Hi Bill,
Thanks for your message and your kind words!
Have you ever tried looking for some record of Jeremiah and Catherine in Church records? If you could find a birth/baptismal/marriage record for them in the area it would help tie them to that place.
Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which may be of help to you is the irishtimes. Here they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Cahirciveen parish follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Kerry&parish=Cahirciveen&churchid=658
From looking at this overview, however it seems that records did not begin in the parish until circa 1845. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon, as the Church of Ireland was the official church in Ireland during the 19th century. As a result, record keeping was difficult for the Catholic church in the early half of the century.
However, it may still be a good idea to look at records in the surrounding parishes. Some new parishes were created during the 19th century, so these start dates can sometimes be misleading. It may be that there is record of your great grand parents in one of the neighbouring parishes. To see a map of Catholic parishes in Kerry use the following link. You can see what records are available by clicking on the parish name:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/kerryrc.htm
For Church of Ireland records check the following sites:
http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history/family_history_key_sources.htm
Also, check www.irishgenealogy.ie/index.html Both Catholic and Church of Ireland records are currently being uploaded here free of charge. However, as this is an ongoing project not all records are available yet.
You should also do a search for them in the Tithe Applotment Books. This is a land record compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. Even though it does not offer any genealogical information, it can be used to tie a person to an area. If you know the names of either of Jerimiah or Catherine's parents you should search for their names too. You can do this here:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
You could also do a search for any family members that remained in Ireland in the later land record called Griffith's Valuation (1848-1864) at the following link:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Do you know much about their emigration? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at it may be a place to find information, and perhaps even an exact place of origin. For immigration information in Canada check the National Library and Archives at the following link:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html
Some other websites which may help you 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: https://familysearch.org/
I hope that some of these links help you to confirm your connection to Cahirciveen before your next visit-it would be fantastic to know that you were in the place wher your ancestors came from! If you are planning on visiting this year, would you mind taking a couple of minutes to fill out our webform for people who are visiting in 2013?The link is located at the top of our page. Thank you, and best of luck with your research!
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
