Finding information on Ancestors in Cloonfinlough

Robert:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I checked the 1824 Tithe listings for Clonnfinlough civil parish and there was a Patrick Head and a Peter Head but no James. The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing showed four Hede records but no James. Likely he was a small farmer and did not show up in the Griffiths or he had already left. The 1901 census shows two Hede families in Moher townland likely descendants of some of the men listed in the 1855 Griffiths. See links below. The RC records for the parish start in 1830 and there are anumber of Head baptismal records in the 1830s but no children of James just Patrick and John that I can see. https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0552

I'm sure that James was connected to the Patrick and Peter in the 1824 Tithe listings and the men listed in the Griffiths.

You may want to add James' story to our XO Chronicles site in Cloonfinlough parish https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-dat…

Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?…

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/roscommon/cloonfinlough.htm

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Roscommon/Cloonfinloug…

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Roscommon/Cloonfinloug…

Hi Roger, thanks so much for getting back to me and for providing the links. I looked on the Griffiths Valuation and i see a Denis Hede, who I believe to be the brother of my ancestor James Hede. They lived next to each other in Pennsylvania and both arrived in the united states the same year. That is exciting to see his name come up. Based on my records it appears he would have been born in 1822. It lists Clooncah next to his name - do you know what this might be referring to?

I am visiting ireland in the summer for the first time, and it would be very cool to visit the area to see where my ancestors came from. I have english origins too, and was able to find very detailed places where my ancestors were baptized/married etc in the 1700's. Would be very cool to be able to do the same for my irish roots.

Btw, I have many other irish ancestors but no idea where in the country they came from other than "ireland". If I have their D.O.B. and know their children would there be a website that would be best to try to identify where they are from?

Thanks again!

Robert

Robert:

Clooncah is a 566 acre townland in Cloonfinlough civil parish. It is located about eight kilometers south of the town of Strokestown. You can find Clooncah on Google Maps. Look for Clooncagh National School. There is another Clooncah in another part of Roscommon.

Regarding your other Irish connections, it depends on how far back they go and whether there are church or civil records available. There are three main sites that I use: First, there is a free Irish government site www.irishgenealogy.ie  which has images of a lot of civil records starting in 1864: births 1864-1916 marriages 1870-1941 Deaths 1878-1966  That site also has Co. Kerry and Co. Cork church records. I also use Roots Ireland and FindMyPast.ie to search for available church records.

I would suggest you post a new message for other Irish families similar to this note (one per family) and our volunteers will try to assist you. Include the specifics that you have.

You mention a summer visit, which month? We keep a data base of our visitors and where possible if we have someone local, we can try for a meetup.

Roger

Dear Robert:

I noted your comments and your upcoming trip to Ireland.  If you would like some further assistance from one of our volunteers during your trip, will you please email me at: jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com

In addition, you have asked about other ancestors from other areas in Ireland and trying to access the parish registers or other material.  There  are several ways of doing this:

The National Library of Ireland has a large number of parish registers online through their website.  If you know the parish that your ancestor came from and the year of baptism, it is a good place to start. 

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/

Another place to search is through Family Search.  Again, they have a large collection of freely accessible material.  You don't need to know what county or parish your ancestor came from, but if you narrow the location to Ireland, and add what information you have, you may have some luck with their collections.  That website is below:

https://www.familysearch.org/

You do need to create an account for the above, but it is free and well worth doing.

The Civil Registration Indexes for Ireland are available online through the Irish Genealogy website.  This is a government funded website that includes the civil records (which began in 1864) and Church Records from Counties Kerry, Cork (parts), Dublin City, Carlow.  This website is below:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

If you have ancestors located in County Clare:

The Clare Library website is very useful and has a number of parish registers uploaded (transcribed) and available.  This is another free site.

Their website is below:

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm

For fee paying sites and for records not located in County Clare:

Roots Ireland is a good place to start.  You will have to pay a fee (by month, year) but it may be worth your while if you have a number of records or searches that you want to find.  Roots Ireland has 4 or 5 parishes online for County Clare, but most of these are also online through the Clare Library or through Parish websites.  You can contact me directly if you have Clare ancestry and I can direct your further.  My email address is:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com.

http://ifhf.rootsireland.ie/

In addition, Ancestry, FindMyPast, My Heritage are all other fee paying sites that may assist with your research. 

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Jane.

Hi Roger, Jane, or anyone who might be able to assist,

I wanted to follow up for some additional information about the Cloonfinlough area in Roscommon. My fiancee and I will be visiting the country next week and plan on taking a detour and visiting Roscommon. I hope to see some of the towns and areas that my Hede ancestors may have come from. You mentioned that you have volunteers in Roscommon - it might be nice to be able to meet up and talk with someone while we are there.

I have found some additional information and I was hoping that you might be able to explain further explain to me the difference in these names, and what catholic churches might be the likely locations of these events. It seems that these names are used interchangeably, and I am not sure how they relate to modern day places, towns, and churches. Here is some information i have:

Gravestone in Pennsylvania for James and Bridget Hede states "Native of the Parish of Cloonfinlough".

Marriage record for Winifred Hede and John Feeney on January 29, 1847 in "Lisonuffy, Roscommon, Ireland"

Marriage record for Dennis Hede and Mariah Lannon on January 16, 1849 in   "Lisonuffy, Roscommon, Ireland". Anther record for this event lists the parish as "Lisonuffy, Cloonfinlough, and Strokestown" in the Diocese of Elphine. A THIRD record lists the marriage place as "Strokestown" and the Parish as Cloonfinlough, Kiltrustan, and Lisonuffy. 

