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Hello!  I hope someone can help.  My wife and I are traveling to Belfast for a few days next month  where I plan to visit the PRONI to do some research, but I still have not found any information on my County Fermanagh ancestors in Northern Ireland.  

My great, great, great grandfather, John Hastings, 24 Jun 1824 - 03 Jun 1887, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army in the Civil War in the United States and spent the majority of his life in Albany, New York.  His brother, Hugh John Hastings, 20 Aug 1820 - 12 Sep 1883, was a newspaper man and very involved politically.  It is through newspaper articles about the brother that I know that they were Catholic and came from County Fermanagh to the United States around 1831.  

I believe John Hastings parents are John Hastings born about 1767 and Susan Hastings born about 1790 from the 1850 U.S. Federal Census.  What other information would be helpful to locate them before leaving Northern Ireland in or around 1831?

Any and all assistance is greatly appreciated.

Matthart3

Monday 11th Aug 2014, 02:24PM

Message Board Replies

  • Matt:

    I checked Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie and only 6 of the Co. Fermanagh RC parishes have records available on Roots back to 1824. I did not locate a baptismal record for John.

    If you have not already, you may want to check out the Fermanagh Gold web site.

    http://www.fermanagh-gold.com/

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Monday 11th Aug 2014, 03:45PM

  • Matt,

    As Roger has indicated, the problem that you face is that there are very few records still in existence for Fermanagh covering the period you are interested in.

    The surname Hastings is not common in the county. In the 1901 census, there?s just one person of that name, a servant. (RC).

    In Griffiths Valuation (1862) there?s just two entries, both for Robert Hastings. One is for land (but no house) in Tattendillur, and the other for someone with a house and workshop in Main St, Brookeborough. Both of these locations are in the parish of Aghavea. Both could possibly belong to the same person. Unfortunately the RC parish of Aghavea has no baptisms or marriages prior to 1862. (Earlier records either weren?t kept or have been lost).

    Looking at the civil indexes (births, RC marriages and death from 1864 onwards) I can see 3 births, 2 deaths & 1 marriage for people named Hastings, registered in Lisnaskea (which would include Aghavea).

    However in the absence of any other leads, you at least know of one area where a couple of people of that name did live.

    You could try searching the tithe applotment records for Hastings in Co Fermanagh (1820/30). Those for Fermanagh are not on-line but there is a copy in PRONI on microfilm.

     

    Elwyn

     

     

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Monday 11th Aug 2014, 04:03PM

  • Hey Matt,

    I too am researching the Hastings' from County Fermanagh. My Hastings' were from the Brookeborough area in Fermanagh and came to NYC in 1838. Like your Hugh John Hastings, my 3x great grandfather was named Hugh John Hastings as well. His wife was Mary Carroll Hastings and they had several children.

    I have researched your Hastings roots trying to find a connection to mine given they were from Co. Fermanagh, the name is not at all common there, and there were several same names on your side and mine. While researching I found out that in a newspaper (I will have to look back and find it), someone reporting a trip through that region noted that the Newspaper giant Hugh J. Hastings of NY was from TEMPO in Co. Fermanagh (not too far from where my Hastings' were from).

    I hope this helps! I would love to hear if you find anything in Ireland! If you need anything else, or have questions, feel free to contact me.

    -Tori

     

    VictoriaHastings19

    Monday 29th Sep 2014, 07:31PM

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