Ireland family history info

[Kilted Rogue]

So after long years of searching i have finally crossed the ocean and found the embark point of my G G G G Grandfather. Seems he came to New York via Queenstown Ireland County Cork(now known as Cobh Ireland). So it seems I am of Irish desent!! well i know the rules. Check Check and RE check the source and find verify it. Thats why I am posting here. Does anyone have a leads on a GOOD source for Irish history research. Like i said i know he left Cobh Ireland, but not much else.. where does one go from here.

Thank for any help

[Mickey]

My aunt has been doing our genealogy for over 30 years and ran into the same trouble. Our "guy" was traced to coming into Ellis Island from Ireland. His original name was different from the Scottish name that we believe he invented when he departed (as there are no Scottish records of anything close to that name though it looks and sounds very much the part). He changed his name multiple times after getting here, as did most of the males after him including my grandfather.

Apparently, in the early 1800's, there was a great deal of confusion in the area, especially when it comes to folks who wanted to disappear. Overall, finding Irish records is not an easy task. Especially during the area of the big emigration.

[O'Callaghan]

Cobh was/is a deep water port. Nowadays the ships are bigger than they were in its heyday, so one cruise ship can take up the whole quay. Many people left for America from Cobh, but it means very little about where they came from.

However, my family came from Cobh, as in more than one generation was born there, or at least they were christened in the (catholic) diocese of Cloyne. The cathedral of St. Coleman is the largest building in Cobh. It should come as no surprise when I tell you that my ancestors were sailors.

Irish genealogy is difficult because many records have been destroyed. I have tentatively got back to 1725, but have no expectation of being able to extend that further.

[Biko]

As mentioned Irish records are patchy: Bomb at the records office in 1922, and the lack of paper so they pulped many census records has not helped.

where does one go from here.

First place I would start are the free sites:

The 1901 and 1911 Irish census, looking for names and relatives that may be similar: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Next place to search is the Griffith valuation, this was a land survey carried out in about 1840's 50's and names all the tenants on the land: again free: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffi...tion/index.xml

This site (free) http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html has some records to search.

After that there is http://www.rootsireland.ie/ its free to join and you can do searches, and narrow down with advanced search, they have a lot of the parish records, probably the most comprehensive for Ireland, but is expensive when you want to view the record (5 Euro) and you don't get to see the original.

[Kilted Rogue]

Thank you for the tips, I hope to find the ships log to see of he came over alone or with other family members.

The cathedral of St. Coleman is the largest building in Cobh. It should come as no surprise when I tell you that my ancestors were sailors.

That is Great info, As all my ancestors are Catholic as well as being sailors , shipwrights and , carpenters. The Catholic church did keep very good records.

[Father Bill]

The Catholic church did keep very good records.

Of course! As has been pointed out elsewhere, the words "clergy," "cleric," "clerk," and the surname "Clark / Clarke" all come from the same root words indicating the ability to read and write. The white clerical collar originally didn't indicate ordination so much as that ability. What we are then, is clerks in holy orders, and good record-keeping would be the expected norm even more then when the priest was often the only literate individual in the community than now when govenment fulfills many of those functions. This, I am told, is also the reason that the clergy and Clark / Clarke tartans are so similar.

As a totally off-topic aside, my late and much beloved drama professor Jim Clark made his theatrical entrance on the first day of lectures with a dramatically presented statement much like the following: "My name is Clark. Professor Clark to you. In Scotland there are two ways to spell "Clark." The Clarks with an "e" are horsethieves! We spell our name without an "e." We... are sheepthieves!" With no further explanations or introductions of the course of any kind he launched into his first lecture.

I loved the man dearly.

[Phil]

A few more sites to look at -

http://www.irishorigins.com/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
http://www.libraryireland.com/
http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/pla...corkdirectory/

Good luck

[spglenn]

As has been pointed out above many of the records were destroyed through the fight for independence as was as through an earlier fire at the records office. The sources listed are all good places to search. I'm still trying to work through my own history. Anything pre-1901 can be an arduous task but keep at it.