Hillsborough

Hi Georgia,

Thank you for your message.

Civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864, so prior to this all birth, marriages, deaths were recorded by the local parish church. 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. 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 civil parish of Hillsborough is part of the ROman Catholic parish of Blaris.Catholic records in the area do not begin until c. 1840. You can see this at the Irish TImes website:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Down&parish=Blarisr&churchid=451

It may be an idea to also try records in some of the neighbouring parish to see if they have an earlier start date, as due to the creation of new parishes during the 19th century records can sometimes be found in neighbouring parishes. Here is a link ot a map of Catholic parishes in Down. Simply click on the parish to see what records are available:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/downrc.htm

As most Catholic records are still held locally it may be an idea to contact the local parish priest for possible assistance.

Alternatively, you could try contacting the Ulster Historical FOundation for assistance, however a fee may apply: enquiry@uhf.org.uk

I hope that this is helpful. 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