Searching for Margaret O"HARA my 3xG grandmother. She married James MCALEESE/MCLEES/MCLEISH in Co Derry circa 1840. The family were probably Roman Catholic. Her daughter Jane O"HARA/MCALEESE birth date is recorded in IGI as c 1842 . I have no idea of which parish or town they came from..
M argaret later lived and died in Greenock Renfrewshire in 1895 .
I would welcome any help as to where to look. The Irish times site has no record of any O"HARA or MCALEESE families in Co Londonderry.
Regards Orkrad
orkrad
Tuesday 23rd Apr 2013, 04:45AMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Orkrad,
Thank you for your message.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.
It may be an idea to contact the General Register?s Office in Dublin with the references number for Jane?s birth on the IGI database. They may be able to either find you the original or give you a copy of the registry book with the entry on it which should include where she was born. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
Also, I did a search of the Irish Times website myself and found record of 20 O? Hara households in Derry:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&Surname=O%27Hara&UserID=
And 5 McAleese households in Derry:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
Also, there are O? Hara?s and McAleese?s recorded in the same parish in Derry, however you will have to pay a fee to get a breakdown of these parishes:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Surname2&UserID=
It may be a good idea to do this to help narrow down your search.
Most of the information on the Irish TImes website comes from Griffith's Valuation, so you may be able to get the same information yourself for free, it will just take longer and a bit more work. You can search Griffith?s Valuation here:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Once you have a parish name you will be able to look in church records. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For parishes in Derry, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/derryrc.htm
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/derry/index.html
You could also contact Derry Genealogy for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email address: genealogy@derrycity.gov.uk
Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support