William Kiggins and Margaret Oakes of Ireland

[Janet Kiggans]

I am looking for information on my husbands great great grandparents.  William Kiggins b: ~1828 and Margaret Oaks b: ~1829 in Ireland, do not know anything more specific on where in Ireland.  The immigrated to the US around 1850 according to the 1900 US Federal Census.  In 1852 they were in Georgia when their 3rd child was born.  They brought with them 2 children Michael B: ~1848 and Bridgett b: ~1849.  I have been searching a couple of years for anything.  I'm sure that part of the problem is with the many spelling variations of the name.  Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Janet Dabney Kiggans

[ballydw]

Hello Janet & welcome to RC.
Regarding your query there are a few different sites you could look at:
www.nationalarchives.ie the surname Kiggins seems to be prevalent in Galway & Mayo which is West of Ireland, also some in Wexford. Here you will also find Tithe Applotment Records & Griffith Valuation records.
www.rootsireland.ie (Pay site) for Baptisms & Marriages as Civil Registration only arrived in Ireland in 1864. Also you could check the Source List on this site & it will give the years covered in each location for the records they hold.
Do you know the denomination of your ancestors Roman Catholic or Other?  If you had a Death record for William or Margaret it may show their parents names.

[Janet Kiggans]

Thank you for the suggestions.  It prompted me to check again for a burial location.  Since I got nothing when I searched findagrave.com I went to the cemetery where their son is buried and there they were, the record had just been added in the past few months.  It pays to keep checking and re-checking.  So, what I found is that their headstones have the name spelled as KIGGANS.  The age was also inscribed as 85 for him and 83 for her.  This is different than all the ages recorded in the available census records.  But, I do have a little more to work with now.  I can at least contact the church office about any possible church minutes.

Janet Dabney Kiggans

[Janet Kiggans]

Also, Death Certificates for the state of Tennessee did not contain any information on parents or burial location until after 1911 so that would not help as they died in 1905 and 1907.  Religion was most likely not Roman Catholic as they are buried in a Baptist Church Cemetery and there are some of their children buried in the same cemetery, but, I could be totally off target with that.

Janet Dabney Kiggans

[despair]

If I have the correct records,do the ages at death not give birth dates of 1820 and 1824 approx. not 1828-1829?
A complete wild card could be this for Margaret,as her mother is Bridget,as per her child's name

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/5fc14d0001462
.
The birth is Church of Ireland.Again,if I have the right records the burials are in a Baptist cemetery.

Regards
Roger

[Janet Kiggans]

Roger,

Thank you so much.  This could be our first real clue to Ireland.  Yes, you are right.  If the ages on the headstones are correct then the date of birth for be ~1824 on Margaret and ~1820 on William.  Those dates just do not match up with any of the ages recorded on the US Census records.  That could be why we have had no luck the past few years finding anything. 

This records looks like it could be a real possibility.  Again THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH.

Janet Dabney Kiggans

[despair]

If you haven't already investigated Ballydw's suggestion for www.rootsireland.ie here are some basic numbers.A one off,one month membership costs £20.I can't access details but the site initially lists records,including name variants within +/- 5 years of the input date.There are 4 or 5 entries for Margaret Oakes based on a mid 1820s date,and 15-20 for William Kiggins,though I suspect these may largely be Keegans.

Regards
Roger

[Janet Kiggans]

Thank you to all that have given me feedback so far.  It has led to my retracing some of my previous research and today I found christening records on three of William and Margaret's children.  The best part, at least one of them was christened at Immaculate Conception Church right in my hometown of Knoxville, TN.  I am hoping that I will be able to obtain a copy of the actual records and that it may contain a missing link to their Ireland origins. 

My husband is a little uneasy about the pay website suggested since it would require a transaction oversees.  I did a little research on it and if I understand it is a government sponsored research site, is that correct?

Thanks
Janet

[mad jock]

Hi, it may be a long shot but my husbands grandmother was Mary Kiggins born 1879in Feigh West, Taum, Galway, Ireland. her parent Patrick Kiggins( 1846 in  Coolurty, Abbeyknockmoy, Co.Galway) and Bridget Carroll. Patricks father is also Patrick, his mother was Judith Lawless and he seemed to have a brother Michael Kiggins (this is all I have and hope that I have the correct information.)
Regards
Mandy