McLaughlin family

Hi Judy,

Thank you for your message.

As civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864, the local church records are probably your best option. I hope that the church is able to assist you.

One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times. Here they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes and also where copies of the records can be found. For Donaghedy parish follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Tyrone&parish=Donaghedy&churchid=361

Unfortunately, the start dates for these records are quite early (1853). However in the19th century new Catholic parishes were created so starting dates can sometimes be misleading. Many parishes changed their geographical spread so you may find earlier records relating to your family in the records of adjoining parishes. Here is a link to a map of Tyrone showing all Catholic parishes.

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

For births, deaths, marriages that happened after 1864, you should be able to find record of them in civil records which are available from the GRO 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

Have you tried looking in the 1901/1911 census records to see if you can find any information there? Here is a link:http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

You could also check for record of the family in the land acts 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/

Some other website that you may find useful is 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

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

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

I hope that some of this is helpful. 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