I am searching for information about Elizabeth (Lizzie) McFarran. She was likely born on May 16, 1850, possibly Ballymena, Co. Antrim. She immigrated to the United States about 1867. She married John McClain. They were married either in Ireland, before immigrating, or soon after arriving in the United States (Philadelphia). Thank you.
Have searched for a marriage in Ireland but no sign. Looks like they may have married in the USA.
Her birth is well before the start of statutory bith registration in Ireland, so you would need to rely on church records to trace her birth. Do you know her religious denomination?
Wow...quick response. Thank you for searching the marriage certificates. I will try to locate the document from Philadelphia records. According to family lore, Lizzie was Catholic and John was Protestant; and there was dissension in the family about the marriage. Thanks again.
Statutory birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so you won?t find a birth certificate for her. You might find her baptism from church records but you really need to know at least one of her parents names to be sure it?s the right baptism.
If she was RC and came from Ballymena, then the parish records (Kirkinriola RC parish) start in 1848 so you may just scrape in.
I looked at the 1901 census for Co Antrim and McFarren etc. There?s only 1 person in the county with that exact spelling. The rest are spelled McFerren/McFerron/McFerran. The majority were Presbyterian but there were a fair number of Church of Ireland and RC too.
The RC parish records don?t appear to be on-line anywhere. A copy is held in PRONI (the public record office in Belfast) as well as the National Library in Dublin. A personal visit is required to access either set.
Thank you for the information. I will search for a US marriage certificate, maybe Lizzie's parents' names will be listed on the document. It might take awhile to search the vital records on file at the Philadelphia Archives Office. I believe the initial requests can take up to 3 months to get a response; and, if nothing is found, each step of the follow-up requests will take about the same amount of time. I will start the process this week. Thank you for your time. Your help is greatly appreciated. Ireland XO is an awesome idea!