Hi Betty,
Have you tried looking in church records for information? If you can find Edmond and Clare?s birth records it will give you their parents? names. Of if you can find their marriage record it may list the couple?s fathers? names.
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 Kells parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Meath&parish=Kells&churchid=940
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Civil registration became compulsory in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages that occurred in the family after this should also be recorded in civil records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
You could also check for record of the family in the land acts pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Have you tried searching in the 1901/1911 census records to see if there was any possible family in the area at the time? These records can give lots of useful information. You can search these online on:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The US National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/meath/index.html
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Meath Library: http://www.meath.ie/Community/Libraries/LocalStudies/
I hope that this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
