Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so you should be able to find John and James? birth records in civil records. Civil 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 online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
It will be difficult to find birth records for the others as they will have been recorded by the local parish church and most likely remain there even now. It may be an idea to start in Ballymore. 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 Ballymore parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&churchid=909&CityCounty=Westmeath&CityCounty=Westmeath&parish=Ballymore
As you can see from the above link Dun na Si Heritage and Genealogical Centre have copies. If you would like to contact them here is their email, however a fee may apply:
dunnasimoate@eircom.net
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
You could also try searching for church records online at www.familysearch.org or www.rootsireland.ie (you have to pay on the latter site)
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/
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/westmeath/index.html
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
