need help please

[Debs0458]

i am at my wits end trying to trace my irish roots... i know my great grandfather michael hayes was born in Limerick in 1847, his father was john hayes also from Limerick but i cant find anything on them...Michael came to England and eventually settled in kensington , london and married mary thompson.. i want to find the irish side but cant get any further

[Pam Downes]

Ireland (and Scotland, Wales, and for that matter, most of the English counties, are a complete mystery to me:D ) but I'd start at
http://home.pacbell.net/nymets11/genuki/LIM/index.html#Genealogy (http://home.pacbell.net/nymets11/genuki/LIM/index.html#Genealogy) and
http://www.rootsweb.com/~irllimer/ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~irllimer/)
Presumably you know his wife's name from the birth certificate of one of the children. Have you found Mary and the children on the 1891 and 1901 census? Also what reference do you have for Michael in the 1881 census? I can only find one likely Michael who's a private in the army, living in Portland, and absolutely no sign of him in the 1891 or 1901 census.
Pam

[Debs0458]

i found him on the 1881 census living in kensington with mary hayes and children .. but cannot trace him before that