Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Civil registration became mandatory in Ireland in 1864 so as this was Bernard?s birth year hopefully you should be able to find his birth record in these records. This should help clarify his place of birth also. Civil registration records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
For more information on Irish Civil Registration follow this link:
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-civil-registration.html
Have you tried looking into his emigration for more information? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than tha of departure so it may be worth your while looking into it. For immigration records in the US check the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
Do you know Bernard?s father?s name? If you do, you may be able to find record of him in Griffith?s Valuation. This was a property valuation survey carried out in Ireland 1848-1864. It does not give any genealogical information but can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. I did a search for the surname Pierce in Galway and came back with some results. If you can find Bernard?s father here it will give you a parish name. Once you have a parish name you will then be able to look in Church records for information on the family pre-1864. Here is a link to the results:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=52&Submit.y=6&Submit=Submit&familyname=Pierce&firstname=First+Name&baronyname=&countyname=GALWAY&unionname=&parishname=
Some other websites which 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
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/galway/index.html
Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
I hope that this is helpful. Remember to post any new information you find. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
