John Neely died 1685 in County Tyrone

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately, the reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist. The Church of Ireland was the official church in the country at the time so most records that do survive are often from these registers. For information on Church of Ireland registers check:

http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. 

Also, please note that 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 a specific place of origin in Tyrone for any of the people you have mentioned? If you do, you can then search church records for information.

You could try searching the Tithe Applotment Books for Johen Neely. These are land records 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. If you can find him in these you may then have a parish name to start from. You can search these here:

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

You could also try searching https://familysearch.org/. This is a huge online database of genealogical records compiled by the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

Some other websites which 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

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

The US National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/

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

Alternatively you could try contacting the Irish World Heritage Centre for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

Irish World Heritage Centre,

51 Dungannon Road,

Coalisland,

Co. Tyrone,

B71 4HP.

Phone: +44 28 87746065   Email: info@irish-world.com

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. 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.

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