Like you, the vast majority of posters here are not actually in Ireland, and would likely only have access to the same sources you would, IFHF website, civil indexes freely available via the Mormon website, the census returns. Given the unusual nature of this surname in Ireland, my hunch is that no one here is familiar with it. I can tell you that the Irish Family History Foundation shows only 10 Renison births between 1807 and 1887, and none coming in Co. Tipperary. The surname is almot certainly a Protestant surname, and well over 50% of early Anglican parish registers had been stored for safekeeping in Dublin and became a casualty of the Irish Civil War. What it sounds like is that any record of your William went up in a puff of smoke, leaving you needing to access records in Ireland, such as land records, directories, etc that most posters here do not have access to. I can tell you, I rather suspect that your man was probably from somewhere along the Tipperary/Offaly border, as in the Tithe Applotments, I do find 2 Renison entries, William and James, in Shinrone, then identified as being in Co. Tipperary, today it is in Co. Offaly. This is dated 1823. Both these men would have been adults, so at least 21, and therefore old enough to be the parent of your man in the 1840s. Of course, both these men could equally have been 101 and with one foot in the grave, simply no way to tell from this record. By the time of the Primary Valuation, neither man appears. In Co. Tipperary, this was 1850. The only Renison in Co. Tipperary was Robert, in Loughkeen civil parish, which is near Nenagh town. I can further tell you that a John Renison was having children in Offaly in 1816, another John was having children in Kildare in 1842, and yet another John was having children in Antrim in 1867. a William was having children in Offaly in 1807 and 1836 (though given the time span, it probably was 2 different Williams) and a Robert was having children in Donegal in the 1880s. I do know that this Robert died in Donegal in 1919, so you should be able to find him in census returns. Civil records do show a Michael Renison having children in the Parsonstown district (Birr today) in the 1865-1882 time period. Michael was married to Ellen Read. You ight also wish to track a Sarah Renison, who married Joseph Burgoine in that Nenagh area in 1850, on the chance that, coming from Tipperary, she is somehow related to your man. I would also suggest you consider getting copies of the Renison death certificates from that immediate area, again all coming in Parsonstown, to see who might be the informant. That would be Robert who died in 1881 aged abpit 84, Elizabeth who died in 1866 aged about 73, and William who died in 1870 aged about 60. Additionally, I can tell you that the parents of the Salinas, CA man are believed to be Robert Renison and his wife Jane, though it appears that no one is certain where in Ireland they came from and I'd be a bit suspicious of dates associated in Ancestry trees for Robert unless you are able to verify them independently. It appears that no one with a public Ancestry tree for a Renison from Ireland in this 19th century time period is absolutely certain where their person was from, though some with private trees do list Birr and Tipperary as their origins. Beyond this, you may be stuck with hiring a professional researcher based in Ireland, or taking a trip to Ireland yourself (always the preferable choice to me!) to get much further along in the research. Sorry. Cindy Wood -----Original Message----- From: irl-tipperary-request <irl-tipperary-request@rootsweb.com> To: irl-tipperary <irl-tipperary@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thu, Feb 2, 2012 3:32 am Subject: IRL-TIPPERARY Digest, Vol 7, Issue 22 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ELETE all extra text in the Digest Today's Topics: 1. SURNAME : RENISON (Accounts IBF) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 ate: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:50:12 +0200 rom: "Accounts IBF" <accounts@ibfprint.co.za> ubject: [IRL-TIP] SURNAME : RENISON o: <irl-tipperary@rootsweb.com> essage-ID: <201202010950.q119oWgr015640@mail.rootsweb.com> ontent-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi all I have not had any response to previous requests so I won't go into the hole story again but kindly request that anyone with the resources can see f there is anything on the birth of William Robert Renison in Tipperary, reland in about 1840? Does anyone know anything of this surname, are there urviving Renisons in Ireland? There is a family mystery I am trying to solve and would love to know more bout the origins of my great grandfather in Ireland who came to South frica. Antoinette (from South Africa) ------------------------------ To contact the IRL-TIPPERARY list administrator, send an email to RL-TIPPERARY-admin@rootsweb.com. To post a message to the IRL-TIPPERARY mailing list, send an email to RL-TIPPERARY@rootsweb.com. __________________________________________________________ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-TIPPERARY-request@rootsweb.com ith the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of he mail with no additional text. nd of IRL-TIPPERARY Digest, Vol 7, Issue 22 *******************************************