Hi Eileen,
Thank you very much for your message. I hope that someone with information on the family makes a connection with you.
It may be an idea to look into church records to see if you can find John?s birth record which would give you his parents? names.
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 Ahamlish parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Sligo&parish=Ahamlish&churchid=534
As you can see from the above link Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy have copies available. If you would like to contact them here is their email, however a fee may apply: heritagesligo@eircom.net
Once you know his father?s name you could then look in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century to see if you can narrow down a townland of origin. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Some other websites that you may find helpful 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: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/sligo/index.html
Sligo Web: http://homepage.tinet.ie/~afinan/genealogy.html
From Ireland: http://www.from-ireland.net/county-sligo-genealogy/
Sligo Library: http://www.sligolibrary.ie/sligolibrarynew/localstudies/
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
