JOHN CLARE AND ELIZA CLIFFORD

Dear Anne

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

You could search irishgenealogy.ie or familysearch.org for children of John and Mary. You could also check for siblings of the couple and go from there. Have you tried searching Ancestry.com for any mention of your ancestor?s name in member family trees or messages? You can check the Census here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/help/about19011911census.html 

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Thanks, Clare.

I'm not really looking for children of John and Mary, as I am descended from them and know who my grandparents and parents were.

I want to go backwards in time. I have got all I can from the census information, but this is only 1901 and 1911.  I am looking for Eliza Clifford and John Clare, who would have married maybe 1850 give or take a few years, and who may have been born around the 1830s or so.  I have John Clare in the Griffiths dated 1855, but I don't now how to go backwards from there.

Is there anywhere I can find information backwards from these dates?  

Dear Anne

In going back you will be dependent on the detail from that marriage cert you referred to initially. Using the names of the parents you can search the sites I mentioned for their marriage cert and the baptism of their children. That will probably be a far as you can get using online records. If you are ever in Dublin you can use the townland information to search the Cancelled Books in the Valuation Office. These give an indication who held a certain plot of land from the time of Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864) to the 1980s/1990s. Even though you would be moving into the present with this latter source, sometimes it yields some interesting information.

Records for the Roman Catholic Parish of Rathdrum begin in 1795 for baptisms and 1810 for marriages. In nearby Avoca parish, the baptism and marriage records begin in 1778. Both of these RC parishes are in the Civil Parish of Rathdrum. As civil registration does not begin until 1864 there will be no state records available for the family until after that time. So, we are dependent on parish records. 

It may be the case though that Eliza and Robert were born in a parish and at a time that predates the parish records. As you probably know, the marriage would have taken place in the home parish of the bride (as is still mostly the case today). They may have moved to Rathdrum after this.

Hope this helps

Clare 

Genealogy Support 

Thanks for the extra info. I had not realised I could get more information in Dublin, so I'll book a visit to the Valuation Office next time I am over.

I have not actually got hold of the marriage cert. of John Clare and Eliza Clifford. I know their names and location from their son's marriage cert (from an RC church in Dublin). This gives the parents' residence information as Rathdrum.

I have looked on familysearch.org, findmy past and rootsireland and not been able to locate the marriage details for John Clare and Eliza Clifford.  Is there anywhere else I can look?  I have done searches for Ireland with and without choosing a parish, and nothing turns up. Do you know whether all marriages are available in the searches, or are some not available?

Dear Anne

If you haven?t been able to find the record on rootsireland or familysearch and you think that you have used all of the search parameters (as you seemed to have done),  it might be the case that the record isn?t there/doesn't exist. The records from Roots Ireland come from the parishes themselves and were transcribed by volunteers working in individual family hsitory centres. As stated above, parish records for Rathdrum begin in 1810. Perhaps they were married in Eliza?s home parish which may not have been Rathdrum?

Regards

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support