Denis Horgan -

Hi,

Thank you very much for your message.

The first thing that you need to do is try to establish where in Cork Denis and Mary originated from. I could not find any reference to Girthineden so this is either misspelling of the name or a incorrect transcription. It is possible that it was written down phonetically so it may be referring to a place name that begins with ?Gurt? which is much more common in Ireland than Girth.

You may be able to find some records of the family in civil records. Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864, so if given the years of births you have mentioned you should be able to find Denis and Mary?s birth records. If they were married in Ireland you should also be able to find their marriage record. This will help you to narrow down place of origin. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:

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

You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

You could also try searching online for church records. Irish Genealogy have recently begun to upload Irish church records to their website free of charge. So far with regard to Cork, only Catholic records from the Diocese of Cork and Ross (Cork city and some parts of Cork County) have been uploaded. Hopefully the family originated from one of these places and you can find some records pertaining to them:

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/

You could also try:

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.

Have you tried looking into the family?s emigration? Sometimes more infomation can be found at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. You may be lucky and find a place name here. For information on US immigration records check http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

Some other 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

Cork Past and Present: www.corkpastandpresent.ie

West Cork Genealogy: www.westcorkgenealogy.com

Failte Romhat: www.failteromhat.com

Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/cork/index.html

Remember to post any new information that you find here. 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

Found Denis' place of birth: Kilnamartyra, County Cork. His wife, Mary Lenihan Moynihan, was born in April 1865, in Millstreet, Cork, Ireland.