Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Looking for Family Information

DownNewry (Down)

My Grandfather was born in Newry between 1843 - 1846.  His parents were James Conn and Margaret Bain.  He joined the 2nd Battalion 18th Royal Irish Regiment and came to New Zealand where he stayed after he was discharged.   I have been trying to find some information on the family in Ireland - his parents - did he have brothers/sisters - I havent been able to find his birth certificate.   If anyone can be of help that would be appreciated.

Thank you.

MKWard

4 replies

Statutory birth registration only began in Ireland in 1864 so you won?t find a birth certificate for your grandfather. You might find his baptism but to do that you need to know his exact denomination, and then search the relevant records (which are probably not on-line). Looking at the 1901 census for Co Down there were 93 people named Conn listed, split fairly evenly between Church of Ireland (ie Anglican) and Presbyterian. Do you know which denomination your grandfather was?

Copies of most surviving church records are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. The records are mostly on microfilm though some are the paper originals. A personal visit is required to search them. In a few cases the local church still holds the relevant records and consequently you need to go there to see them.

You can see what churches records exist in the Newry area by looking at the PRONI website:

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/research_and_records_held/catalogues_guid…

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your help.   From the little information that we have about him I think he was a Methodist.  Unfortunately his son (my grandfather) had little to do with the family after his marriage (which was to a Catholic) so no information was passed down through the family.  i have had to start from stratch.   Do you know if there is anywhere online that I can apply to get information about his military service?

Thanks again.

 

 

MKWard

 

Though Methodism was established a s a separate denomination in Ireland around 1819, many Methodists carried on using the Church of Ireland for baptisms and marriages right up to the 1870s. (There were various reasons for this to do with not wanting to separate from the mainstream church, also the lack of Methodist Ministers and, for marriages, licensed buildings). So if you don?t find them in Methodist records, try Church of Ireland.

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.