Kingston of Bandon, County Cork

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking in Church records for information? If you can find Samuel or Ann's birth records they will have parents names listed. If you could even find their marriage record it may have fathers' names listed. Do you know what religious denomination they were?

Also you should know that the reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist. The Church of Ireland was the official church in the country at the time. As a result the bulk of information that does survive is often from these registers.

Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which may be helpful is the irishtimes. Here they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Bandon parish follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Cork%20South-West&parish=Bandon&churchid=17

You could also try writing to the parish priest for possible assistance.

For information on Church of Ireland records check: http://www.ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=information&id=63

Some other websites which 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

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Family Search: https://familysearch.org/  

Genealogy Links:  http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/cork/index.html

Alternatively you could contact the Skibbereen Heritage Centre in Cork for assistance, howver a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

Skibbereen Heritage Centre,

Old Gasworks Building,

Upper Bridge,

Skibbereen,

Co. Cork.

Phone: (028) 40900    Email: skinnheritage1@gmail.com

I hope that this is helpful. Best of luck with your research.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support