Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Have you tried looking for Edward's birth certificate? If you can find this you should be able to find his parent's names. Unfortunately the Catholic records for Blaris parish (the Roman Catholic parish that Hillsborough is found in) do not start until 1840. You can see this at the irishtimes website at the following link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Down&parish=Blarisr&churchid=451
However, even if the family were Catholic it may still be worth your while looking at Church of Ireland records also. Most records that survive from the pre-1800 period are found in Church of Ireland registers as this was the official church of the country at the time. Chec the following sites: http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
Some other websites 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
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/down/index.html
Perhaps you could also try contacting the Ulster Historical Foundation. However, a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:
Ulster Historical Foundation,
49 Malone Road,
Belfast BT9 6RY,
Northern Ireland.
Phone: +44 (0) 28 9066 1988 Email: enquiry@uhf.org.uk
I hope that this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
