Needle in a haystack

Alice:

I checked on the Roots Ireland indexes for possible baptismal records for James Fitzgerald and did not find one around 1815. I did find a record in 1806 in St. Peters church in Athlone. Very few Catholic parishes have records back to 1815 and only three had record back to 1806.

I searched for Honora Wade from 1814-1834 and got no record.

I searched for Esther Fitzgerald and found an 1846 baptism for Esther Fitzgerald with parents James and Honor in the Athleague RC church records. Not sure if this is your Esther but the name is not that common.

I was unable to locate a marriage record.

Since the family did not leave until 1857, I checked the 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Co. Roscommon. There were nine James Fitzgerald records. The closest to Athleague parish is the last record below in Roscommon town. Keep in mind that your James may not have been listed in the Griffiths.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Source	Surname	First Name	Townland	Parish	County
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	T/boyle/chapel-Lane	Boyle	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Clooncan	Kilkeevin	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Clooncan	Kilkeevin	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Clogher	Kilmore	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	T/ballinlough	Kiltullagh	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Corrasluastia	Kiltullagh	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Falledeen	Kiltullagh	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	Stone Park	Kiltullagh	Co. Roscommon
Griffith	Fitzgerald	James	T/roscommon/pudding Street	Roscommon	Co. Roscommon

Hi Alice
I managed to find a baptism of Honor Wade 20 Dec 1823parish Roscommon county also Roscommon on rootsireland.
Parents Henry Wade & Elizabeth Higgins.
I couldn't find a marriage record though.
The Tithe Applotments (free online at titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/)have 44 Fitzgeralds in Roscommon 1823-1842 including 6 Jameses.
Col

Col:

Good job finding the record for Honor Wade. Reinforces that for Roots, less is better.

Alice: This is further evidence pointing to the Griffiths record in Roscommon town.

Roger

Thank you so much to you both and my apologies for not checking back. You have given me a couple of really good leads. I appreciate your work on this.

I found their marriage in Roscommon & Kilteevin Jan 8, 1846. But couldn't find Esther's baptism. I suspected that she was born in 1846 because an article mentioned that she was 6yrs old when she came over. I now have 1851 or 1852 as their immigration date.

My apologies again for not seeing this!

Hi Alice

This is the one Roger mentioned:

Name:Esther FitzgeraldDate of Birth:05-Jan-1846
Date of Baptism:1-Jan-0Address:NgParish/District:ATHLEAGUE RCGender:FemaleCountyCo. Roscommon
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:James FitzgeraldMother:Honor WadeOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Daniel Nolan Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Wade 
Notes:

CHILDS NAME : EASTER
MOTHERS NAME : HANORA

Col

Excuse me Alice,

Hi Roger

You are still doing a mountain of work on the site; hope the pay has gone up!

Will be in Ireland from 7 to 28 of November - 6th cousin re-union?

CC

Col:

Pay has stayed the same. Are you headed to Achill?

Roger

Daughter now working at Cork Uni so has moved there with family so will be mostly in Cork but may go up to Mayo.

Must be time for another visit for you.

cc 

Thank you! I checked the records at the NLI and saw it. This has been really helpful. I've been going through the records parish by parish, of course, Athleague was the last one!

Alice

Col:

Yes, if all goes well, we will be in Ireland 11/9-11/18. Still finalizing itinerary. I know we will be in Clare and Galway. 

Roger