Seeking help with research on my Roscommon ancestors

hi there ,have just stumbled on this site by accident and I'm very impressed with the success your experts have had finding relatives for  other members so here goes .I have been researching my gg grand parents families but have had little success with some members .My gg grandfather was George Thompson of Dacklin ,Carrick on Shannon ,Co Ros B1807 D 1880 and he married Catherine Byrne/Beirne (B 1819 D 1879 ) in 1843 ,I am trying to find info on some of their children namely Andrew B 28/05/1852 ,James B 05/06/1859 and twins Margaret and Susan B 07/08/1864  ,I believe they must have emigrated to the States as some of their other siblings did and settled in the Bayonne /Jersey city area .In fact two of them ,Catherine (Murphy) and Mary (Hollister ) are buried in Holy Name Cemetery ,New   Jersey . Another daughter Anne B 08/091849 was my g grand mother ,she married Patrick Keane ( B 1840/42 D 1942 )from nearby Doneen ,Ballinameen in 1881but we have no trace on Patricks siblings John B 1845 and Brigid 1840. I really would appreciate any light anyone can shed on these missing ancestors ,my father never knew anything about them growing up and its so sad that they possibly emigrated never to return again to their homeland. Many thanks ,Breda Keane 

Hi Breda,

It’s great to hear that you are tracing your Irish Family History and have had some success so far!

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records; while some of these have regrettably been lost over the years, all the surviving records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. For County Roscommon, you may wish to take a look at Roscommon Roots to see if they are able to help you with your research. Irish Geneology is also a good place to find records, they have several different search categories, one of which is migration records to see if you can find the detail for Andrew, James, Margaret, and Susan. We have a general resources page on our website that has lots of links to genealogy resource places that may be of interest too.

In 1864 civil registration was introduced in Ireland, which is when we started seeing the formal registration of births, marriages, adoptions and deaths. These records have been kept at the General Register Office of Ireland(GRO), to this day. Do you have records on where Anne and Patrick lived during their marriage? Did they remain in Roscommon?

I'm sure our Industry partners and fellow members will have some advice also.

We hope this helps.

Martin

hi Martin ,thanks so much for your prompt reply ,I have quite a lot of information on Anne and Patrick as they were my g grandparents ,they lived at Dacklin untill their deaths and they are buried in Aughrim cemetery, its their siblings I'm curious about .As I mentioned 2 of Anne's sisters emigrated to New Jersey and one of their descendents .my 3rd cousin discovered her roots through a DNA test  and consequently visited Ireland to meet her family 2 years ago .Patricks brother and sister are not listed in the 1901 census which is strange ,in fact theres no mention of Keanes in the Dooneen townland then .Are the sites you mention fee paying ?I have had a look at some but without experience in what I'm looking for I have had no success . Maybe some of your other contributers might be able to shed some light .kind regards ,Breda

Hi Breda,

The Roscommon Roots site is fee paying and depends on the depth of information you require. If you have done some in depth research and have come up short this could be an option that would give you access to professionals and their resources.

The Migration Records is free to access and hosts links to databases where information was collected at the destination, so this is a good point to research if you have information on where they arrived in the country. Being based in New Jersey, as you mentioned, they more than likely entered through New York. So best to start with their records.

Family Search is free for use and caters to church records held mostly in counties Kerry, Cork and Roscommon. You can find a vast range of resources held in records made by the Church, so they are a great place to dig up information.

As there is quite a lot of information out there it may take some time for you to find the information you are looking for.

Hope this helps.

Sean

thanks Sean ,only getting back to you now ,will check out what you advised ,regards ,Breda

Hi Brenda, 

Thanks so much for getting back to us! We can't wait to hear more about what you were able to discover, so keep us posted on your findings. :)

Wishing you the best of luck on your search, 

Melin