Duffy of Londonderry help

[aghadowey]

Not sure how to use the griffiths valuation. He lived at Skinners Alley Derry in 1883 and last known address was 12 Rock, Derry in 1887. I've also found the address of 55 bridge Street

What you need to check is the Valuation Revision Books- all those addresses are in Derry (city). The books will give a rough idea of when a person might have moved to and from a property. However, I have exact adresses for relatives in Derry but they don't all show up in the books.
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm

Type in Skinner and select Londonderry as the county then you'll see Skinner's Alley listed.
Bridge Street is Templemore Parish.
'Rock' brings up quite a few possibilities.

[Kweiss62]

Thank you so much Aghadowery! I am so close but I need more guidance.

I got all the way to the page that lists Skinners Alley and gives a link for different years. I chose 1884 - 1893. It took me to a list of Val12B/32/11A thru Val12B/32/11ZB.

I randomly picked Val12B/32/11B and found Londonderry, Skinners Alley. Page 160. What do I do with that info and will I find Skinners Alley in each of the other listings?

By the way, that particular book did not have page 160 in it.

[aghadowey]

When you go to the book for 1884-1893 page 4 of the index says page 104- go forward until you see page 104 in the upper right corner of the page (page 124/182) and Skinner's Alley in there but no Duffy listed.

[Kweiss62]

I found my GG James Duffy living on the rock in Londonderry between 1885-1891. Is there a way to see who else was living there  with him?

[aghadowey]

No, the Valuations just list head of household.

[Kweiss62]

Hi Aghadowey, you have helped me this past year in finding my ancestors. I thank you so much. Now I have another request. My husband and I are coming to Ireland July,2016. We will be taking a cruise that begins in Dublin and ends in England. On July 18th, we will be docked in Belfast from 7 am till 8pm. How feasable would it be , time wise, to get to see my family plots in Derry and St Eugene's Catherdral where so many were married, baptized and buried? It would be great to stop in for additional genealogy help as well. Do you know of a reliable person that we can hire? At what cost? What is the most reasonable means of transportation? Also, do you think it would be wiser to come stay in Derry a day or two ahead of the cruise and then travel on to Dublin to begin it? I have so many questions and a limited budget.
Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated.

[aghadowey]

A few years ago a tourist landed at our door without any notice asking for help in tracing their family. They were on a cruise which docked in Belfast for the day, had arranged to hire a driver ahead of time (at great expense), who had taken them to Derry to see the church, place their family lived and I think City Cemetery. Unfortunately we got them on the journey back to Belfast and had to tell them there were several errors in their information as well as many of the entertaining 'historical facts' that the Belfast driver told them were completely biased and mostly outright lies.

Derry itself is fairly compact. I don't think there are burials at St. Eugene's so your relatives may have been buried at the City Cemetery. The 18th of July is a Sunday, I think, in which case the cemetery office is likely to be closed.
http://www.steugenescathedral.com/storyofsteugenes.htm
http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Cemeteries/City-Cemetery-Guide

Now, public transport-
By car the quickest route is at least 90 minutes.
Train is possibly a long slow journey- especially on a Sunday when there are fewer trains.
Bus service is quite good (every 1/2 hour during the week at least) but Sunday not a good day to travel- depending on rail works, etc.
http://www.translink.co.uk/

[CarolA3]

All is not lost!  2016 will be a leap year, so I believe 18 July will fall on a Monday.

Carol

[aghadowey]

Ah, that is good news (forgot that calendar on phone starts the week with Monday not Sunday)