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My great grandparents, Jeremiah O'Shea and Catherine O'Sullivan left Ireland about 1832 and settled in New Brunswick, Canada.  Only one of my many cousins claims to know exactly where Jeremiah and Catherine came from.  She says her grandmother told her they were from Cahirciveen in County Kerry.  Jeremiah was born about 1803 and Catherine about 1810.  The only other indication that my O'Shea ancestors came from County Kerry comes from the O'Shea Surname yDNA Project.

I would be pleased to communicate with anyone who can shed some light on the lives of Jeremiah and Catherine.  When I was in Cahirciveen on a tour in 1999 I did not know that that was where my great grandparents had possibly originated.  My wife and I plan to return sometime soon, and it would be an absolute delight to have some tangible evidence of my ancestors' presence there.

I congratulate the people of Ireland on the IrelandXO initiative and its worthy mission.

Bill O'Shea

 

 

oshea

Thursday 27th Dec 2012, 08:19PM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Bill,

     

    Thanks for your message and your kind words!

     

    Have you ever tried looking for some record of Jeremiah and Catherine in Church records? If you could find a birth/baptismal/marriage record for them in the area it would help tie them to that place.

     

    Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which may be of help to you is the irishtimes. Here they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Cahirciveen parish follow this link:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Kerry&parish=Cahirciveen&churchid=658

     

    From looking at this overview, however it seems that records did not begin in the parish until  circa 1845. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon, as the Church of Ireland was the official church in Ireland during the 19th century. As a result, record keeping was difficult for the Catholic church in the early half of the century. 

    However, it may still be a good idea to look at records in the surrounding parishes. Some new parishes were created during the 19th century, so these start dates can sometimes be misleading. It may be that there is record of your great grand parents in one of the neighbouring parishes. To see a map of Catholic parishes in Kerry use the following link. You can see what records are available by clicking on the parish name:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/kerryrc.htm

     

    For Church of Ireland records check the following sites:

    http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

     http://www.nationalarchives.ie/

     

    http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history/family_history_key_sources.htm

     

    Also, check www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html Both Catholic and Church of Ireland records are currently being uploaded here free of charge. However, as this is an ongoing project not all records are available yet.

     

    You should also do a search for them in the Tithe Applotment Books. This is a land record compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. Even though it does not offer any genealogical information, it can be used to tie a person to an area. If you know the names of either of Jerimiah or Catherine's parents you should search for their names too. You can do this here:

    http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

     

    You could also do a search for any family members that remained in Ireland in the later land record called Griffith's Valuation (1848-1864) at the following link:

    http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/   

     

    Do you know much about their emigration? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at it may be a place to find information, and perhaps even an exact place of origin. For immigration information in Canada check the National Library and Archives at the following link:

     http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html

     

    Some other websites which may help you 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

    The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

    The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

    Family Search: https://familysearch.org/  

    I hope that some of these links help you to confirm your connection to Cahirciveen before your next visit-it would be fantastic to know that you were in the place wher your ancestors came from! If you are planning on visiting this year, would you mind taking a couple of minutes to fill out our webform for people who are visiting in 2013?The link is located at the top of our page. Thank you, and best of luck with your research!

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Genealogy Support

    Emma Carty

    Tuesday 19th Feb 2013, 10:20AM
  • Bill,

    This post is located at Caher Tipperary but belongs to  Caher (County Kerry ). Perhaps it can be reassigned.

    Regards

    Tom Hussey (Caher Tipperary)

    Thomas J Hussey

    Wednesday 17th Jul 2019, 08:43PM

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