My name is John Joseph Donnellan and I am trying to find my GGF Patrick Michael Donnellan's extended Family still living in Ireland.
PM was born in 1828. PM’s obituary, in the Chicago Newspapers, shows that he died on 2/7/1902 and indicates that his Family was from either County Offaly or County Westmeath, or County Galway, Ireland. In the 1900 census report it shows that Patrick immigrated to America in 1840 and that his birth year was 1828.This would mean that PM was 12 years old at the time of his sailing from Ireland to America and probably indicates that he sailed with his family, because of his young age. The 1880 census shows that PM had a Brother James staying in his household and that his Brother was 55 years old in 1880. This would mean that his brother was born in 1825 and the older brother of PM by three years.
Names of Patrick’s children, in order of birth are---Edward Born-1/1860*Patrick Born-11/1863*WILLIAM Born-6/15/1864*Mary Born-3/25/1866**Margaret Born-6/1870*John Born-8/26/1971 *Catherine Born-1/1872*Joseph Born-2/11/1876* All of PM's children were born In the Chicago area. Any assistance you are able to render will be greatly appreciated.
John J Donnellan
Sunday 16th Mar 2014, 07:18PM
Message Board Replies
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Dear John
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in replying to your message.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.
There are some places where you can search online, however as you do have a number of locations in mind. These websites do not have complete collections and many do not cover the period after 1900:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However, so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered.
Other important sources include the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith?s Valuation:
Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837): http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp
Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864): http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Some other websites that may be helpful are:
The National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ you can search the 1901/1911 Census on the National Archives page too for instances of the family name during that time
Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Best of luck with your search
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Monday 7th Apr 2014, 10:01AM