Irish Roots, where do i search ?

[rob.mac]

Have traced my family name back to Norther Ireland. G/grand parents Robert McAllister(1859-1929) & Margaret McKernan(McKiernan) ,(1859-1909) both b. Culfreightrin,Co.Antrim.
Robert's parents were Charles McAlister(1819) & Mary Ann Stewart (1823)
both b. Culfreightrin,Co.Antrim.
Margaret's parents were Henry McKernan & Sarah McCaig both(1820c).
Have tried to take this back further, but like so many others have came up against brick wall, as i do not know where to begin searching for records.
Have tried www.familysearch.org and have 3 brothers and 1 sister related too Robert. These being James(1845), Alexander(1846), John(1849) & Catherine(1851) all b. Culfreightrin, Co.Antrim.
Have been told that these siblings are not reliable because of the type of source for this info.
Have also tried Emerald Ancestors(1 month for £9.99) but found this too be of limited use if any to myself. Most dates given after 1850 .
Have also been trying too establish if a Mary McAllister(1855) who married Charles McKernan at Ballycastle is related to Robert, as Charles is Margaret's brother.
Have also tried notice board on Ireland Calls for info on the above ,as this covers the Co.Antrim area.
Any suggestions on where else i should look?

[LesleyB]

Hi Rob
We have a list of links to IRish sources here which may be of help:
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10339
but researching folk in Irealnd is not, on the whole, as straightforward as working on your Scots relatives - there is not the same amount of data available online and the civil registration, which did not start for everyone until 1864 (later than Scotland and England), was based on the English system, so not so much info on marriage and death certs. Prior to that there may be Church Records, but for that you need to know which precise church, so not so easy to track down sometimes.

The Irish indexes (very similar to English indexes) can now be searched on the LDS site on thier pilot search area.
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html
but unlike SP, there is no link to the actaul documents - you would need to order the certs, like the English system.

On my Irish side I can't t get any further back than someone born about 1830 (no precise date) ...after that there are, it seems, no further records for that particular area, and I gather that is not unusual....

Good luck!

Best wishes
Lesley

[marie]

Rob - there was a land valuation undertaken in Ireland in the mid 1800s which lists landholders and tenants (no other family listed, however). This is a really useful resource, since there are almost no census records available.

Access to this recource is free at www.askaboutireland.iegv4/gv_start.php

You can search for records of people living in the parish, or you could search by name. There is definitely one Charles McAllister listed in the parish of Culfreightrin. This valuation took place in 1861.

Marie

[rob.mac]

Thanks Lesley B,
Will definately check out the links too Irish resources here on Talking Scot.
Will also check out the Irish indexws link you have given me.
Thanks also Marie for your imput and link.
It's good to know that there are people out there willing to help others.
Thanks again to both of you.

Rob.

[Elwyn Soutter]

Rob,

Have you had a look for census info? Though most of the Irish censuses from 1841 - 1891 were destroyed, a number of transcripts of the original returns for 1841 & 1851 have survived because they were used in the twentieth century as proof of age when the Old Age Pension was introduced. They are to be found in The National Archives (for Republic) and PRONI for NI. County by county indexes to the areas covered, giving the names of the individuals concerned, are found on open shelves in the Reading Room.

In addition I have read that some fragments of the 1851 census itself have survived. They nearly all relate to Co Antrim (only). You might be lucky there too. As far as I am aware none of the records are on line, and a search of the records would be required.

Elwyn

[LesleyB]

Hi Elwyn
And a warm welcome to Talking Scot

As far as I remember there is a website, pensear, http://www.pensear.org/ which allows searching of the pension applications, but is a pay per view site, in that you can search for free, but to see the details of any search result you need to pay for a transcription. I tried it once, and purchased a transcription, but depending on the area it can be a bit of a lottery as you only need a few souls with the same name in the same area and it could cost a small fortune to find the right one! Obviously far better if you can go to the National Archives or PRONI as you suggested.

Ther seems to be some free online access to Antrim 1851 records here:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/local ... ensus1851/
- so maybe one for rob.mac to try.

As you will be aware there are lots of Scots with Irish ancestry, so any helpers in that area are very welcome and much appreciated! Welcome on board.

Best wishes
Lesley

[linzilex]

Hi have you tried Ulster Ancestry forum. It might help. I have recently used the pilotfamilysearch.org and found some good information. Have sent to Ireland for certs, will see if they are able to come through. I am at a standstill too finding irish relatives around 1850 and back. Will probable have to make a trip. best of luck. Lindsey

[rob.mac]

Hi Linzilex,
No i've not tried Ulster Ancestry Forum yet, but will certainly give it a try.
Have already tried Pilotsearch.org, but don't seem to be having any success with this one.
Hi also too you Leslie.
Tried your link for the freebie on searchforancestors, but it looks like it's no longer available, either that or i'm doing something wrong.
Looks like i'm going too have to plan a trip too Ireland to get my answers.
Both sets of G/Grand parents, and now i find out also Grand mother too.
Well i think grand mother was born in Ireland, can't trace any records yet.
But definately not in Scotland, that much i have found out.
Any idea on how to get a death cert on someone who may have died during W.W.1.
As i can't find any record G/Grand father after 1911, and G/Grand mother on her death cert of 1925 is listed as Widow.
Tried Commenwealth Cemetaries and got a hit on Patrick Slaven (Sgt. Royal Scots).
Don't know if it's the right Patrick. But it's worth a try.
Just need to know how to get death cert too see if it matches up with what
little i have.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Rob.

[speleobat2]

Rob,

Slaven
Birth Place: Greenock
Residence: Greenock
Death Date: 18 Jul 1916
Rank: Private
Regiment: Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Battalion: 9th Battalion.
Number: 13962
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theater of War: Aldershot


This is from Ancestry, UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919

It was the only entry on that list for a Patrick Slaven that I saw, but my dial-up is doing is "Slower than molasses in January" bit tonight so maybe someone with a faster internet can look some more for you!

Carol

Edit: This is for Patrick Slaven. When I copied it, I missed his first name!

[rob.mac]

Hi Speleobat2,
When i checked the Commenwealth Cemetries there was 3 Slavens given,
Various spelling in the Surname.
1 was in the Enniskillen Volunteers, 1 was in the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles), the other in the Royal Scots.
If i recall the 1 in the Cameronians was aged 18 and the 1 in the Volunteers aged 23. The 1 in Royal Scots age was unknown.
The 2 above would have been too young to be my G/Grand father as he married in 1901. Hense the reason for picking the Royal Scot. The Cameronian Slaven i think was called Peter. The Enniskillen Slaven i think was called Patrick Joseph or Joseph Patrick.
The 1 i was looking too find died in November 1916. As i said earlier, this may not be the relation i am looking for, but i'm running out of ideas.
Thanks for the interest.

Rob.