Hi,
Thank you very much for your message.
Have you tried looking in CHurch records to see if you can find any more information? As they were married in Rathkeale it is likely that Mary was from the parish as generally weddings took place in the bride?s parish pf origin. Hopefully Michael was born there too and you may be able to find his birth record in those records also. Do you have a copy of their marriage cert? if not it may be an idea to try and get one as sometimes these records list the couple?s fathers? names too.
Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Rathkeale parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=West%20Limerick&parish=Rathkeale&churchid=892
As you can see from the above link Limerick Genealogy have copies available. Here is their email if you would like to contact them, however a fee may apply: research@limerickgenealogy.com
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
I did a search for Michael Roche in Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey carried out in Ireland in 1848-64. Two records came up-one as a landlord and the other as a tenant:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=43&Submit.y=18&Submit=Submit&familyname=roche&firstname=Michael&baronyname=&countyname=LIMERICK&unionname=&parishname=RATHKEALE
You could also try checking the 1901/1911 census records to see if you can find any record of the family. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Do you know when Michael Henry went to the US? Ellis Island only opened in 1892 so if he went over before then and entered through New York he would have been processed in Castle Garden. Here is their database: www.castlegarden.org
Also, you could try searching the Boston ?Pilot? database. They ran a ?missing friends? section and all records are available to search online. http://infowanted.bc.edu/
Also check the US National Archives for more information: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
Some other websites that you may find useful 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
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/limerick/index.html
County Limerick Genealogy: http://www.countylimerickgenealogy.com/
Limerick Library: http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/
I hope this is helpful. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
