Stephen Murphy and Mary Doyle

Hi Anne,

Thank you very much for your message and your interest in Ireland Reaching Out.

Unfortunately, without a more specific parish of origin in Wexford it may be difficult to find information. 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 placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.

There are some places where you can search online, however these websites do not have complete collections of records.

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

Do you know either Stephen or Mary?s parents? names? If you did you could try searching for them in the Tithe Applotment Books. These are land records compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. These do not give any genealogical information however they can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. If you can find a match for either of their parents it will give you a parish that you could use as a starting point.

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

However, it is important to point out that sometimes Irish Catholic records for the early part of the 19 th century sometimes just simply do not exist as the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country at the time. So given how early the couple would have been born it may be difficult to find records pertaining to them. It may be an idea to contact the Co. Wexford Heritage and Genealogy Society for some assistance, however a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

ADDRESS

Yola Farmstead

Folk Park Tagoat

Rosslare,

Co. Wexford

Republic of Ireland.

TELEPHONE

353 (0) 53 32611,

FAX

353 (0) 53 32612

ORGANIZATION

Irish Family History Foundation

EMAIL

wexgen@eircom.net

WEBSITE

http://homepage.eircom.net/~yolawexford/

In the meantime some websites that 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

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

Wexford Library: http://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Library/YourServices/LocalStudies/What/

Irish Genealogy Toolkit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html

Remember to post any new information that yo ufind, in particular relating to place of origin.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