Looking for family of origen for husband's gggrandfather and gggrandmother. James McSORLEY (b 1817 )and his wife Margaret (b.1817) (maiden surname rumored to also be McSORLEY . Margaret may have been from Fermanaugh). James and Margaret emigrated with their son Alexander (b. 1837) to New Brunswick, Canada during the late 1830s or early 1840s. James' father or possibly Margaret's father could have accompanied this small family or joined them later. He appears in an 1861 Canadian census. His name was also Alexander McSorley and he was born about 1776.
Looking to connect with cousins!
~Rita
RMcSORLEY
Sunday 16th Mar 2014, 07:19PMMessage Board Replies
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Dear Rita
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in replying to your message.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. 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. You do mention Cork and say that Margaret may have been from Fermanagh. If the latter is true, they would more than likely have married in Margeret's home parish. . Have you tried searching Ancestry.com for any mention of your ancestor?s name in member family trees or messages?
There are some places where you can search online for both areas, however these websites do not have complete collections (and many do not cover the period after 1900):
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.
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However, so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered.
Other important sources include the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith?s Valuation:
Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837): http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp
Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864): http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Some other websites that may be helpful are:
The National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ you can search the 1901/1911 Census on the National Archives page too for instances of the family name
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.
Best of luck with your search
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Clare Doyle
Monday 7th Apr 2014, 10:08AM