Michael Feain from Limerick

Hi John

Thank you for your query. 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/browse/

 Have you checked the immigration records in Australia? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. These are useful for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS / GRIFFTH?S VALUATION  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. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land.

Here are some additional websites that may be of interest to you John

http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introductio…

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

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

Hope this is of help to you

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support