Hi Christine,
There are Roman Catholic church records for the diocese of Ballymacward (Clonfert). These date from 1841 for baptismal records and only from 1885 for marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 2431, or the Church of Latter day Saints, film 1279226. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance. So you are right in hearing that there are no records for that period.
There are Roman Catholic church records for the diocese of Athenry (Tuam). These date from 1858 for baptismal records and marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 4219, or the Church of Latter day Saints, film 1279207 item 6-7; 1279209 4-5. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.
Could you please post your message on the Athenry parish page here: http://www.irelandxo.com/group/athenry-galway
You are right in checking the various spellings for the name Ruane/Roane. The names was often incorrectly taken down. In Ireland too in the 19th century and before, there was no particular importance given to the precise spelling of names. I have seen the same surname written down five different ways!
You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/
Here are some other ideas of places for you to check for records:
You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38). Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.
There are some fragments remaining of the 1821 census records. These include Athenry. National Archives of Ireland (NAI) CEN 1821/18-25, LDS film 597734.
There are estate records available for the Athenry area: Landlord: French family: National Library of Ireland (NLI) Ms. 4920, 4929, 4930.
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Sinead Cooney
Genealogist (Ireland XO)
