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Finally, if no one else gets sick (!) we are coming to Ireland next year for our first visit.  I plan to incorporate some ancestry research time into our trip and am narrowing down the places I need to go.

We know some of our ancestors came from Clerihan/Clonmel, as my grandmother spoke often of those two towns.  She was born in the U.S. and her dad was from Co. Mayo, mother was from "the North", but her mother-in-law lived with them for 15 years until her death, (my grandmother was her caretaker for the last 5 years of her life.)  We believe my g-grandmother must have told her of these two towns.  I find Clerihan to have special significance due to it's small size and because it isn't really known here in the states.

So I'll be searching for information on my Casey/Ryan lines in that area.  They were Catholic, and my g-grandmother was Elizabeth Casey - she same to the U.S. through New York around 1860, prob. 15-20 years old, went first to Cincinnati and then to Louisville, Ky.  Her parents, according to her death certificate, were Catherine Ryan and Edward Casey.  I have no information on them, I don't know if they stayed (or died) in Ireland.
Where would I most likely begin my search there?  We will stay several nights in either Cashel or Clonmel and devote the days mainly to research.

I've exhausted my online search.  I've been on Ancestry.com for 6 years, have had my DNA tested and have purchased various search results from rootsireland with no success.

If one of them was indeed from Clerihan, is there a church that might have records from that time and is it accessible online now?   Would Bru Boru have any records that might help me?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

I erroneously posted this in "The Common Room" so am re-posting here.

I would so appreciate it if someone could do a lookup for me at the National Library in Dublin.

It would be in the book "Millers & the Mills of Ireland, 1700 - 1900" by William Hogg.

After years of thinking that my Casey ancestors were somehow associated with a cornmill in Ireland before the famine, research has led me to the discovery that it was more likely a different line of ancestors.

I would like to know if there were any Cooneys, Carrolls or Murphy names attached to a cornmill in Carrowgallda or Laghtmacdurkan, County Mayo.  This would have been prior to 1850 and would have gone out of business around the time of the famine, late 1840's.

I see a number of corn kilns and a corn mill on the river separating the two towns named above in Griffith's Valuation done in 1856.  However, there is no mention of the cornmill in either town, it just shows up on the map.  My Cooney ancestors' home is still partially standing in Laghtmacdurkan.  Many of them were stonemasons and I found something recently that at least one may have been a millwright.

It's disheartening to think I've spent the past five years on a wild goose chase with the Caseys, but nothing in genealogy research comes easy, unless you're on "Who Do You Think You Are."

Anyway, if any of you happen to be visiting the library soon, I would certainly appreciate the lookup.
Joyce Hagan

I just discovered that my Murphy ancestors are from Co. Mayo and I have to say I'm SO excited!  My great-grandfather was a Patrick H. Murphy, evidently as common there as John Smith is here in the U.S., and I thought finding his birth county would be near to impossible. 
But thanks to ancestry.com and a lot of persistent digging on my part, I was able to connect with an unknown (to me) distant cousin who had reams of valuable information. 
So, I found that my g-grandfather was born about 1846 in Meelick Parish, Co. Mayo and came to the U.S. in the early 1850's with his family. 

Parents were Patrick Murphy, son of Thomas, born about 1812, possibly in Castlebar, and Margaret Cooney, daughter of Mary Carroll and Patrick Cooney, born April 1822 in Meelick Parish.  They were married Feb. 1843 in Meelick Parish, had a son, Thomas in 1844, my g-grandfather Patrick in 1846 and a daughter Mary A. in Feb. 1849 or 1850.  They emigrated to the U.S. shortly after and settled in Michigan City, Indiana.

I'm overwhelmed by all of this information, and I'm confused as to Meelick parish.  Is this a general area such as a civil parish (they were Catholic, by the way),or is it an actual place/townland?

Please forgive my stupidity, but I'm so anxious to learn all I can about this place where my ancestors are from.

Thank you,
Joyce Casey Hagan

Does anyone know anything of the Caseys in Ardbrennan, Killare during the 1840's - 50's?
My g-grandfather was Peter J. Casey, who came to the U.S. from Ireland in 1853.   My father said the "family had a mill that went under with the Great Famine", but no info as to which county.  "The Millers and Mills of Ireland 1700 - 1900" lists a Thomas Casey as having a corn mill in Ardbrennan as early as 1835-40 ,  and Griffiths Valuation shows no Caseys there by 1854.  It shows a Patrick Cushly leasing a corn-mill from Patrick Costelloe. 

Peter Casey went on to name his first son Thomas J., who continued the Peter - Thomas pattern for several more generations. I'm trying to determine if this Thomas Casey could be the person I'm searching for.  I know it's a longshot.  Thanks for any help.

I see that www.irishtimes.com has a subcription for 50 euros that gives 30 "units" of look-ups online, equivalent to three complete "ancestor searches."

www.rootsireland.ie, the county-based research centers, requires a fee to look at EACH record, which seems it could get exorbitantly high very quickly.

I'd be interested to hear opinions from anyone who has utilized either of these.  I have 3 - 4 counties I'm researching at present.

Thanks