MY gg grandfather EDWARD WALLACE emigated to America from Kilkenny in the late 1840s/ early 1850s. His application to become an American citizen listed Kilkenny as his county of origin. I believe that his father was James Wallace. Beyond that I have been unable to find any more information about his life or family in Ireland. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Robert Emmett Wallace
Columbus, Ohio USA
Hi
Thank you for your message-
Do you know much about his emigration? The dates, the reason why he left, who they may have travelled with?..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, New York, etc.), this could be a good place to find more information. -And perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.
If you haven't already you could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/ for some of Edward's relatives.
Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at ). www.failteromhat.com
Church records may be of some use to you -if you can narrow down an area within County Kilkenny.
Most Catholic records are held locally - One site which might be of use is - http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/ - where you can ?browse? an overview of available records per county. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for possible assistance.
Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you.
Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Ireland Reaching Out
Hi, thanks for your comments.
Edward Wallace arrived in New York City. He travelled alone as he was not married at the time. His ship sailed from Liverpool. I am not sure, but the best match in emigration records shows an Edward Wallace, approximately 27 years old, arriving in New York aboard the ship Fidelia in 1847. His occupation was listed as Mason. I suppose he emigrated due to the famine conditions at that time in Ireland.
Edward would not be in the Tithe Appointment books since he was not a head of household at that time. There is an Edward Wallace in Griffith's Evaluation living in Columbkille in 1845, but I really don't know if that is him. I had to choose a parish (I would have preferred to list just the county) in order to post, so that's why I listed Columbkille.
I've checked LDS but they have nothing. I've also written to Rothe House and provided them all the info I have, but they responded that after some checking of church records (Edward was a Catholic) they couldn't find a match for my Edward, and that Wallace is not unique enough a name in Kilkenny to dig deeper without more information.
Edward has become my genealogical "brick wall", but I'm not surprised since, after all, he might have been a mason. :-)
Best,
Robert Emmett Wallace in Columbus, Ohio, USA