Looking for Mary Ann Lavery - Lisburn

CT,

The problem you face, as you perhaps already know, is that birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 (in contrast to 1837 in England). Prior to 1864 we are dependent on church baptism records. However Lisburn is in the RC parish of Blaris and they have no records prior to 1925. (Earlier records either weren’t kept or have been lost). So you are not going to find a record of the birth/baptism of someone who was RC and born in Lisburn c 1855.

Death registration also only started in Ireland in 1864. I searched the death records for deaths for Edward Lavery 1864 – 1876 in the Lisburn area but did not find one. So either he died pre 1864 or moved away from the area after 1864.

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).