1804 marriage record

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately, there are two obstacles to finding their marriage certificate.

Firstly, it can be difficult to get records dating that early as the reality is they simply may not exist. Civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864. Prior to this all births, marriages, deaths were recorded by the local parish priest. So what is available varies from parish to parish.

Secondly, most Catholic records are still held locally so you really need to know where the event took place in order to know where to look for records. Weddings generally took place in the bride?s home parish so this is probably why Matthew and Catherine were married there, however this does not necessarily mean that Matthew was also from this parish.

You can see what Catholic records are available in Kilscoran (Kilscoran is part of Tagoat Catholic parish) on the Irish TImes website and also where you can get copies:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Wexford&parish=Tagoat&churchid=601

Unfortunately, marriage records do not start until 1853 so if Henry and Sarah were married in this parish there will be no record of it there.

Church of Ireland records generally tend to have an earlier start date. Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

It may be an idea to contact the Co. Wexford Heritage and Genealogy Society for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is a link to their contact details:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/address/index.cfm?fuseaction=singleaddress&LocationName=Co.%20Wexford%20Heritage%20and%20Genealogy%20Society

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

Dear Emma

You have been so kind in providing me with such a thorough explanation and I really appreciate the time you have taken to provide these excellent starting points.  You have made sense of what was so hard to make sense of.  This is a truly remarkable website to be offering to the descendants of the Irish Diaspora.  I am truly most grateful and I know all current and future users of this site will be equally appreciative of your site and your wonderful volunteers. Thank you all, from Sam Harris in Oberon NSW Australia.