Hi Kerry,
Thanks for your message. Your grandfather sounds like a character! :)
There are a few places where you can look for information:
Census Records:
The 1901/1911 census records are now available online and can give some really good information. If you can find him in these you may also get the names of his parents? and any siblings he may have had. You can search these here:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Civil Records:
Civil registration became mandatory in Ireland in 1864, so all births, deaths and marriages after this year were recorded in these records. You should be able to find John?s birth record in these. This will give you where he was born and parents? names. You may also be able to find his parents? marriage and/or birth records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
For more information on these records and how to obtain them check: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html
Church Records:
You can use church records for information also. You can find births, marriages and deaths in these records up until around 1900, more importantly you may be able to find records from before 1864 in these records also. When looking into church records however, it really is important to know what parish the event took place in as most are still held at a local level.Hopefully the civil records will give you an indication of this.
For Catholic records you can use the Irish TImes website to see what records are available in specific parishes. For Enniskillen for example you can see that records began in 1838 and also where there are copies available:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Fermanagh&parish=Enniskillen&churchid=308
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/fermanaghrc.htm
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Land Records:
You can also check the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century for record of the family. These records give no genealogical information however they can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Some other websites that you may find 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/fermanagh/index.html
Genealogy Tool-kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
Family Search: www.familysearch.org (Has some church records from Ireland available)
I hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
