My gg grandmother, Catherine Stroker, was born in the late 1830's in Barnhill, Roscommon and Kilteevan Parish, County Roscommon. Her father was a very well off farmer named Frank Stroker. I believe her mother was Ann Murray. Around 1856 she took up with a fellow by the name of Patrick Kilroe. Patrick was poor and worked for her father. Frank was not happy and the two lovers went to Manchester, where they had three children, Ellen (1857), Michael (1859) and Catherine (1862). They returned to County Roscommon, where they had the fourth child, Bridget (1865), in Athleague. In the 1871, the four children came to America. Catherine came about the same time. They settled in Harrisville, Rhode Island. I do not know what became of Patrick after the birth of Bridget. Any help in learning about these families is greatly appreciated.
Friday 8th Feb 2013, 03:46PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi,
Thank you for your message.
You may be able to find information on the family in Church records. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may have to write to the parish priest for assistance. To see what records are available in Kilteevan/Roscommon parish follow this link:
For information on Church of Ireland records check: http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so you may be able to find a birth record for Bridget in these records, and possible a death record for Patrick if he died in Ireland.
Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records online at: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
For more information on these records and how to access them go to: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html
You could also try searching for Patrick in the 1901/1911 census records to see if he was still in the area at the time. Here is the link: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Since Catherine?s father was a farmer, you should be able to find record of him in Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland between 1848 and 1864. You can search it online here:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
You could also try looking in the earlier land record, the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found here: http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
Some other websites that you may find useful 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
US National Archives/Immigration info: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/roscommon/index.html
I hope that this is helpful and that you are able to find more information on the family using these links and suggestions.
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
Tuesday 16th Apr 2013, 11:48AM