Genealogy Chat

who is going along quite nicely tracing the ancestors only to come to a full stop on finding the Irish connection! Searching everywhere I can think of has thrown up no clue as to the whereabouts in Ireland of their origin. Is it a hopeless case, or is there a chance that one day a glimmer of light will shine through? Has anyone else had this problem and come out smiling? Sue

Georgina, Well done for knowing they came from Dublin. I don't even know that much and am fast thinking that I will never find out. All I have to go on is the English census's..born in Ireland, but where in Ireland I know not. Sue (giving up hope I think)

Sue Same here!!! I came to a full stop when a rellie was born in Ireland on one branch, so I started another, which came to an abrupt halt when one was born in Ireland, so started another and...... Well you get the picture dont you?????? Currently trying to talk my mum into a holiday over there to go check it all out:-) Bev X

Bev, Poor you!! I thought it was bad enough struggling along with just one Irish branch. I can understand exactly how you must feel with the problem multiplied. Sue

Chris, The name is Carew, and from what I have discovered so far they were around in quite a few Irish counties. Sue

Chris Mine are Brown, Harvey and Rogers:-) Gave up at this point!!!!! Only got info on Brown at the moment, born in Kilkenny in 1845. Bev X

Bev, How did you find out that the Brown was born in Kilkenny? Maybe there's something I haven't tried!! Sue

Sue Have you tried this site http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor /surname /index.cfm and typed in Carew. It will show a distribution of the surname across all Ireland counties about mid 1800's. Two counties in particular have quite a number of people with the surname. Hope this helps.

In my grandfathers things, there was a book on Wingate in Co Durham where he was born, sent by a family member. (Grandad was estranged from his family). There was a photograph of Gt Grandfather _ Thomas Brown and a couple of paragraphs giving his life story and it mentioned he was born in 'Castle Bamford', *Co Kilkenny in 1845. It was a great find especially for the photo and other info, but it didn't take me back any further.:-( And for a really good laugh, I got his marriage certificate and Thomas Brown s father is wait for it Yup JOHN BROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GIVE UP:-) Bev XX gone for another Bacardi!!

Margaret, No, I don't think I've tried the site you have mentioned. Thank you very much, I will take a look in the hope that it may narrow things down a bit. Sue.

Just a lucky break then Bev....even so, not enough of one to avoid you taking to the bacardi!! Gonna have a look at the above suggested site now to see if I can narrow my lot down to a specific area. Thanks....you have made my little problem with the Irish connection seem pretty minor compared to yours!!

Sue You dont want to swap then?lol Bev X

awwww Sue - hang on in there..... you will get there some day. And here's me trembling at the thought of finding rellies born in big towns and cities or having names likes Smith or Brown. lol Shame everyone couldnt be born, live and die in small villages in english counties. lol But would we then get bored if they did? Hope the hand is fully recovered now. Sue

Thanks for the offer Bev....but I think I'll stick to my own little problem!! Cheers, Sue

What about britishorigins they have an Irish section, not sure whether that only covers the North of Ireland? Haven't tried it yet but will have to shortly to find my lot, McCartneys, Rileys and others. Has anyone tried it? Jan :-)

Hi Sue, You're right....some of this has been too easy as we well know!! But this Irish thing is a real barrier...have you come across any of them yet? The hand is fine now thanks. Hope you are well. Sue

Jan I'm only sure of the birth of my Brown, well as sure as I can be without the certificate, and I've tried every Irish web site I can find, but have come up empty:-( Then again this is a Thomas Brown, father John Brown, mother unknown that I'm looking for!!! Bev X

Jan, Someone was doing British Origins lookups on this site and I requested one to see if a marriage could be found for my Carews. Unfortunately no result, but maybe you should take a look. Good old Irish names yours!! Sue

Oh dear Bev, I'm scared to start on my Irish rellies now then. I'll have to ask you at some point what the best sites are. It could be a while before I get around to them though I'm stuck on another line at the moment. Let's hope someone else sees this thread who is an expert on Irish sites. Jan Update Thanks Sue, just saw your post after I posted this. I'm glad they're good old Irish names, I've got several more of them too, McKinnon is one. I've found them in Scotland but know they came from Ireland first. Another is Power and I KNOW that's definitely Irish LOL Jan

Only 2 of my great grandparents didn't come from 'Ireland'?????!!!!!!!!! so there's little hope of finding anyone further back than 1830/40's. Wonder if Ireland will ever make their records available online and searchable.