Hi Jeannie,
Thank you for your message.
Have you tried looking at church records for information? As civil registration did not begin until 1864, all births, marriages and deaths were recorded in church records. You may be able to find some information on his family in these.
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.
Kilpeacon Civil Parish actually falls into a number of different Roman Catholic parishes:
Lurriga: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=East%20Limerick&parish=Lurriga&churchid=865
Mungret: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=East%20Limerick&parish=Mungret&churchid=879
Fedamore: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=East%20Limerick&parish=Fedamore&churchid=883
Limerick Genealogy are listed as having copies of the records in these parishes. If you would like to contact them here is their email, please note that there may be a fee: research@limerickgenealogy.com
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.
You could also check for record of the family in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Have you tried looking into John?s trial? You may be able to find records or newspaper articles about it in Limerick City Archives:
http://www.limerickcity.ie/Archives/
You should also try Limerick Library?s Local Studies Department:
http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/
The National Library of Ireland has a huge newspaper archive, http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
You can also search some newspapers online at: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/limerick/index.html
I hope that some of this is helpful. Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. 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.
Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
