How can I find records of my GGGF in Ireland where he was born?

Question

Family report and records show my double-great grandfather born in County Fermanagh N. Ireland in 1796 or 1797.  He emigrated to Virginia, and I've found quite a bit of documentation of him there but nothing in Ireland.  I've read there was a fire in Dublin in 1922 which destroyed a lot of records.  Is there any other way to find records of him?  We have his name as John P. Johnston, born 1796 or 1797, Wikitree ID Johnston-6076.

Answer 1

Have you looked in FamilySearch.org? There are fair amount of Irish records there. A list of websites for Ireland can be found on Cyndis List at http://cyndislist.com/uk/irl/ . Some are pay sites, others are free.

Answer 2

Hi Lynn,  Welcome to WikiTree.    We have an  Irish Roots Project you may be interested in joining.   It has lots of tips for researching Irish ancestors.

Answer 3

Hello Lynn,

You are correct that a fire destroyed a lot of records held in Ireland, however that is not the only reason people can't find records that they are looking for in Ireland. Most modern records were/are written in English, however older records were written in Latin and do not show as a result when you are searching records using the anglicized version of names. This is a fault with the search engines or the way the records have been catalogued/digitized. The only way around this at the moment that I am aware of is to enter the name you are looking for in its Latin form, it may be that just the forename was Latinised. To help you here is a link to a list of Latin version of the english forename glossary http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/images/Latin%20Forenames%203.pdf

All the best

Billy

 

Answer 4

The real problem is that there were no official Birth Marriage or Death records pre 1864. Any Irish records before 1864 are usually Parish Records.