Looking for any information about CatherineSpellman born abt 1838/1841.Came to New Zealand about 1861.She may have been an orphan,she is my Great Grandmothermarried hugh McAuley in New Zealand 1862.Any info would be wonderful
Hi Maggie,
Thank you for your message.
You could try looking for information in church records. If you could find Catherine?s birth record it will tell you who her parents were and you could go from there.
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 Boyle parish, follow this link:
Roscommon Heritage and Genealogical centre is listed as having copies, if you would like to contact them for assistance here is their email, however a fee may apply: info@roscommonroots.com
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.
Some other websites that you may find useful as you do 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
Family Search: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/roscommon/index.html
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/roscommon/index.html
I hope that this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support