Stuck and need suggestions

[Jillie42]

I've received a reply from the Mallow Herotage centre with results for a couple of Harringtons. They don't feel right. Everything thing I've read leads me to believe that my Harringtons came from West Cork but as I understand it there is no paid search facility for West Cork.

I've had some communication with Riobard O'Dwyer and he can't find any Cornelius Harrington who fits the bill. He covers the Bear peninsula but presumably West Cork covers more then this area

I'm running out of places to search and people to contact.

I know Irish geneology is menat to be notoriously difficult but there must be some avenues I haven't searched yet....any ideas anyone?

[Christopher]

Hiya Jillie,

Have no fear ... you are not yet running out of places to search or people to contact. I joined a site called Y-IRL recently and picked up a little piece of useful information there. One of the members told me she had been cheeky and posted on a local Irish Forum. In fact, when I asked which Forum, she told me she had not posted on a Forum but in the guest book of a little village in Ireland. Through this somewhat novel approach she found a living descendent of the ancestor she was researching. My new online friend was not being cheeky as she thought .. she was being extremely enterprising in finding a new way of searching for ancestors. This is precisely what the internet is about .. there are no hard and fast rules ... if a site has a Forum, a guest book or shows a contact address then I feel people are there to be contacted. Genealogists have more means of research at their fingertips than they had many years ago.

Chris

[magsbutler]

Chris, and Jillie, good morning.

I totally agree with this - go local , go direct , when you can! I have contacted people in a similar fashion, and usually some sort of snippet of info will turn up. Often, the village post office or small guest house type place will know of a local historian, even if they don't know the surname you are looking for - but they often will! Also, the local school may have records. And I'm surprised at the number of parish priests nowadays who can be contacted by email.
Someone at the county library, the local studies dept. for instance, will normally be a mine of information.
Jillie, have your tried the valuation office website? valoff.ie

I also agree with you Jillie re. heritage centres - I wouldn't assume the info they give you is 100% accurate - they can only regurgitate the info they already have on their database - so if they didn't have the records to start with, for whatever reason, then they won't be able to pass them on to you either (for a large fee). I say this from experience - a cousin paid for research at a heritage centre, received the list of baptisms etc, then it turned out later on that one of the entries had been wrongly transcribed originally, with the wrong name (and wrong gender!)
So don't give up hope yet.

Good luck anyway,

Mags

[Jillie42]

Thanks people.

Christopher, I've signed up for Y-IRL. Hope I'm special enough to be inited in

[choco2]

Am interested in the Y-IRL site you mention in this tread.
I am trying to trace ancestors from Co Cork and am just hitting brick walls so I will try any sites that may be of help.

The area I am trying to locate was known as Passage West in 1918.

I would be great grateful if someone could tell me how to join the site.

Thanks

Choco

[taobheireann]

Dont give up hope, there are oodles of Harringtons in the Beara peninsula and as Im sure you know, this is on the border of Kerry.  Perhaps you could try someone or some groups that search the south Kerry area? (there is basically a mountain between the two areas!!)

On www.catholicireland.net you will find a list of churches in the Beara and west cork areas, go to parishes in Cork and you will see plenty, such as rosmackeown, castletowbere, allihies, eyries, ardgroom, and cahermore.  Maybe the priest in each church can offer you advice? The telephone numbers are on that site also.

As for Chocco, Passage West is still a town in West Cork, there is a link giving info  on wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passage_West

Good luck to both of you

[Jillie42]

Cheers

Jillie

[Christopher]

Hiya Jillie,

Dee mentioned a lot of Cornelius Harrington's in yesterday's message on your Different Harringtons - Irish surname locations thread.

Christopher

[choco2]

Hi Taobheireann

Thank you for the links that you have posted. I will certainly try them.

Thanks again for your help

Choco