Hi,
Thank you very much for your message. I hope that someone who recognises the family makes a connection with you and helps you to further your research.
in the meantime, it will be much easier if you can try to narrow down a place of origin in Co. Tipperary. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.
Do you have any documentation pertaining to the family that mentions any place names in Tipperary at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records,census records, letters, diary entries etc.
There are some places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:
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.
Have you tried looking into his emigration? Sometimes more infomation can be found at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. You may be lucky and find a place name here. For information on US immigration records check http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
I did a search for William Reilly in Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland 1848-64. It doesn?t give any genealogical information but can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. There was a William recorded in Kilvellane parish in 1850:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=44&Submit.y=20&Submit=Submit&familyname=reilly&firstname=william&baronyname=&countyname=TIPPERARY%2C+NORTH+RIDING&unionname=&parishname=
And also in Clonoulty and Kilcooly 1850 in South Tipperary:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=30&Submit.y=20&Submit=Submit&familyname=reilly&firstname=william&baronyname=&countyname=TIPPERARY%2C+SOUTH+RIDING&unionname=&parishname=
There is no way to know for certain if any of these are your William without more information, however these parishes may act as starting points for you if you cannot find any further leads.
Here are some other general websites that you may find useful in your research:
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: www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/tipperary/index.html
IGP: www.igp-web.com/tipperary
Remember to post any new information that you find here. 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
