Hi,
Thank you for your message.
As you posted this message on the Aghagallon parish page, I am assuming that this is the part of Antrim that Thomas was born in? Having a parish name like this is a good starting point.
Have you tried looking for information in Church records? If you can find Thomas's birth record in Aghagallon parish, it will give you the names of his parents.
Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which you may find useful is the irishtimes where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Aghagallon parish follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Antrim&parish=Aghagallon&churchid=380
For Belfast City Roman Catholic parish follow this link (for John's birth record):
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showlikerecords&CityCounty=Belfast%20city&parish=Belfast
For Church or Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
The surname Miskimmon is quite an unusual one for Ireland, so this may also make it easier to find them. You can use the surname search engine on the irishtimes website to see how many households were recorded as having the name in the mid 19th century. You can see these results for free here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
For a small fee they also give you a breakdown of the parishes.
You could also do a search in Griffith's Valuation. This was a land valuation survey carried out between 1848-1864. Although it doesn't give any genealogical information it can be used to tie a person to a specific place. You can search this here:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
For information on their emigration to Canada you should look at the National Library and Archives at the following address:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html
For some good general information on Canadian immigration records you could also look at
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Canadian-immigration-records.html
Some other website which may be helpful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Family Search: https://familysearch.org/
Alternatively you could try contacting the Ulster Historical Foundation for assistance-however a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:
Ulster Historical Foundation,
49 Malone Road,
Belfast BT9 6RY,
Northern Ireland.
Phone: +44 28 9066 1988 Email: enquiry@uhf.org.uk
I hope that 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.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
