The Fortunes and the Weldons

Hi Kate,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking for Thomas? baptismal record in Trim? If you can find this it will give you his parents names. 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 Trim parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Meath&parish=Trim&churchid=963

As you can see from the above link Meath Heritage Centre have copies. If you would like to contact them here is their email, however a fee may apply: meathhc@iol.ie

Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records up to 1958 online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Have you checked the 1901/1911 census records? I did a search for Fortunes in Meath in 1901. There was only one family recorded in Ratoath and the ages do not match. It is possible that Thomas? mother may have died by then. I found two records of an Anthony Weldon in Dublin 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&surname=weldon&firstname=anthony&county=Dublin&townland=&ded=&age=&sex=&search=Search&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&birthplace=&language=&deafdumb=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving=

Have you looked into Thomas? emigration? Sometimes more information was given a the port of arrival rather than that of departure so you may find something new here. For information on US immigration records check the National Archives at: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

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

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

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

Dublin Heritage: www.dublinheritage.ie

From Ireland: http://www.from-ireland.net/county-meath-genealogy/

Historic Graves: www.historicgraves.ie

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. 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.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support