Hi Patrick,
Thank you very much for your message.
Have you tried looking at church records for more information? 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 Kilfree/Gurteen parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Sligo&parish=Gurteen&churchid=132
For Kilcolman/Castlemore: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Sligo&parish=Castlemore&churchid=119
As you can see from the above links Sligo Heritage and Genealogical Centre have copies available. If you would like to contact them here is their email, however a fee may apply:
heritagesligo@eircom.net
You could also try searching 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.
I did a search for Dyer?s in the parishes in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the the 19th century:
The Tithe Applotment Book (1823-38) , a John Dyer was recorded in Kilfree parish:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=dyer&firstname=&county=Sligo&parish=kilfree&townland=&search=Search
Griffith?s Valuation (1848-64) numerous Dyers recorded in Kilfree including a Hugh and Patrick:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=37&Submit.y=22&Submit=Submit&familyname=dyer&firstname=&baronyname=&countyname=SLIGO&unionname=&parishname=KILFREE
Hugh Dyer was also recorded in Kilcolman:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=36&Submit.y=19&Submit=Submit&familyname=dyer&firstname=&baronyname=&countyname=SLIGO&unionname=&parishname=KILCOLMAN
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
You could also check if there were any Dyers still in the area in the 1901/1911 census records here:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
Some other 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
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
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/sligo/index.html
From Ireland: http://www.from-ireland.net/county-sligo-genealogy/
Irish Genealogy Tool-kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
Sligo Library: http://www.sligolibrary.ie/sligolibrarynew/localstudies/
I hope some of this is 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
