Hi Ray,
Thank you for your message.
I have responded to a couple of your messages on the Roscommon board..I hope I do not repeat myself too much here!
As I mentioned in my earlier responses, a good place to look for information is Church records. Unfortunately, as the dates of birth for Ellen and James is quite early it may be difficult to find their records. You can see from the Irish Times website that records in Errigal Truagh do not start until 1835:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Monaghan&parish=Errigal-Truagh&churchid=309
If the family followed the Church of Ireland you may be luckier as these records usually tend to go back further than Catholic ones. For information on these check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf
Once again you could also try searching in the land records for information:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
You could also try contacting Monaghan Genealogy for assistance, and perhaps they may be able to tell you of any links between Monaghan and Rhode Island? They may charge for their services however. Here are their contact details:
Monaghan Genealogy,
6 Tully,
Monaghan.
Email: theomcmahon@eircom.net
Monaghan Library may also have some advice or information for you. Here is a link to their page, which includes contact information at the bottom: http://www.monaghan.ie/en/services/library/historygenealogy/
I hope this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
