I have been able to trace my ancestors Patrick & Elizabeth Sara Anne Walshback to their wedding in St Patrick's RC Church in Belfast , but it doesn't give any other details of where they lived etc. Is there any possible way of finding which Parish they lived in? I have had a look at the Griffith's Valuation and found a Patrick McMullen living in AGHALEE but as his is a common name I have no way of knowing if I have the right Patrick. Any suggestions appreciated.
If they married in St Patrick's they will have been living in Belfast itself. Aghalee is 20 miles away and if they lived there, they would have married there. You will porbably struggle to find where they lived. Try street directories on the PRONI website. Belfast expanded enormously in the early 1800s due to ship building and the linen mills, and huge numbers of Catholics moved into the city many from Tyrone and the west of Ulster. (In the late 1700s there were only about 300 Catholics in the city. By 1830 it was more like 20,000). So your families probably won't have originated in Belfast.
Thank you very much Elwyn for your insight. I believe that Sara Ann died in Naas, Kildare, so maybe that was where she came from in the first place.
A long time since my last post on this subject but I have recently found that Sarah (as it was later changed to) died in Northenden, Cheshire in 1936. Not that that helps with finding her origins. She had 9 children, all born in Manchester and I have tried to find clues from their descendants but most of them now dead so still no further with my search!!
Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.
The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price. http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).