Nicholas Maher/Meagher (my great great grandfather) was born in Ireland in 1822. My first record of him in the US is in Galena Illinois in 1848. He left for California in 1850 and later moved to Washington state in approximately 1865. His first wife's name was Ellen. I have tried to find his family in Ireland but haven't had any success. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Welcome to ireland Reaching Out!
Many RC parishes in Ireland do not have records back to 1822. I did search on the subscription site Roots Ireland for all of Ireland and there were no 1822 Nicholas Meagher/Maher baptismal records. There were two records in 1820 in Co. Kilkenny. For the most part, the Nicholas Meagher baptismal records were in Kilkenny, Waterford or Tipperary. The key piece of information that you need is his parents names so you can confirm any records available.
You may want to add Nicholas' story to our XO Chronicles site https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database
This Ireland Reaching Out article may be of interest https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/news/irelandxo-insight-how-dna-can-help-you-connect-ireland
Roger McDonnell
Thank you. I know I'm missing the key pieces of information and unfortunately have no way of finding Nicholas's parents names. All I have is his birthdate and records after he came to the United States.