Hartigans who moved to Newfoundland in the late 1700's.

Hi David

Thank you for your query. 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. Some registers for urban areas pre-dating 1800 may exist ? though often these can be fragmented- as there was an increased need in cities or larger towns to document the population. Please also note that the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country and therefore the bulk of information that does survive for earlier periods is often from these registers. 

Do you have the first name of any our your Great (Great) Grandfather?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.

You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp  or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/     or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/        

The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable however it may lead you to a place name of origin.

You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/

Here are some other websites that may be of help to you:

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

http://ifhf.rootsireland.ie/?gclid=CKLT_Pa4wrUCFYUf4Qod4EoAGg

Finally David, On a quick internet search of 'Hartigan' 'Sweetman' we stumbled upon the website below:

http://rencontreeast.com/hartigan.html

On the of-chance you were not aware of it, you may want to try and contact the author of the page. It may lead you to records/information you were not aware of.

I hope that this information is of help to you. Please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support 

The Hartigans of Recontre East, NL are my family. Maurice Burke was my first cousin. I always enjoy reading his piece on our famly. My great great grandfather was William and great great grandmother was Ellen. I do not know her maiden name and do not know if she was born in Ireland or Newfoundland or if she and William married in Ireland or Newfoundland. She is buried in Placentia, NL with her son Thomas. Do not know what happened to William. The Placentia, NL Hartigans are all related and worked for the firm of Sweetman and Saunders at one point. My hope is to find some records from the Sweetman firm of who they employeed. The Sweetman name was well known in Ireland and Newfoundland in the late 1700 to mid 1800's. The firm brought young Irish men to Newfoundland to be planters and fishermen. Eventually the Hartigans settled in and moved on to own and operate their own businesses. My family was very successful in operating their business in Recontre East, NL. I believe Sweetman sailed out of Waterford. I know information from Irish records before 1800 is scarce so I am focusing on Sweetman records, if there are any.

Thank you, David