Examples of Exhaustive Irish Family History Research

[JAKnighton]

I'm well aware of how frustrating Irish genealogy can be, and unfortunately for me I have Irish family history on both my mother and father's side (my mother's family in particular).

Right now I'm scraping together whatever I can get using online sources, but I'm planning trips to Ireland to get a better look at original records.

But before I do that, I'd like to see an example of someone who has researched their Irish family to the absolute limit, just to see what is possible. It doesn't have to go back hundreds of years, although that would be interesting too.

Is there anybody here with an Irish family tree that is as good as it's going to get?

[aghadowey]

We can only trace one branch of my back to the High Kings of Dalriada but another is stalled at my grandfather's grandfather who came from 'somewhere else' and married a few years before civil registration

How far back in time one can go depends on a great number of variables such as what family records are already known, religion (and what church records exist), occupation, what records survive for that area/parish/townland...

[trish1120]

The trouble is you have to know the County/Townland etc they lived and were born in.

My line;

CUMMINS, back to Tinryland, Carlow
Patrick CUMMINS 1789-1875 and Ann IVERS 1794-1870
Marriage
November 30 1817 • Tinryland, County Carlow, Ireland
Witnesses; Jacobo et Dorothea Ivers

Taken from Parish Records, have all children of theirs etc.
Son OWEN 1834 my direct Anc left for New Zealand 1864

DEANE;
ANN my Great/Grandmother 1837-1926, died NZ
Parents
Patrick James DEANE 1815-1888 and Elizabeth Gertrude FITZPATRICK 1820-1891
Marriage 1835 • Dundalk Chapel, Dundalk, Louth
Patricks Parents were Patrick DEANE and Ann PARSONS
Elizabeths Parents Anthony FITZPATRICK and Ann GREGAN

As the Deanes also ended up in NZ their Death Certs had a lot of info and my Cousin did research in
Ireland to confirm info from the Certs.

I also found them in England in 1851 in Liverpool (Patrick Dean was a Ships Captain)
Elizabeth Deain, 31
Ann Deain, 13***
John Deain, 11
Patrick Deain, 9
Antony Deain, 7
Catherine Deain, 6 Mo
John Fitzpatrick, 23
William Cheares, 52

Both Owen Cummins and Ann Deane (a Widow Anne Nolan- nee Deane) married spouses with English Lineage who were much easier to trace back to 1700's!

We have gone back a little further but it would take me too long to type up all dates.

Trish

[dublin1850]

Mine are all in Ireland. I have details of 14/16 great great great grandparents on my father's side (back to about 1800-1820) and 8/8 great great grandparents on my mother's side (with 2/16 gggs).

Without a miracle, I can't really see it getting much better on my father's side - maybe one more generation at most. Might be able to get back to about the same on my mother's side, which I have not done as much work on.

Finding it more interesting now to follow brothers and sisters who emigrated in the 1800s and finding their descendants.

[trish1120]

Then we have our Irish brickwalls



New Zealand Herald 5 Oct 1894
LEGGETT—PURDY.—On September 5, at Kaikohe, Bay of Islands, N.Z., James Leegett, son of William and Ann LEGGETT, of Waiuku, Auckland, to Mary Jane Purdy, second daughter of James and Ann PURDY, of Kaikohe
- g granddaughter of Lord and Lady Gougb, Galway, Ireland;
- cousin to Father Moloney, Limerick;
- cousin to the Whaling Brothers, K. C. Priests of Loch Reagh, Ireland
- cousin to Dr. Moloney, Gort, Ireland
- cousin to Dr. Whalings, Loch Reagh, Ireland,
- and cousin to Father Costello, late of Auckland.*****
Southern papers please copy.

Ann Purdy was nee MOLONEY, Parents James Moloney occp Farmer and Ann Costello
Ann born c 1842 Ireland or Derby according to Certs, married Jame Purdy 1869 in Victoria, Australia

[isobelw]

I have very early stuff on my mother's Clotworthy side as her ancestors arrived in Ireland from Devon as part of the Plantation. There is then a huge gap until 1799 when my g/g/g grandfather was born. Have been working on this for 40 odd years and don't think I'll ever be able to fill in the blanks due to the lack of records.
Isobel

[aghadowey]

Right now I'm scraping together whatever I can get using online sources, but I'm planning trips to Ireland to get a better look at original records.

Much of what you are looking for is already online. Before coming to do research someplace like PRONI, Belfast you really do need to know what you are looking for otherwise you'll waste lots of time searching for information which might not exist and missing records that might be helpful.

Looking at a few of your 'Irish' threads, I think you need to check what's already there and get a better grasp of locations (and how different records record a place).

For example, on your more recent McElroy thread- under Tyrone rather than Derry for some reason:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=775913
You've listed baptisms for some of the children but don't mention if you've looked at the online parish registers. They only seem to go back to 1827 and without looking through them I'm not sure if there are any gaps or illegible sections- https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0181

Now, your earlier McElroy topic (under Derry) from 2014 gives some incorrect details which mean you may be overlooking further records. www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=690352
For example, here is Bernard's birth registration (1868) which shows he was born in Ballyrogly (not Magherafelt as you stated). In this case, Magherafelt is the registration district, Moneymore the sub-district and Ballyrogly the townland. If you are searching the vital records on Irish Genealogy they are indexed by registration district (GRONI's database allows selection of district and sub-district to narrow down results).
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1868/03433/2260316.pdf

Ballyrogully townland is in Co. Derry (Artrea civil parish) and between Moneymore village and Lough Neagh- https://www.townlands.ie/londonderry/loughinsholin/artrea/ballyrogully/
It may be that the Artrea & Desertlin R.C. registers will contain details of the family but they only go back to 1832- https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0182 (again earliest ones seem to be online)

Griffith's Valuation Books should allow you to find approx. how long the family were in Ballyrogully after you've checked vital records. These are also on PRONI's site (free).

Unless you've lots more information not in your threads then there's much you can look for online (and perhaps not too much other records to find here other than locating the places the family lived, etc.).

[Sinann]

We can only trace one branch of my back to the High Kings of Dalriada

Oh you lucky sod  Well done.
I've got an 1804 marriage as my oldest record and I'm chuffed to bits with myself....
particularly as a professional asked to do our family tree as a gift said there was no point as she didn't think it was possible she would find any more than I already had.
I recently spotted something though that I'd love to get a look at but it will have to wait a few years.

[mgeneas]

Currently researching a family that arrived in Nova Scotia in 1761 from Londonderry.
Joseph CROW with wife Esther Barnhill and baby Thomas. With them were Joseph's father and siblings.
Is there any chance of finding any information on them before they left Ireland?
They were protestant.