Genealogy Chat

Hello, My GG-Grandfather, William Malone BANKS, was born 1811 in Dublin and came over to England sometime before 1851. All I know about him is that he was a Seal Engraver and married Eliza Fox (b. 1816 Kentish Town, Middx.) probably around 1843 when their first child was born. I'm a bit lost when it comes to Irish research and the I.G.I. doesn't have his birth listed. No doubt his middle name, Malone, is significant. Can anyone offer any help with regard to what they would do to try to locate a positive birth/christening/baptism for him. Every available database online seems to leave a dead end and the information is very sketchy. Are there any available parish records for Ireland? Any help would be gratefully received! Regards, Jill

I think there's hardly anything online for Irish ancestry. Put Irish into the search box on this message board and you might find some old threads with useful info. Good luck. Husband has a mystery ancestor called Callaghan McCarthy. He exists as far as we know only as father on his son Dennis McCarthy's marriage cert in London in 1848. Dennis changed his name to James McCarthy and then James Carter for unknown reasons. Can;t find a birth for James/Dennis although he says on every census that he was born in London. nell

Thanks Nell, I know what you mean about some of these ancestors. It's as if they don't want to be found. My William Malone Banks is a bit of a enigma as I can't find him anywhere else other than the 1851 Census. I thought I found him in the 1861 Census, as his children matched, but it says this William Banks was born in Paisley, Scotland and the wife's name and place of birth is strangley left blank!!! I know from my Grandmother that she strongly denied having Irish blood, but it is very apparent and has been proved that she did. I wonder why on earth she would deny it. It got me thinking that the 1861 William Banks might have told porkie pies and said he was from Scotland instead of Ireland!! The mind boggles!! Anyway, thanks for your reply and I will keep digging. I didn't realize that Dublin is so hard to research.....it's like a big black hole!!!!!! Aaaargh!!!!! Good luck with your research and I hope you find out about your ancestor! Jill

Am also looking for Dublin Relatives Ann Connolly and James D'alton parents of my Father. My Father born 1929, do not have birth dates for his parents- so frustrating. How can we find what were born as English subjects, do they not appear on Engilsh records? Collette

Slight correction - Ireland was not, and never has been part of England, so its inhabitants could never be English subjects, which is why they don't appear in the England/Wales indexes. They would be considered British subjects, but have their own Irish index, which is in Dublin. There are some parish records on www.familysearch.org but I believe most Irish research has to be done in Ireland. nell

Gillian Are you talking about Dublin City or Dublin County? You do need to know which records you are after. You can google Genuki Ireland to see how far back Dublin records go as many Catholic Parish Records in Ireland do not get back even to 1811!!! So first thing is to decide whether your ancestors were Catholic or Protestant and then find out if there is any likelihood of any records. Dublin has some early census that you can access via CD's books. I have written about this in the thread 'First Steps in Researching Irish Family History' which I will nudge up for you. It is now a long thread but you will find some info about Dublin amongst the Census follow up that I did. There is also another thread offering lookups on 1851 Dublin Census. Many Protestant records go back to the 1600's but I suggest you read up on Catholic Emancipation and other Irish History before attempting any research. A very few Catholic Parish Records in some counties get back to mid 1700's but many Catholic Parish Records do not start until 1830. Tithe Aplotments/Griffiths will be one way to see where the concentration of the family name is. Remember that the Irish Population in the early 1800's was about 8+ million as opposed to the 4+ million that it has today, almost double the amount back in the early 1800's. Most countries have increased their population, but Ireland bucked the trend due to so much Emmigration which was due to many reasons, and not just the 'Great Famine'. Read up on Irish History to find your Irish Roots, there is really no other way. Janet