Missing ancestors

Northern Ireland and Eire

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Orlaith17
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:50 pm
Location: Highlands

Missing ancestors

Post by Orlaith17 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:16 am

I am at the end of my tether with this one. My grandad’s parents married in Scotland. His father, Thomas Hannan, had given information in 1891 census that his birthplace was Ireland. He died in Scotland, so I have his death record. He had given his parents’ names on his marriage certificate as Hugh Hannan and Jane McGee. I have spent years searching for them, and for his birth or christening record but can find nothing. I have tried Irish census results looking for his parents/him as a small child. Tried Irish records for Hugh and Jane marriage, for Thomas birth ( somewhere around 1845-1850, depending on whether age on death certificate or marriage certificate is the more acvurate one). I would be very grateful if anyone can help. I have tried all of the usual Irish search links, searched trees in Ancestry, searched Scottish records just incase he had actually not been born in Ireland at all......but all dead ends.

Elwyn 1
Posts: 197
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:34 pm
Location: Co. Antrim, Ireland

Re: Missing ancestors

Post by Elwyn 1 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:53 pm

What denomination were Hugh & Jane?
Elwyn

Orlaith17
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:50 pm
Location: Highlands

Re: Missing ancestors

Post by Orlaith17 » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:58 am

I’m sure they would have been Catholic as their son, my great grandad, married in a Catholic church. My grandad also married in a Catholic church, as did his sisters.

Elwyn 1
Posts: 197
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:34 pm
Location: Co. Antrim, Ireland

Re: Missing ancestors

Post by Elwyn 1 » Mon Sep 23, 2019 4:07 am

Catholic marriages weren’t included in the Irish statutory marriage registers till 1864 (they started in 1845 for other denominations). So for an RC marriage around 1845-1850 you are dependent on church records. Not every RC parish has records for that period, plus there are a few parishes whose records are not on-line for one reason or another. If the family don’t show up in the Irish RC parish records on Ancestry then probably they originated in a parish whose records do not cover the years you need. For example, the oldest RC church in Belfast is St Mary’s which opened in 1784. However it doesn’t have any records before 1867. So that’s the sort of problem you face and there’s no easy way around that.

One approach might be to check Scottish Poor Law records. If your ancestors claimed under the Poor Law in Scotland (as very many Irish did), then the Poor Law file usually records their parish of origin in Ireland as well as details of next of kin there. Poor Law records for the Glasgow area are kept in the Mitchell Library. They will normally do a look up for a small fee. You might want to contact them:

http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries ... fault.aspx

A high percentage of Irish migrants to Scotland originated in the counties of Ulster. Hannan is a fairly common name in Belfast and Co. Antrim. So it wouldn’t be too surprising if they came from that sort of area. Be sure to search under Magee as well as McGee.
Elwyn

Orlaith17
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:50 pm
Location: Highlands

Re: Missing ancestors

Post by Orlaith17 » Sat Oct 12, 2019 4:51 pm

Thank you for that response. I had already tried Scottish records including deaths but could find no evidence they ever came to Scotland. I did find something for a Hugh Hannan and Jane McCreedie which I considered a possibility as name may have been mis-recorded as McGee. But no more information found, eg birth of a child for them, to confirm anything.

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