McCarthy family

Hi there,

The Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) would be a good place for your to start your search (http://www.proni.gov.uk/index.htm). Church records are by far the most important records for family history as they will help identify relationships and dates of baptisms, marriages and burials. Most are on microfilm (main PRONI Reference MIC) but some have been deposited or xeroxed and will be found under main PRONI Reference CR.PRONI?s Guide to Church Records will help you identify what churches exist in each parish, what records exist for each church and whether the records are available in PRONI, either on microfilm or in original form. The main PRONI reference numbers for each archive are also listed.The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials will be the first set of books that you should consult, however, don?t neglect other series' such as pew registers and vestry minutes which may date much earlier.Unfortunately, there are large gaps in the records of almost every denomination for a number of reasons:

• the destruction of many Church of Ireland records in the Public Record Office in Dublin in 1922;
• many records in local custody have been destroyed over the years by fire, flood and neglect;
• many were not kept at all as it was not compulsory for churches to keep records;
• the political and social conditions prevailing in Ireland discouraged record keeping.

Nevertheless much has survived, although most records don?t begin until the early 19th century.Here is a link to the Dromore Cathedral: http://dromorecathedral.co.uk/ and Hillsborough: http://ireland.anglican.org/information/dioceses/parish/12110

Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at, such as the 1796 Spiining-Wheel Premium Lists.

There is also the 1775 Dissenters' petitions (includes Dromore): PRONI T/808/14977, or the National Library of Ireland MS.4173.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)