52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks II – Week 2 Challenge

This week’s prompt is "challenge” which is not an unusual thing in genealogy. It seems that our ancestors are always trying to thwart us. They hide in the records, they change their names and ages, and are less than forthcoming about their place of birth among other things.

I have dealt with all these things but the biggest challenge I have had so far has been dealing with Irish records.

National Library of Ireland map

We have all heard about the burned records from the time of the “troubles” during the period between 1918 and 1925. Yes it happened but many local parish records survived and have been put online for free by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) . They are not indexed, and you need to read them page by page.

Challenge number one: you need to know the name of the parish where the event took place.

Challenge number two: you know the naming pattern to expect but how many aunts and uncles did the subject have who all used the same names for their children? A subject might have six or seven first cousins about the same age with the same name.

Challenge number three: Did the event actually take place where the family lived?

Challenge number four: What information might a record provide?

Challenge number five: Will the record be legible?

An example: I am looking for a marriage record for John Hennessy and Mary Hayes who I know were Catholic and lived in Limerick, Ireland. Limerick, Ireland has in excess of 50 parishes. I also know that Bulgaden is a parish in Limerick which has been mentioned in connection with the Hennessy family. I believe the marriage to have occurred between 1804 and 1813 based on unsourced information obtained from others. The marriage records before 1812 are not available so now what?

I have developed a work pattern. I will go to Find My Past on a free Friday and do a name search for John Hennessy born about 1785 (+/- 10 years) in County Limerick and note any marriage events. If I see one that appears to be what I am looking for, I will note the parish and then move over to the NLI records to scroll for the record. 

If I do find a record and it is legible, it will show the names of the two parties who married and where they each lived. It will also show the names of the witnesses present who were usually a member of each family. It may also show the groom’s occupation depending on the priest. The record may be in either Latin or English again depending on the priest.

So far in my quest for the marriage record of John Hennessy, I have search the records of ten parishes in Limerick with one more to go before I switch to the adjacent counties of Cork and Tipperary. I have encountered about twenty John Hennessys and probably fifteen of them married a Mary.

To help with my search I have printed a map of Limerick showing all of its parishes which I have marked as “searched”. I am also keeping a research log so I can keep track of where I’ve been.

If you come across a John Hennessy and Mary Hayes of County Limerick with children named James, Thomas, Patrick, John, Michael, Winifred, Mary, Alice, Margaret please let me know I’m looking for them.