trying to find Heagin/Hagan

Statutory records of births, deaths & marriages started in Ireland on 1.1.1864 (1^st April 1845 for Protestant and Non-Conformist marriages). Prior to that you are heavily dependant on church records, where they exist. Most early Irish censuses have been destroyed so no help there. You really need to try and find out a little more about the family from sources outside Ireland. (Otherwise it?s a needle in a haystack).

To use church records effectively, because there?s no centralised index, ideally you need to know the ancestor?s exact denomination, townland and parish in Ireland. Good sources, for people who went to Scotland or England, are poor law applications  which usually contain details of the person?s parish in Ireland, plus other family they may have (try your local county record office). Check every possible census. Census returns sometimes include exact place of birth, instead of just ?Ireland?. Look out also for other Irish people nearby in the censuses. Immigrants often settled near people they knew from home. Check any military records, old diaries, gravestones, family bibles, wills and obituaries. Birth certs for some locations (e.g. Scotland, save for 1856 to 1859) include place of marriage of parents.

Thanks Ahogill,

Thats really helpful, none of the census data gives me anything other than Ireland, but I hadnt thought of poor law applications and will check out the Scottish birth certs

Thanks

Jan