A baptism record from 1837 for John Hede, son of John Hede and Mary Kilcline in "Cloonfinlough, Kiltrustan, Lisanuffy, Lisanuffy and Cloonfinlough, Lisonuffy" in Elphine Diocese

A baptism record for Catherine Hede for Feb 18, 1834, daughter of James and Bridget Hede in "Strokestown, Roscommon". 

I suppose my questions are:

• Is strokestown the main town in the Parish of Cloonfinlough? Are there any others?
• If a marriage or baptism happened in "Cloonfinlough" parish, would it be in the catholic church in Strokestown? Are there any other catholic churches in the Parish?
• Are Cloonfinlough, Lisonuffy, Kiltrustan all names for the same civil parish?
• Are Elphine parish and Elphine diocese completely different things? It appears that Cloonfinlough and Strokestown are in the Elphine Diocese, but i have seen "Elphine Parish" listed a few times as well. 

Sorry for a million questions, it would be greatly appreciated if someone could clear this up for me. Thanks and we are so excited to visit Roscommon!!

Robert Thompson

Hi Roger, Jane, or anyone who might be able to assist,

I wanted to follow up for some additional information about the Cloonfinlough area in Roscommon. My fiancee and I will be visiting the country next week and plan on taking a detour and visiting Roscommon. I hope to see some of the towns and areas that my Hede ancestors may have come from. You mentioned that you have volunteers in Roscommon - it might be nice to be able to meet up and talk with someone while we are there.

I have found some additional information and I was hoping that you might be able to explain further explain to me the difference in these names, and what catholic churches might be the likely locations of these events. It seems that these names are used interchangeably, and I am not sure how they relate to modern day places, towns, and churches. Here is some information i have:

Gravestone in Pennsylvania for James and Bridget Hede states "Native of the Parish of Cloonfinlough".

Marriage record for Winifred Hede and John Feeney on January 29, 1847 in "Lisonuffy, Roscommon, Ireland"

Marriage record for Dennis Hede and Mariah Lannon on January 16, 1849 in   "Lisonuffy, Roscommon, Ireland". Anther record for this event lists the parish as "Lisonuffy, Cloonfinlough, and Strokestown" in the Diocese of Elphine. A THIRD record lists the marriage place as "Strokestown" and the Parish as Cloonfinlough, Kiltrustan, and Lisonuffy. 

A baptism record from 1837 for John Hede, son of John Hede and Mary Kilcline in "Cloonfinlough, Kiltrustan, Lisanuffy, Lisanuffy and Cloonfinlough, Lisonuffy" in Elphine Diocese

A baptism record for Catherine Hede for Feb 18, 1834, daughter of James and Bridget Hede in "Strokestown, Roscommon". 

I suppose my questions are:

• Is strokestown the main town in the Parish of Cloonfinlough? Are there any others?
• If a marriage or baptism happened in "Cloonfinlough" parish, would it be in the catholic church in Strokestown? Are there any other catholic churches in the Parish?
• Are Cloonfinlough, Lisonuffy, Kiltrustan all names for the same civil parish?
• Are Elphine parish and Elphine diocese completely different things? It appears that Cloonfinlough and Strokestown are in the Elphine Diocese, but i have seen "Elphine Parish" listed a few times as well. 

Sorry for a million questions, it would be greatly appreciated if someone could clear this up for me. Thanks and we are so excited to visit Roscommon!!

Robert Thompson

Hi Robert

Although you're not directly related to me (so far), I have some family info which may help you.

My greatgrandfather's nephew John Christopher McDermott of Pollymount, Bumlin & Strokestown, Roscommon married Mary Ellen Hede of Moher, Cloonfinlough & Strokestown on 9th Feb 1911 and are found on the 1911 census at Pollymount. Mary's father was James Hede of Moher. Mary Ellen was born 24th October 1878 to James Hede and Bridget Conry. I found a James Hede who died Moher 3.9.1891, aged 60 (not necessarily accurate, putting dob c 1831), with his wife Bridget present. A James Heade of Mohill (was it Mohill or a spelling error for Moher) married Bridget Conry on 19th February 1876, age given as 37 & 20. This James' father was a Michael, a landholder. A Bridget Head, a widow, aged 43 was living in Moher, Cloonfinlough on 1901 census with son Michael aged 23. A Michael Hede was born on 13.12.1876 (age ties in) at Moher to James Hede and Bridget Conry. Another child was Winifred, born 25th April 1889. There may have been other children. Other families in Moher on 1901 census are those of Michael Head, Patrick Hede and Anne Hede (aged 84). Note the variant spellings. Moher seems to be the only place where Hede/Heads are on 1901 census in Roscommon.

You mentioned the confusion about place names... it's a minefield as RC parishes and civil parishes had different boundaries, and then there are the different towns (sometimes unexpected) where births, deaths and marriages were registered after 1864.And some townlands merged and changed names.

Also interested in your Hede-Feeney and Hede-Kilcline connections, as my ancestors are Feeneys (originally from Carrowclogher) and Kilclines (from somewhere in the Strokestown region, not the town).

Hope above is of some use at building a picture of the Hedes.

Have you done DNA testing on 23&me or Ancestry? This can link you up with distant cousins who may have info. Good luck.

Fionn Lawlor