Mary Hardwick

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your message.

Do you have any other information that you can share, most importantly a more specific place of origin in Kilkenny? Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or place name, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation, either official or unofficial, belonging to the family that mentions a townland, parish, village or town?

Also, it is important to be aware that 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. 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.

For information on Church of Ireland registers check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.  The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf

You could also try doing a search at www.familysearch.org . This is a huge database of genealogical records complied by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. It includes birth/marriages in the period prior to 1871.

Do you know when they moved to London? If they were still in Ireland 1823-1838 they may be in the Tithe Applotment Books. These are land records carried out to record the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. If you can find mention of Pierce or Mary in these it will give you a parish name. You can search these here:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

Some other websites which you may find 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

The Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

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

You could also try contacting the genealogy centre in Kilkenny for assistance-a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

Rothe House and Garden,

Rothe House,

Parliament St,

Kilkenny.

Phone: +353 (0) 56 7722893     Email: kilkennyfamilyhistory@rothehouse.com

I hope that some of these links are helpful. Once you find a specific location more avenues of research will open up for you. Remember to post any new information that you find. 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