Hi Lola,
Thanks very much for your message. I am delighted to hear that you will be visiting this year-I hope you are able to find some new information before your arrival. Unfortunately we do not have any active volunteers in Leighlinbridge just yet but be sure to check in with us again before the summer and hopefully there will be someone in place who will be able to help you.
In the meantime, as most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Leighlinbridge parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&churchid=713&CityCounty=Carlow&CityCounty=Carlow&parish=Leighlinbridge
As you can see the records for the parish start very early so hopefully you should be able to find something.
The Roman Catholic parish of Leighlinbridge actually incorporates a number of civil parishes. Here is a list of them:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=rctocivil&churchid=713&church=Leighlinbridge
This may make your search for other records easier as many other Irish historical documents use the civil parish name as opposed to Catholic parish.
For example land records. There are two land records-the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-64)
I did a quick search for Michael Maher in both. There were a few results however as these records do not have any genealogical information it will be difficult to know which are relevant to you, however regardless they will give you some more specific area that you may like to visit while here:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=maher&firstname=michael&county=Carlow&parish=&townland=&search=Search
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=62&Submit.y=22&Submit=Submit&familyname=maher&firstname=michael&baronyname=&countyname=CARLOW&unionname=&parishname=
Bridget?s marriage may be useful as it occurred in 1865 and compulsory civil registration was introduced in 1864. These records usually contain an address and also occupations of the couple and father's occupation. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here are their contact details:
General Register Office
Government Offices
Convent Road
Roscommon
Ireland
Tel:+353 90 663 2900
Locall:1890 25 20 76
Fax:+353 90 663 2999
Homepage: http://www.groireland.ie/
For more information on civil records go to: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html
Some other websites that you may find useful 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
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/carlow/index.html
Familysearch: www.familysearch.org
From Ireland: www.from-ireland.net
I hope that some of these help you in your research!
All the best,
Genealogy Support
