Hello all. Looking for any help with my ancestor John Shields who was born approximately 1825 in County Derry. He emigrated to the United States sometime before 1856 (I know that because that was the year he married in the U.S.). I am not sure of his church affiliation, but family lore said he was an Orangeman, but you know how that works....stories are stories. Hoping I can find some help here. Thank you.
www.rootsireland.ie/ has 5 John Shields (+ surname variants) Derry baptisms 1825 + - 10 years; 2 are R C:
Name:John O'ShielDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:21-May-1826Address:
Parish/District:LONG TOWERGender:MaleCountyCo. Derry
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Manasses O'ShielMother:Ann O'DoghertyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Francis ByrneSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Byrne
Name:John ShieldsDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:26-Jul-1831Address:GlebeParish/District:TAMLAGHT FINLAGANGender:MaleCountyCo. Derry
Denomination:Church Of Ireland
Father:James ShieldsMother:Martha Mcfarland
Name:John SheilDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:29-Apr-1832Address:DrumParish/District:DUNGIVENGender:MaleCountyCo. Derry
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Michael SheilMother:Mary BradlyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:James KaneSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Biddy Sheil
Name:John ShielsDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:10-Mar-1833Address:
Parish/District:CUMBER LOWERGender:MaleCountyCo. Derry
Denomination:Church Of Ireland
Father:Edward ShielsMother:Bridget Cairns
Name:Johnnie ShielsDate of Birth:08-Nov-1834
Date of Baptism:27-Nov-1837Address:BallylishParish/District:PORTSTEWARTGender:MaleCountyCo. Derry
Denomination:Presbyterian
Father:John ShielsMother:Elizabeth Beers
IF he applied the Irish naming pattern in naming his children, his first son & second daughter would be named after his own father & mother
Col
Thank you very much Col.
A question; the fourth John listed here. Father Edward Shiels, Mother Bridget Cairns. By any chance could that Cairns be "CAIN" possibly. The reason I ask is I am researching a DNA lead, where the mother was Bridget Kane, father Edward Shields. It's pretty close. Are you looking at handwritten records or translated digitized. I haven't tried to look at "www.rootsireland.ie" before. Also, in my DNA research, this Edward and Bridget had other children in Lower Cumber. This could be a good lead/match.
I very much appreciate your help.
Linde
Hi Linde,
rootsireland.ie/ is a subscription site but has some less expensive options such as 24 hour and 1 month plans. The records are transcriptions of the originals.
Bear in mind that due to illiteracy, mispronunciation, misspelling, mistranscription etc there can be a lot of variation in surnames so it's hard to rule things out
I assume you are aware of the R C Registers for Cumber on https://registers.nli.ie/
Col
Thanks Col,
I'm just now exploring Irish Genealogy sites. I've got a lot to learn. I appreciate any tip.
I was going to mention another conundrum of this John Shields. I understand the pattern of naming the first children. So far that hasn't panned out. Their first child was named Henry. So far that hasn't fit anything I've run across. Definitely a work in progress.
Thank you again for your help.
Linde