RootsChat.Com

I'm trying to find out about my 2xGt Grandfather George Anderson (sometimes known as George Hunter Anderson).  He married in Newcastle on 28 October 1844 at St Johns - he was resident in St John's or St Andrew's parish (licence has one and wedding cert has the other) He was of full age, (his bride was 30) and he was a gentleman's servant.  His father was George Anderson, deceased who had been "an officer".  He had 4 daughters, none of whose births were registered, but the second of his daughters Sarah Eleanor Anderson died on 22 October 1847 aged 5 months at New Bridge Street.
Can anyone suggest where she may have been buried and whether the burial register may have any clues as to George's origins eg was she buried with her grandparents, or another relative etc. 

Though his youngest daughter, Georgina Harriet was baptised on 20 April 1851 at St Johns and the address is given as Elswick Villas, I can't find any of the family in 1851 census.  By 1856, his wife Eleanor and 3 remaining daughters were in Manchester and George never reappears with them again.  Eleanor declares herself married in 1861 and 1871 and a widow in 1881, but I can't reliably identify his death.  I have not identified him on any censuses as I don't know where or when he was born.
Also, question no 2; does anyone know if the rate books still exist for Newcastle from 1840s/1850s and if so, who was paying the rates on Elswick Villas or Elswick Villa around 1848 to 1850.
Please don't waste any effort in tracing his wife, Eleanor Boullen before the marriage nor Eleanor and daughters after 1856 - I have all that information and it sheds no light on the man himself.  I first posted about him 11 years ago, but I have included all the relevant information in this post - some of the old stuff turned out to be wrong so I deliberately haven't linked it, but it can be found using the search box.

I'm helping my brother apply for an Irish passport on the grounds we have an Irish-born grandfather.

My grandfather was born on 9 April 1882, according to the 1939 register.  His age at marriage and death accord with this.  His father was James too, and family lore records he came from Galway (county, not town) and he was Catholic.  Unfortunately, his birth doesn't appear on the irishgenealogy.ie records.

My questions are
1. Are Irish birth records held like the English ones; registered at the local Registry Office, then forwarded to the central Register Office?
2. If so, are the irishgenealogy records those held at the central Registry and can one approach the local register office to ask for their records to be checked?
3. If his birth wasn't registered (and some of his siblings' don't seem to have been), will the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade authorities accept a baptismal record to issue a foreign-born birth certificate?
4. The parish records that are freely available for Boyounagh (the parish in question) go up to 1881, but I understand later records are available on the pay-to-view site Rootsireland.ie.  Does anyone know if these are images of parish records or just transcriptions?

Thanks in advance 

I'm looking for the baptism of John HONAN, son of James HONAN, a farmer. 
The earliest record I have is his enlistment into the RIC on 18 August 1847 when he is described as aged 18, born Tipperary, implying a birth in 1829.
After 10 years in RIC, he moved to Manchester, and in 1861 census, he was 31 (ie born 1830), in 1871 he was 39 (ie born 1832), when he remarried in Oct 1871, he was 40 (ie born 1831), in 1881, he was 50 (born 1831) and when he died in April 1890, he was 61 (born 1829).

I think it's unlikely he could have got away with joining the RIC at the age of 16 (1831 birth), so he must have been born 1829 or 1830.  I've looked through the Tipperary (parish) registers for 1829 and part of 1830 with no success.  Also there seem to be no other births of Honans in the parish at that time, though I know there was a family of Honans with 6 or 7 sons at Ballyhurst (about 2 miles east of Tipperary town) in 1837 and later in the Griffiths valuation of c1841.

Can anyone suggest where all these missing baptisms may be - John and family were devout Catholics.

Apologies in advance for spelling mistakes, not responding to any replies I may get etc - the reason will be obvious from my post!
Over the last 3 weeks or so, the screen on my laptop has become progressively more difficult to see.  When I switch the laptop on (Acer aspire, about 5 years old), the screen is so dark, I can barely see it.  Over the course of several minutes, it gradually lightens, though sometimes the left-hand side stays markedly darker than the right-hand side.  Eventually after 10 or 15 minutes of use, the screen becomes light enough to see relatively easily.  If I leave the laptop switched on but unused, the screen goes very dark again, but if I put it to sleep, it is bright again when I come back to it.
I've tried Mr Google, and there seem to be two possible reasons for this 1) the fluorescent tubes in the screen are going or 2) there is a problem with the drivers. 
I obviously don't want to replace the laptop if the problem can be fixed but equally I want to transfer stuff to a replacement if it's only a matter of time before the screen dies forever.  (I have already saved my family history stuff and photos and email contacts onto memory sticks).
Does anyone have any ideas where the root of the problem may lie?