Shannakyle, Co. Clare

Dear Judith

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and thanks for your query.

As you can see from the link provided below, the records for the Roman Catholic Parish of Parteen and Meelick begin in 1831 for baptism and 1814 for marriages, the latter containing some missing dates, notably between 1836 and 1847:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Clare&parish=Parteen&churchid=887

You could try searching www.familysearch.org or www.rootsireland.ie (a subscription site) for information on your Moloney/Mason ancestors.  Any of the children born after 1864 should have a civil record of their birth and therefore confirm the townland they lived in and their parents? name and occupation. The family may also be recorded on Griffith?s Valuation; you can search at the link below. The Valuation was a survey of land tax taken throughout the 1850s. As a matter of interest, you may wish to have a look at the Census 1901/1911 to gauge the extant of the family name at that time.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Best of luck with your search

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support

Clare, I'm so sorry for not thanking you for your post, but I didn't receive notice of a reply and did not see it until today when posting additional information for other parishes.  I have most all the information I can find for my ancestors in Co. Clare.  My problem is locating where they may have been buried.  It appears, through the kindness of volunteers, only headstones are indexed not actual burial records which are far and few between and .  One of my ancestors was born/died in Taghmon, Co. Westmeath and although the parish priest provided burial records for his 1920 death, early deaths were not recorded and the graveyard is now under management of public works who are not able to provide any records.  Here in the US, burial records and obituaries are a major source of genealogical information.  Again, thanks for your post.  Judith

Hi again Judith

Burial records are not very valuable here genealogically speaking as they mostly just contain the name of the deceased and the date they were buried. Many don't start until after 1850. 

Let us know if you manage to learn anything new

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Again, thank you Clare!  I'll keep on researching and maybe one day my brick walls will tumble!                                                     Best regards,                                                                                                                                                                                                  Judith