akennedy_gene at sympatico.ca <akennedy_gene@sympatico.ca> wrote: : I've been working on my genealogy off and on for the last 20 years. : Until recently, I was unable to find any information on my fathers side : of the family. I now know that his grandfather/mother were born in : Ireland (I have exact dates) prior to 1865. : My question is - what are my chances of finding anything? From my : initial search of what records there are would indicate that I might : have a lot of trouble. There are no complete census for this time : period, no civil registration etc. The challenge is finding the location. You have exact dates, but if you do not even know what county in Ireland, it may be difficult to find records. Sometimes there are mentions of birth death or marriage in newspapers, but again, if you don't know the locale, it's a big job to search. There are ways to narrow it down based on distribution data, but that is not always a guarantee. Ahern, for example, is mostly found in Munster counties, particularly Cork, but if an Ahern enlisted in the Royal Irish Constabulary his first posting would be to a county distant from his home. See: http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/ Getting Started in Genealogy and Family History http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/4_pocket.html Finding Your Ancestors in Ireland http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson21.htm Rootsweb Guide to Tracing Irish Families http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/ Tracing Your Irish Ancestors http://www.ancestry.com/download/forms.htm Genealogy Charts & Forms http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/rg/guide/ all_t3_resmeth_-_how_do_i_begin.asp [paste all on one line] How Do I Begin? - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/frameset_rg.asp? Dest=G1&Aid=&Gid=&Lid=&Sid=&Did=&Juris1=&Event=&Year=&Gloss=&Sub= &Tab=&Entry=&Guide=Ireland.ASP [paste all on one line] LDS Source Guide for Ireland