seeking birthplace of great grandfather

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Do you have any other information that you can share? Parents? names, siblings if any, religious denomination etc.?

Have you tried looking into Joseph?s emigration? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. If you can find his immigration records it may give you more information and may even record a specific place of origin. For immigration records in the US check the National Archives at the following address:

http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

You could also check http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/US-immigration-records.html

Have you tried looking in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century? These do not offer any genealogical information but they can be used to tie a person to specific place. There are two:

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

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

You could also try running the surname through the irishtimes surname search engine. Here they show how many households were recorded with a specific surname during the mid 19th century in Ireland. To see the results for McAleer follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=

For a small fee they will give you a breakdown of the parishes.

Some other websites which may be 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

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/        

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

I hope that this is helpful. Once you have established a specific place of origin more avenues of research will open up to you. 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.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support