Looking for history of parents and family members for Michael Conway (1798-1861) and his Spouse Bridget Doherty (1811-1877). They were married in Easky, Sligo County, around 1834 and lived near Ballina. County Mayo.. They emigrated to Canada around 1840 with three young children and lived near the City of Ottawa. Any direction and/or information greatly appreciated.
Ron Conway
Hi Ron,
Thank you for your message. I*n order to get information on Michael and Bridget?s parents you will have to look at church records as civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864. In order to know what records to look at you will need to know where they were baptised. 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 parishes in Co. Sligo , follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/sligorc.htm
You could try looking online at:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
You could also try contacting the Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre for some assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: heritagesligo@eircom.net
Some websites that you may find useful 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
Irish Genealogy Tool kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/sligo/index.html
From Ireland: www.from-ireland.net
Sligo Web: http://homepage.tinet.ie/~afinan/genealogy.html
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
Dear Ron,
I think I may have links to your Michael and Bridget---I believe that my great grandmother Mary Conway comes from the Easky region. Her father's name was Michael, although may be a cousin or son? My ggmother was born 1869ish and came to the US (Scranton) in about 1883. I have been trying to pin down her birthplace and was lead to believe it might be Easky due to DNA results and links on Ancestry.com. I wish I had more info about Michael and Bridget's parents but I might have some links further down. Best wishes, Laura