McDonald

Hi Eileen thanks for your message and interest in Ireland Reaching Out.

Do you have any other information about the McDOnald family that may help narrow down the search? Are there any townland or parish names mentioned on any documents that you may have etc? If you can find out the parish name it will help you find the family in Church Records and perhaps on the land records pertaining to the time. ALso do you know the religion denomination? This is important in determining which records are relevant to your search.

Do you know much about Ellen's immigraation to the US? Generally more information was given at the port of entry as oosed to that of departure, looking at the ship records for the relelevant port could be a good place to find more information -and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. 

THe U.S. National Archives have immigration records, dating from 1820 to 1982. You find information on these at http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

Also of interest to you may be the following websites which allow you to search for pssanger names in two of New Yorks points of entry at the time: Ellis Island and Castlegarden.

Ellis Island: http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp

and

Castlegarden: http://www.castlegarden.org/

I hope these help. 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