Hi All,
I am looking for information about the family of my Great Great Grandmother, Mary Rooney.
Mary was born somewhere between 1843 and 1848, but I think it was most likely June or July 1845. According to her Death Registration here in Victoria, Australia, her parents were Hugh Rooney and Catherine Small and she arrived in Victoria from Rostrevor, Down, Ireland in 1868, but I have been unable to find any confirmation of this. I have looked for her birth, her immigration, her parents marriage and anything else I can think of to look for. I don't know whether she came out here on her own, or with her parents. I am assuming that she was on her own because there seems to be no records of Hugh or Catherine here with her - but I could be wrong.
Any information would be greatly received.
Thank you in advance.
Wendy Tingley
Monday 9th Jun 2014, 07:03AM
Message Board Replies
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Wendy,
Statutory birth, death and RC marriage registration only started in Ireland in 1864 (1845 for non RC marriages). Prior to that you need to rely on church records.
You don?t say what denomination your family were but I?ll assume RC. If they came from Rostrevor, then that?s in the RC parish of Kilbroney. Their baptism, marriage and burial records start in 1808. The baptism records are on-line on the rootsireland site (pay to view). The marriages are only on-line from 1864 onwards on that site. (For earlier records you would need to view the microfilm copies held in PRONI, Belfast. These are not on-line and a personal visit is required to view them).
Elwyn
Ahoghill Antrim
Monday 9th Jun 2014, 09:08AM -
Hi Elwyn,
Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, I have no idea what religion the Rooneys were as I can't find a record of Mary's marriage here in Victoria and they have no headstones on their graves. I am happy to go with your interpretation of RC because of the area that they came from. I can use this in my future research here in Australia.
The fact that the records are only available in person in Belfast is a real disappointment for me being in Australia, but it gives me a reason to travel to Ireland in the future!
Thanks again.
Wendy Tingley
Wednesday 11th Jun 2014, 11:59AM -
Wendy,
My assumption about the denomination is based on the 1901 Irish census. 5607 people named Rooney in Ireland then, of whom 5246 were RC. Narrowing the search to Co Down only, there were 971 of whom 895 were RC. So overwhelmingly an RC surname (in Ireland anyway).
Elwyn
Ahoghill Antrim
Wednesday 11th Jun 2014, 03:48PM