McMahon of Templemaley

Hi Marg,

Just for your information, Barefield can also be known as Gortlumman. So you may find this name instead of Barefield when searching records.

There are Roman Catholic church records available for the diocese of Doora and Kilraghtis (Killaloe) (where Barefield is located). These date from 1821 for baptismal records and 1823 for marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 2472 (B. to 1862); remainder 2474. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.

There is an excellent website you could check here: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm

Here are some other documents you could check:

• 1829 Freeholders list. National Library of Ireland (NLI), P. .5556
• 1837 Marksmen (illiterate voters) in parliamentary boroughs: Ennis. Parliamentary Papers 1837, Reports from Committees, Vol. II (i), Appendix A.
• 1843 Clare voters. National Archives of Ireland (NAI) 1843/68

You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.

Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm 

Have you checked the immigration records in Australia? You have the name of the ship and a date, so this will help a lot. Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. These are useul for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, peitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Hello Sinead,

thank you for your very informative response.  I have already checked many of your suggestions and will chase up those that I've missed.

I was particularly interested in the alternative name for Barefield. Do you know why there is the other spelling? Does that only apply to a particular time period? How odd, but also how intriguing. 

Thank you again Sinead, your reply was very much appreciated.

Marg Watson,

Victoria, Australia.

Hi Marg,

I found this link that you might find interesting about Gortlumman: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/places/townlands/barefield_or_gortlumman.htm

Hope that answers your question!

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)