SEARCHING FOR MARTIN & CECILIA GETTINS

Hi Everyone

I am a newbie to the group and happy to be here. I will be visiting Dublin in August 2018 with my daughter for 2 weeks. We are so looking forward to it, especially as our ancestors orginate from Ireland.   I'm hoping to find someone who may have MARTIN GETTINS as an ancestor. Martin was born anytime between 1826-1830 in Country Sligo. The Sligo Heritage & Genealogy Centre require more info from me, in order to assist me with my search.  Martin left Ireland and settled in Liverpool in England. He can be found in the 1851 England, Wales and Scotland Census, where it is documented that he was 23 years old and single. I can find no 1861 Census, but he and his family are documented in the 1871 and 1881 Census'. The sites I have been searching are FamilySearch.org and FindMyPast.com, which have provided me with all the information I have so far.  The SH&GC have advised that I contact the Liverpool Record Office to see if I can obtain copies of his children's civil birth records. I have done this and am waiting for a Researcher to contact me. They are hoping that perhaps his father's name is mentioned, as well as his wife Cecilia's pre-marriage name, so that I can trace her as well.  I am hoping that someone from this group researching the GETTINS family, may have Martin documented as a sibling in their family.

I only started my search about 6 months ago.  It has been and still is, a wonderful journey of discovery.  I am having such fun. My goal at this stage is to find the church where Martin and/or Cecilia were baptised in Ireland, so that we could pay a visit when were are there next year. Apologies for the long message. That's my story! :) 

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to the Community!

How exciting! We can only imagine how amazing it will be to visit places linked to your family history and this with your daughter.

We have fantastic genealogy expert/lover in this community.
They might be able to help you gather more information regarding the Gettins family history.
Brian, one of our members, created a guide which includes 3 steps. Every step provides information and a list of useful websites.
You can have a look at this guide here; it might help you find more information on Cecilia for example. 

Regarding your holiday, are you waiting to find more about your ancestors or have you already some ideas of places you would like to visit?

Also, don't be sorry, we love your story!😊
It reminds me of a great success story that our community members made possible.
The story of David Kee and his long-lost relatives, you can read the thread here. 

Elodie

Thank you for the warm welcome Elodie.

I appreciate the tips too. We are planning to do the Hop On Hop Off Tour of Dublin once we've settled in. A few day tours, as far as one can go in a day :) is also on our list. My daughter is keen to go visit Cork.  I'm really hoping to get more info on my ancestors, so a trip to County Sligo would definitely be on the cards for me. I'm keen to read all about David's story, so thank you for that link :) 

If you have any recommendations of places to visit, please share.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  My list has changed so many times...lol

Sharon 

Hi Sharon,

Planning a first trip to Ireland can be overwhelming. There is so much to see and do!

The idea of joining day trips from Dublin is a brilliant idea.
It is sometimes easier and nicer to choose a couple of places to set your bags and then do day tours.

Are you thinking to hire a car or using the public transport and tours?
If you are thinking of day tours, here is a selection of tours available from Dublin. 
You could visit places like Newgrange, Glendalough or even the Connemara.

As you have 2 weeks, you could include some time in Cork and visit the Ring of Beara or the Ring of Kerry from there.
Do not hesitate to use the link I gave you and change the search to have a better idea of things you could do.

Let's make sure to keep a couple of days free in case you need a trip to Sligo! 😉

Our members may also have some other suggestion including places to stay for example.

Elodie

Hi Sharon

In the ideal world a search of records in Liverpool will identify the name of parents of Martin Gettins, who was born in County Sligo c. 1826-1830, and perhaps a townland/parish of origin in County Sligo.

Prior to 1864 and civil registration of births in Ireland you will have to rely on church registers to confirm birth details of Martin Gettins. Dates of commencement and quality of information in church registers vary from parish to parish and from denomination to denomination.Access to church registers, in the absence of indexes and databases, is generally gained through knowledge of an ancestor's parish address and religious denomination.
 
There is no national index to Irish church registers. To date, only the county-based genealogy centres have attempted any large scale, systematic indexing of church registers in their localities. Unfortunately it would appear that the database of Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre (http://sligo.rootsireland.ie) doesn't record the baptismal entry of Martin. 

It must be emphasised that a failure to find a relevant birth entry in this database (or indeed any other database) doesn't mean that Martin wasn't born in Sligo. It simply means that his birth isn't recorded in the database; for example, his baptism may have occurred in a church whose registers don't go back beyond 1830. 

However, you may be interested to know that around the time Martin was born the Tithe Applotment Books (which are in effect a rural census of heads of household in 1820s/1830s, and can be searched on website of National Archives of Ireland at http://genealogy.nationalarchives.ie) reveals three Gettins households in the townland of Muingwore in the parish of Castleconor, County Sligo; namely households headed by Anthony, James and Thomas Gettins.

It is always possible, but not yet proven, that Martin lived in one of these households.

Thank you so much Brian for all the information you have provided, as a novice researcher, this information has helped me tremendously. I appreciate all the effort you've put in and the advice you've shared. :)  

Hi Sharon,

Thanks again to Brian for all of the wonderful information on a possible connection to Martin in County Sligo, he is a savior of many.

We hope that this leads to a positive outcome and that you can further your family search and look forward to hearing any good news.

Have you decided on any of your day trips for you and your daughter?

Martin

Thank you so much Martin for your post. Couldn't agree more re your comments on Brian. 

I have done further investigation and have found out that Cecilia's surname was SPELLMAN, which was my grandfather's second name viz William Spellman Gettings.  As we know the surnames changed slightly over the years and in this case from Gettins to Gettings. Martin and Cecilia had a daughter, named after her mother, and I was able to trace the daughter's birth entry on the General Register Office website, where it listed her mother's surname as Spellman. What a find that was!  I have ordered a copy of the full birth certificate to be mailed to me, as well as Martin's son, Patrick's, birth certificate.  And so the search continues.

We haven't decided on the day trips so far. I still need to browse some more. Any recommendations will be welcomed. Thank you. 

Hi Sharon

Although your ancestors have emigrated by time of mid-19th century Griffith's Valuation (which acts as a mid-19th century census of heads of households in Ireland) it will provide insight into location of Gettins and Spellman households in Sligo. As all things being equal where your surname was located in mid-19th century is where it was located at beginning of 19th century.

This source, for example, records one reference to a household headed by Cecilia Spellman in all of Ireland at this time, namely a Cecilia Spellman in townland of Toomour, Toomour Parish, County Sligo (with house and 6 acres of land). Maybe a coincidence, but you never know!

You can search Griffith's Valuation for free at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation 

Hi, Sharon.

We're loving the updates - keep them coming!

As for suggestions, we're filled with lots of them to share.  

In addition to visiting the church where Martin and/or Cecilia were baptised, there are lots of other trip ideas that you might like to consider adding to your itinerary.  Two weeks is a great amount of time to explore quite a bit of the Emerald Isle.

Also, as it's been mentioned before that you will be visiting Dublin in particular, there are some excellent day trips from Dublin that you might like to consider.  They are in the surrounding areas, which makes it particularly easy to get to and from Dublin!

There are also lots of excellent downloadable resources that you may like to browse in your spare time.

Hope this helps.  Very excited to hear more about your findings, as well as your plans as they progress.

Speak soon,
Colin