descendants who have interest in sharing information. I guess I'll never know any more than I do now given the brick wall. I'm not anticipating visiting Ireland at this time but I'd love to at some point.

Jeff