I would like to add to this about Priests. Four years ago I visited a Priest in Abbeyfeale and asked his opinion about which parishes in Kerry I should visit to find the marriage of my kin, whose children were Christened there in Abbeyfeale. The marriage was not in Limerick. The Priest took his time to advise me on where I should go. We went into Kerry and visited all those Priests in those parishes and each of them kindly went to their record books and the marriage was not there. I also left 5 Euros with each one. Turns out the marriage showed up on Kerry online records as being in Ballybunion, and now I am coming back to Ireland in 2 months to visit Kerry and Clare, where the groom was "from." All this discussion about records and where they are held has been so helpful to me in lieu of my my trip. Thank you ! Barbara L. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Ellen Chambers" <[email protected]> To: "IRL-CLARE-L" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:34 AM Subject: [IRL-CLARE] Catholic Sacramental Records in Ireland I agree with Diane. The Parish Priests and their staffs are not genealogists. As in the USA, there is a shortage of priests in Ireland. Considering the the huge numbers in the million + who emigrated D/T Famine and previously for various reasons, there now descendants who have more than probably quadrupled the original emigrants are seeking their roots, especially in prime tourist season. Over the years, we have made appointments at particular parishes in advance. Some will allow us actually to look at the books if we have an approx. year & other pertinent data. Others, request we write down the information and they will look/copy and mail to us. We leave a donation, about 5 Euros per request to cover postage and their time. Pre 1864 records are iffy at best even if they do exist. Your response may be a while in coming; several months on occasion. I have never not received some type of response, even if it is to say that my ancestors have no record in a particular parish. However, one must be patient, very patient. The LDS records are a great inexpensive way do research, if one is lucky to live near one and able to access it. I received from another website, the announcement a few weeks back, that a group of Irish from various counties, are enlisting other people from a particular county who are interested in tracking emigrants from their families who went out in the 18, 19 20 centuries. I can't remember for sure, but the county that this project is starting is either Clare or Galway. Eventually all counties will have such an organization. This would be such a great assist to the descendants of emigrants and the families of those left behind. A true fount of data for all. Will look up the article to get the particulars and put on the various root web boards, I subscribe. Mary Ellen Chambers ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message