Hi Terri,
It's good to hear that you are researching your Irish roots. It's certainly possible that relatives of your great-grandfather still live in Ireland. Perhaps some members of our Community here will come forward with more information!
If you are interested in learning more about your Irish roots, there's a number of steps you can take. In 1864 civil registration was introduced in Ireland, which is when we started seeing the formal registration of births, marriages, adoptions, and deaths. Michael Carter was born before this date, at a time when records were kept in the form of church and parish records.
All the surviving records from this time have been sorted into county-based
genealogical centres. I would also encourage you to check out this guide to tracing your
Irish ancestors.
Regards,
Eoin