James M. Griffin, b 1827 in Dingle

[tucson mike]

A friend is looking for an ancestor: James M. Griffin was born 5 March 1827 in Dingle, according to family letters. We have not located a christening record at Irish Genealogy or FamilySearch, and so do not know the parents' names or the religious affiliation.

James emigrated to the U.S. in the first half of the 1840s. We believe his father and at least one sibling remained in Co. Kerry. We have not located a passenger list for his voyage.

James married prior to 1848. He married a Scottish lass (Mary Cochran) and earned his livelihood in North America in the woolen industry. He or his family may have had some connection with that industry prior to his departure, but we have no direct evidence of this. James and his wife had three children (Isabelle, Ida Ellen, & George), and he passed away in Tennessee in 1882.

Griffith's Valuation lists 50 or so Griffin families in the civil parish of Dingle, so that doesn't help.

We've run out of ideas about where to look, and would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

[shanew147]

As far as I know the IrishGenealogy website has most, if not all, the available RC and Church of Ireland parish records for Co. Kerry transcribed. So maybe your Griffin family came from a parish where the records dont go back far enough, or were of another denomination - Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian etc

I dont know if anyone else has tried this, or if it's worth the effort, but you could try cross checking the list and dates of RC parishes available on IrishGenealogy against the list of historic films available in the NLI - to see which, if any, have been left out.. see : Co. Kerry RC Parishes

Parts of some registers are missing or damaged, so there are gaps.

It might also be worth chasing up the marriage and death certs for James to see if any there are any useful clues there.


Shane

[tucson mike]

Yes, the marriage cert ought to have parents' names, but we haven't found it yet. Thanks for your help.