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Re: William Guinan

GalwayKiltormer (Galway)

Re: My Irish great-great grandfather. NSW state archives show that William Guinan (surname as spelt in shipping record) arrived NSW, Australia on 1 Sept 1841 aboard the ship John Renwick. Brought out to Australia by Nicholas James & Co under an assisted bounty immigration scheme. Gave age as 19 yrs, (therefore birth year abt.1822); place of origin Kiltormer; father - William, labourer; mother - Bridget Keenan (alive); occupation - farm servant; unable to read or write. I have not been able to trace any family information pre - 1841 Ireland. William died in Victoria, Australia in 1871. His death certificate stated he was 55 yrs old, suggesting a birth year abt 1816 rather than 1822. Hoping someone out there may be able to shed some light on his family origins in Ireland. Grateful for any information and willing to share mine. Regards and thanks.  

IrelandXO member

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Hi there,

The reason you may have been having difficulty finding pre-1841 information for Kiltormer, is because the Roman Catholic church records for the diocese of Kiltormer (Clonfert) only start from 1834 for both baptismal and marriage records.

Here is some information for the name Guinan I found on the Irish Times website: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth'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.

There are some fragments of the census from Loughrea area at the National Archives of Ireland (M 1502) and (Ms 622, 53ff).

There is a book you might be interested in by Tadgh Maclochlainn, The Parish of Laurencetown & Kiltormer, 1981. National Library of Ireland, Ir. 94124 m 5, 73 p.

The assisited emigration scheme may have been sponsored by the landlord Lieut. Edward Hodson (area of Kiltotmer). If so, then the estate records: Rent rolls and tenants' accounts, 1797-1824, indexes, covering the townlands in the civil parish of Kiltormer.

Hopefully, someone in the Kiltormer area will be able to shed some more light for you.

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)

IrelandXO member

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