Genealogy Help for visiting Ireland!

See fourth record at the link for the 1870 civil birth for Joseph Glen. irishgenealogy.ie had him listed as Glin. https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1870/03323/2218000.pdf

Roger McDonnell

At the time of her marriage, Hannah wasn’t living at 25 Bishop St. She was just living in Bishop St. Her age was 25. The houses there almost certainly didn’t have house numbers in 1901 (there’s none shown in the 1911 census. The numbers in the censuses are the enumerators private numbering system. Not a postal address). Hannah was a domestic servant so perhaps was working for a family in Bishop St. Her father was a farmer and therefore was probably living in a more rural location. (We know she was not native to Co. Donegal). Bishop St in the 1901 census:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Ballyshannon_Urban/Bishops/

Your information has Hannah born in Londonderry on 20.4.1876. There is a Hannah Smyth birth on that date but the father was Mathew not Thomas and he was a carpenter, not a farmer, so I wonder if it is the correct birth. Hannah did say she was born in Londonderry on the 1901 census but I am not sure this 1876 birth is hers. The 1876 birth shows mother as Annie Smyth maiden name Glenn. The information in your post names the mother as Catherine Levans.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1876/03056/2120605.pdf

I cannot immediately see a likely birth with father Thomas though.

Finding burial places for the Smyth family in Ireland will be challenging without knowing for certain where they lived. Griffiths Valuation for 1858 lists 1 Thomas Smyth farming in Gortgare, parish of Clondermott which is on the edge of Londonderry. Judging by the 1831 census, that family was Presbyterian, not Church of Ireland.

The Glenn family seems to be from Killymard (judging by the birth Roger has found) but in the 1901 census Joseph said he was born in Co. Dublin. Puzzling. By I would start by looking at graveyards in Killymard, starting with the Church of Ireland.

If the family are from Killymard, then you may have a bit of luck. Though most pre 1901 Irish censuses were destroyed for various reasons, the Rector in Killymard was able to access the 1821, 41 & 51 censuses (before their loss) and a considerable amount of information has been recorded. Details here:

Killymard, Ancient and Modern

Where to start with a description of this book? The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that this book contains 19th century census abstracts, and as everyone who has struggled with Irish research knows, virtually all census documents were destroyed either intentionally or accidentally in the early 1900s. Well, they do exist for Killymard Parish, thanks to The Rev William Wilson Mercer, who recorded these details in notebooks, recently found in the house of Charles Gould. They are the census for 1821/41/51 and are the only copies, the originals being destroyed by fire in the Public Record Office in Dublin in 1922. This well written and presented book contains a wealth of other information including family histories, hearth money rolls, births/baptisms from 1844-1880, memoirs, local history, maps and photographs. If your ancestors originated in Killymard (and now I wish mine had!) then this book is invaluable.  

Write or E-mail.

Margaret Graham,

Rathneeny,

Laghy

Co Donegal

Phone 073-21816

E-mail mgtgraham@tinet.ie

William Glenn was a labourer. Labourers often couldn’t afford gravestone so there may not be any to find, but if Church of Ireland you may find them in the burial registers. (Most other denominations didn’t bother keeping burial records but COI did). However Killymard lost its early burial registers in the 1922 fire and so has nothing earlier than 1880.