Hi Pat, I just read your email and it was an inspiration to me. I have been looking for my ancestor for a long time without any success, I don't have much to go either so it is really frustrating sometimes and often I feel like giving up, so thank you for sharing your story with us as it has given me a ray of hope. Sincerely, Carol Deckers ----- Original Message ----- From: LEWIS PATRICIA C. <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 4:38 PM Subject: [IRL~ROOTS] birth and other registrations records > To Whom It May Concern: > > NOT all people were registered regardless of civil registration for all > that went into effect in 1864. Many births were not registered at all. > Especailly since most births in those days took place at private homes, > unless someone went to the registration office and did this, on th > eother hand a lot of registrations took place long after the birth, when > th echild was much older and wouldn't be in the year claimed as being > born. > However, IF you know th earea, and church the people lived you might get > a baptismal/christening record from the church. especailly if they were > Roman CAtholics. > This would have been done within the year of birth, but will only show > when the baptism/christening took place not how old the child was, or > it's birth date. This goes for those that were bon of Irish parents in > England also. > Proni doesn't even have all the info and some years ae not filmed at > all! > The Irish didn't trust the English, therefore registration wasn't a big > thing to them, they may have figured it was a ploy to keep them in > check, or for a tax purpose, who knows. > I looked for 35 years all over Clare and Cork for my ancestors since I > was told they had come from Clare! Then found out thru my Grandfather US > Army pension records his FAther was supposedly living in cork, and > started a search there. Finally found they ( my GGparents) had moved to > England in the late 1850s during the "potatoe famine, they had 4 > children there,between 1858-1865 and none were registered. Found my > maternal GGmother and her family in England finally and there are no > births registered for her family despite 6 children born between > 1855-1873. > This took over 35 years to find for me. I started long before computers, > and having things like Ancestry or lists to ask for look ups. > You have to dig and keep digging. See if you can find out area where > they came from the county and town and write letters to the churches > with a nice donation and you might just get yourself a big surprise of > all the info you want. Or have a search done by the professional > services offered by the heritage centers. > Irish research is NOT easy by any means unless you have a relative who > wrote it all down somehere and kept it safe! Even then you have to check > it all out, yourself to make sure. > And there are some very good researchers in Ireland who do look ups and > get the info for you at a niminal fee. I was helped by one very good > researcher who finally found some of my ancestors, and she made some > very good suggestions helping me with places I could check out myself. > Good luck, just remember breaking down these brick walls is daunting at > times! > Pat > > > ==== IRELAND-ROOTS Mailing List ==== > Raise both hands and repeat after me: > We will not initiate or participate in any discussions about any kind of VIRUS or SPAM messages on this list. > To do so will result in your removal from the list. > >