Murphy/ Doherty Lisburn, County Antrim 1800s

I have a marriage certificate for Felix Murphy and Julia Doherty. They were married at St Patrick Catholic Church in Lisburn, County Antrim on 2 May 1881.
The certificate shows Felix's father is Francis Murphy and Julia's father is Henry Doherty.  I would love to know more about Francis Murphy and Henry Doherty and go back further in these lines.
If anyone has information it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Hi Mary,

It's great to hear that you have the marriage certificate for Felix and Julia and looking to follow back to find their paternal lines!

Does the certificate say where Francis and Henry are from as I would imagine they were born before 1864? This is crucial as before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records, all the surviving records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. 

No, sadly it doesn't have any more information than I've already provided.  That's why I'm stuck.

Hi Mary

if nobody in wider community can provide you with new information you will have to rely on church baptismal registers to confirm birth and parent details of Felix Murphy and Julia Doherty born c. 1860 or earlier.

If you searched Rootsireland.ie for these births without success it might be worth searching for births of siblings c. 1860; in other words search RootsIreland.ie with father's names, i.e. Francis Murphy and Henry Doherty.

Also search mid-19th century Griffith's Valuation for references to Francis Murphy and Henry Doherty as it is quite likely that they were recorded as heads of households in this source.

Hello Brian, 

This is super helpful! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and suggestions here. :)

Thank you Brian!

Hi Mary, I would recommend obtaining the marriage record for free from the civil section of www.irishgenealogy.ie as this will provide you with the occupations of Felix, Julia and their fathers as well as their residences when they married and the names of their witnesses, all clues for pushing further back.

I would also suggest searching www.rootsireland.ie as Brian has recommended, searching both for the baptisms of siblings of Felix and Julia but also their siblings' marriage records - for example I came across the marriage record of a Daniel Doherty who seems highly likely to be Julia's brother.

All the best with your research, if you would like us to do some of the research for you when you've explored all that is available online, please visit https://www.ancestryireland.com/research-services/

Best wishes,

Gillian Hunt
Research Officer
Ulster Historical Foundation

Hi Gillian, 

Once again, thank you for all of your suggestions and help here! I hope this Daniel Doherty is Julia's brother and that it will solve this piece of the puzzle for Mary. 

Thanks again! :)

Hi
You might also want to check with the Public Records Office for Northern Ireland   https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni
Their office in Belfast is currently closed due to Coronavirus, but they have a lot of information online and cover all of Northern Ireland.
Kind regards 
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