Hello Lou, I took a look at the 1871 census and searched for Frederic/k Clark/e but couldn't find anyone under those names in the right age range who was listed as being born in Ireland. That could be an indication that he did not come to England until after 1871. Have you gotten a copy of his marriage certificate? That won't give place of birth, either, but it's nice to have in any case, and you could get his father's name. I found them on FreeBMD, marrying in Southampton in the June quarter of 1880. But you probably know that already. Unfortunately there is no FreeBMD that I am aware of for Ireland. And without a county to narrow down, it would be hard to know where to start. I looked on Origins.net, which has Griffiths Valuation--a good substitute for the lack of Irish census records. Even though your Frederick would be too young to show up on the valuation (it lists the names of property occupiers between 1847 and 1864), I looked up Frederick Clarke, and every one that came up lived in Dublin. For argument's sake, say, if his father's name was Frederick, then Dublin could be a likely place to be from. If you get the marriage cert., then you would have his father's name. I am not that well versed in Irish genealogy; my relatives came from Northern Ireland and records are very sparse. From Ireland they went to Scotland and then on to America, so I am not much help. I am lucky that Scottish BMD records pointed me to the county in Ireland that they were from. Perhaps you can get more advice from others on the list shortly. Kathy Orlando, FL -----Original Message----- From: Lou Watson [mailto:lindsay.watson1@ntlworld.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 6:07 AM To: IRISH-IN-UK-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [UK-Irish] Starting out - need any advice possible!