Hi,
Thank you for your message.
As civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864, the best source of records that we have for births etc. are church records. Unfortunately, given the dates of William and Catherine?s births it may be difficult to find their records as the reality is that such records often do not exist. As the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country at the time, the bulk of what does survive can often be found in these registers.
For Achonry, Catholic records in the area do not begin until about 1864. The Irish Times website shows this:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Sligo&parish=Achonry&churchid=117
If you would like to get more information on Church of Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.
It may be an idea to contact the Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre for some assistance-a fee may apply:
Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre,
Aras Reddan,
Temple Street,
Nenagh,
Co. Tipperary.
Phone: +353(0) 71 9143728 Email: heritagesligo@eircom.net
Some websites which you may find helpful in the meantime 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: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/sligo/index.html
You may find the following site of interest:
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Ballina/
I hope some of these links are 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
