Hello. my question is general. Family lore states my ggf came from either Mayo of Sligo - that makes it easy - not!!! Just wondering if anyone knows the spelling of this name in the Mayo area. I believe it might be with a "C". In Montreal, where Mathew Kerans, Kearns, Kernan, Kiernan lived between 1850 and 1868 at his death and where I have found all those spellings on baptisms and deaths. I don't know where to begin!!! He married Rosetta Hopkins from Limehill, Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone, Ireland - no place of marriage known. Thanks
cait
Friday 30th Mar 2012, 12:51PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi there,
Those names could all be correct. You might need to try checking other documents such as Griffth's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. You can check the frequency of those names in both Mayo and Sligo. It will at least give you some indication of numbers.
You should try checking newspaper death notices as well. This might reveal the spelling used. If you can, I would check the marriage records. Rosetta's name and details you seem to be fairly sure of. If you know their marriage date, then this will make your search easier. You could at least check the General Register Office (GRO) for this (records date from 1864): http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm or try the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI):http://www.proni.gov.uk/
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Sinead Cooney
Genealogist (Ireland XO)
Friday 30th Mar 2012, 02:28PM