SEARCHING FOR: McARTHUR, ANNA JANE

Hi,

Thank you very much for your message.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- 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.

The census record on 1916 may be promising if the birth year recorded is correct as civil registration began in 1864. This means that if Anna Jane was born in 1872 there would be a record of it in civil records. If you can find this it would give you a more specific area of origin in Derry. Once you have a more specific location more avenues of research will open up to you. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

For more information on civil records check http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html

When you know what parish you are looking at, you can then check Church records. Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

There are some places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

Some other websites that may be helpful 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

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

Derry Genealogy: http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Genealogy/Derry-Genealogy

Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/derry/index.html

Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support

Thank you for your comments; I wish I did have more information to provide...  I will certainly have a look at some of the sites you suggested, and pour over my documents again... maybe something I will notice something that I haven't noticed before. :)