Richard Shaw b. April 27, 1825 in Laois (parish unknown), Haplogroup G-P303

trshaw7:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I checked the subscription site Roots Ireland and there were no Richard Shaw baptismal records in Co. Laois for any year. Co. Laois is usually a good county to research RC church records because most parishes have records back to the early part of the 19th century. I also checked Co. Roscommon with the same result.

Have you located a death record or other source that may show parents names?

Griffiths Valuation data from the mid-19th century indicates that the surname Shaw is primarily found in the northeast corner of Ireland (Antrim and Down) but was also found in smaller numbers in many counties including Laois. The Shaw records for Laois were in the following civil parishes: Rosenallis, Stradbally, Moyanna, Ardea, Aghaboe and Clonenagh/Clonagheen.

Roger McDonnell

Sadly, I don't have a lot to go on at this time. I'm still trying to locate an obituary, and New York is frequently a black hole for geneaological research.

One of my fourth cousins indicated that one of my uncles had traveled to Laois and found that the church records had burned. Some details of that story never lined up, and he's deceased so I can't ask him, but that would explain the lack of records. I'd hoped he was mistaken.

Thanks for the help,

Tim Shaw

Dear Tim:

I noted your comments about the lack of obituary records that you have found with regard to your ancestor  Have you check the Fulton History website?  This is a free site run by a genealogy enthusiast who has uploaded scores of Irish related news items of interest (including death notices) from New York State newspapers as well as other states.  The website link is below:

http://fultonhistory.com/

You may also consider creating An Ancestor profile under the XO Chronicles (tab at the top of the page).  The profiles are widely read by all our members, are updated weekly and very often, you may discover others researching the same family.

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy

The very best of luck with your research!  Please let us know if you need further assistance.

Kind regards,

Jane.

Hi Tim, 
So where do we go.....
The early records are the Tithe Applotment, 1823 to 1837.
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp

At that time County Laois was called Queen's, when you search you will see the Townlands, then the Parish.
Next using the townland name search with the name followed by a , (a comer) followed by the word map. this will give you the area in the county. 
then, match the area on the map in this site below, search the Parish, sorry but thats about the only way to find the info.

https://registers.nli.ie

If you are a member of Ancestry, you would need worlwide membership  and these books are being eentered into the site all the time. Sorry i am not a member now. I spent hours going through these records in the library in Dublin, so watch the old eyes! 
Cheers, Margot

Hello,

Thanks for all the feedback. I have taken a look for viable families in Queen's/Laois, and I've come across the baptismal record for a Christopher Shaw in 1828 in Stradbally, in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, son of John Shaw and Anne Deevey. I find that interesting, because Richard's first two sons were named John and Arthur, and I found a few weeks back that Richard's wife's father's name was Arthur, so depending on how much stock one puts in the Irish naming tradition, this could be significant. (Richard named his fourth son Richard and his fifth Christopher).

It would have been too convenient if the same baptismal record had a Richard which everyone had been mistranscribing for April of 1825, but sadly, it doesn't look like it.

Dear trshaw7: 

You could be onto something as those first names would not have been very common in a lot of Irish families.  If the first names continue to appear in future generations, it may be a case that they were family names that were used and this may help you with your research.  Sometimes, starting with one clue may either confirm or deny that you are on the right track.  It might be worth looking to see if Christopher Shaw had other siblings?  This may assist with your research.  Did you have parents' names for Richard Shaw?  If so, you may be able to trace his father's name to the Griffith's Valuation.  As to the Tithe Applotment Books, they are transcribed and available to view for free on the National Archives website. 

The link for this source is below:http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp 

If you have any other questions, please let us know. 

Kind regards, 

Jane

Unfortunately, I don't have Richard's parent's names. You mention that these names would have been unusual. How unusual do you think they would have been? I'm aware that John is the anglicized version of Sean, and that Richard is also much more of an English name.

Historically, the Shaws in America were devoutly Catholic (two nuns and a priest), but it's rather hard to find a Catholic shaw in the viscinity of Portlaoise, and I've found multiple branches of Quakers, especially in Mountmellick.

How reasonable of a hypothesis is it that perhaps the lineage was English Quaker, but after a few generations one of the sons married into a Catholic family? I'd write off that possibility outright if it were COI to Catholic, but my understanding is that Quakers were also nonconformers, so this would be less of a step downward.

Thanks,

Tim

Hi Tim: 

I wouldn't be able to confirm or enlighten you on whether your Shaw ancestors were Quakers or not.  What I meant by my remark about the first names-- very often in families an unusual first name for a Catholic family particularly (such as Richard, Edmund, Matilda, Bedelia, etc.) was a good clue as to looking at other Shaw families in the area who might also have had the name Richard.  The unsual (not very common) name often was  noted as one branch of the family over another.  In my own family tree, one of the lines always had a William and James (two names that while not uncommon were not used in every family).  

I'm going to ask a few of our Laois volunteers to look at your query as they may be able to add further information or give you further guidance on your research.  They will reply to you on this thread.  

All the best, 

Jane