Doheny

Hi,

Thank you very much for your message.

As civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864 you will have to look in church records. This may be difficult as you do not know their names, however at least you have their parents names to start with. 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 Galmoy parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Kilkenny&parish=Galmoy&churchid=986

As you can see Kilkenny Family History have copies available. If you would like to contact them here is their website however a fee may apply: kilkennyfamilyhistory@rothehouse.com

Alternatively, you could try looking for record of their entrance into Australia. If you can find the name of the ship that Michael and Malachi travelled on you will can then look at other passengers on that ship. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867 for New South Wales.The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes,

Genealogy Support