First, Irish research is totally different than any place else. The administrative divisions are unique. Rather than write it all here, I suggest that you go to FIANNA for a good study guide to Irish genealogy offering more than 500 pages to help you find your Irish roots. http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/ URLs to transcribed records http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/transcript/index.html URLs to transcribed records Now, for your specific needs to plan research: You can use the Civil Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths as registration of non-Catholic marriages began in 1845 in Ireland. Registration of births, marriages and deaths, regardless of religion, began January 1, 1864. The sister had to get married under her maiden name and, yes, the grooms' parish is on the civil record plus the fathers' names and occupations. Then, look for any children she might have had. Certificates for births, marriages and deaths for all of Ireland until 1922 and for the Republic since 1922 are housed in Dublin. Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in Ireland names the townland that is the address in rural Ireland. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons, has copies of almost all of the General Register Office indices and some registers, making direct access to both registers and indices possible through the local Family History Centers. You can do-it-yourself at the local Family History Centers because the FHL has acquired Irish civil registration records. There are Family History Centers scattered throughout the world, located in the LDS meeting-houses. The FHCs are generally listed in the local phonebook under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with its own phone number. Or, go to familysearch.org. If you search the Index and can identify your target, note the name, district, volume and page, necessary in order to obtain a photocopy of the full information given in that entry. Then, determine the appropriate FHLC microfilm number. You may then complete the "Request to Photocopy" following the instructions to the letter and mail it with a check for $2.00. In addition, some parts of the early years of birth registrations appear to be included in the International Genealogical Index. I use this when possible as the Index only gives the Registrar's District. I wrote to The Western People in Ballina when I was beginning this project and received good information from people who had emigrated but originated in Mayo. It's certainly worth a go. I do not know of any emigration publication. The 1901 and 1911 (not yet available for Mayo) would give you information about any family who stayed behind. I did not check familysearch.org but you will need to know the townland in addition to the parish. Good luck, Ellen [email protected] wrote: >Thank you very much for your reply. Wouldn't you know it....MY village >doesn't have records. Can you suggest something else? > >I know that Patrick and Michael Birrane came to the U.S. in the early 1880s. >Supposedly their father's name was Thomas -- and they left at least one >brother and one sister behind in Ireland. I do not know the name of Thomas' >wife and both Patrick and Michael were married after they arrived in New >York. Supposedly both Pat and Mike were born prior to 1864. > >Do you know if the marriage records of the parishes tell where the groom is >from if the marriage is taking place in the parish of the bride? With luck, >Thomas' wife might be from Crossmolina or another the small villages near >Moygawaugh. Is this a possibility? > >I am relatively new at Irish research. I am fairly good at German, but I >don't yet know the ins and outs of Irish. > >Do you know if there are emigration records available? I have the >immigration records for them (at least I think it is them -- all of families >seemed to be named Pat and Mike). If there are emigration records -- where? >Also, would the local newspapers have said they were going? I know in >Germany, the newspapers often listed those who were emigrating so that anyone >who was owned money could catch them before they left the country. > >Thanks for your assistance. > >Marilyn >