Researching James BELLEW and Catherine McDERMOTT; believed to be from Drogheda. Married Jan 10, 1861; three children - Patrick born Jan 1864 Ireland, Mary born 1866 Preston Lancs England, James born 1869 Preston Lancs England. Have no information on James' parents or Catherine's parents. James died in Oct 1905 in Preston, Catherine died 1898 in Preston.
Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Have you tried looking for James and Cartherine in church records? If you can find a birth/baptismal record for them, it will most likely have their parents names on it.
Most Catholic records are held locally in the parish registers. Drogheda town is divided into two Roman Catholic parishes: Drogheda: St. Peters and Drogheda: St. Mary's . One website which is helpful is the irishtimes website where iy gives an overview of what records are available in specific parishes.
For Drogheda St. Peters follow this link: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Louth&parish=Drogheda:St.Peters&churchid=211
For Drogheda St. Mary's follow: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Louth&parish=Drogheda:St.Marys&churchid=960
For Church of Ireland records check:
http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/
Also. Catholic and Church of Ireland records are currently being uploaded free of charge to www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html . However, this is an ongoing project so not all records are available yet.
Some other websites which may hekp you over the course of your research 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
Family Search: https://familysearch.org/
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