Lyng, Nichol, Byrne Genealogy Resources

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking in Church records for information on Alexander or Johanna? Civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864, births/marriages etc. were all recorded by the Church in each parish until then.

Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which you may find helpful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Graiguenamanagh parish follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Kilkenny&parish=Graignamanagh&churchid=706

For Church of Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.  The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf

Civil registration records are held in the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You could also try searching at https://familysearch.org/ This is a huge genealogical database that has been compiled by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Its records include some parish registers and civil records that have been microfilmed.

A good website where you can get more information on Civil records and also general information on doing family history research is http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Canadian-immigration-records.html

As there are no complete set of census records available in Ireland prior to 1901, land records can sometimes be used as substitutes. There are two such records:

The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at  http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Have you tried looking into Alexander?s emigration as a possible source of information? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure so it may be something to look in to. For immigration records in the US check the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

You could also search the 1901 and 1911 census records to find information on Alexander and any family that may have remained in Ireland. You can search these here:

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

Some other websites which you may find useful in your research are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Ellis Island: http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/kilkenny/index.html

Kilkenny Library Local Studies Department: http://kilkennylibrary.kilkenny.ie/eng/Our_Services/Local_Studies/

I hope that some of these links are helpful to you. Best of luck with your research!

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support

Thank you.  While I am familar with the more popular sites you list, you have included many I had not heard of.  

I will be busy checking them out.

Thanks again,

Michael

Hi Mikelle,

Are you sure your Johanna Nichol was born in 1835? 

I could not find any Johanna Nichol born in Graiguenamanagh Parish in 1835 but I found the following:

Graignamanagh Baptisms 1818 to 1842 A - Z

Surname Year Mth Day  First Name      Parents Names     Address       Sponsors Names  Nicklison 1820   9    24   Alexander         John Nicklison &     Raheen         John Curry &                                                                                Ellen Murray                               Catherine Walsh

Nicholson 1822  9   22    Alexander          Robert Nicholson & Raheen         Laurence Murphy &                                                                      Margaret Nicholson                     Judy Fenlon

Graignamanagh Baptismal Register 1838 - 1868 A-Z

Surname  Year Mth Day    First Name   Address       Parents Names        Sponsors Names Nicholl    1868    4   26       Mary              Raheen        Alexander Nicholl &     Terence Mahon   &                                                                                       Johanna Byrnes          Catherine Murphy

Nicholson 1866  3     4       Margaret     Raheen            Alexander Nicholson & Thomas Murphy &                                                                                       Judith Byrne                  Bridget Byrne

Graignamanagh Baptismal Register 1869 to 1896 A - Z

Surname  Year Mth Day  First Name  Parents Names   Address             Sponsors Names

Nicoll        1870   6    8      Judy              Alick Nicoll &     Raheendonore      Michael Cuddy &                                                                  Judy Byrne                                     Mary Doyle

Nicolson    1872   12   1     Robert             Alick Nicolson &  Raheendonore         James Byrne &                                                                     Judy Byrne                                        Mary Lanegan

I believe that this is the same family despite the differences in the surname. Everything depended on the literacy skills of the priest writing up the Baptismal Record. They were the first record keepers and went entirely on phonetics and how the name was spoken locally. Also the townland name of Raheendonore is often shortened to Raheen.

Regards,

Bridie