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  1. #1
    Araminta
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    Default Finding Irish ancestors who died before 1864

    Another thread - I'm trying to get as much online research as possible done this week.

    Thanks to your help a couple of years ago here: https://www.british-genealogy.com/thr...aland-marriage , I know of an ancestral couple who were reportedly in Galway.

    John Gavin, coachbuilder, Galway, died 1842
    wife Esther (nee Scully) died 1856

    Can't tell if this means Galway the town or Galway the county, for starters.
    Given the sources - their daughter's marriage and death certs, it's possible the info isn't 100% accurate. But there's nothing doing with the irishroots website. The subscription has been a complete waste so far, except to note that Gavins are concentrated in Offally - or is that just because the site has more records from Offally?

    Wondered if Esther senior emigrated with her daughter but I haven't found her death in a quick search of Aussie records. And I haven't found Esther junior in any ships to Australia, but there are probably sites for those I don't know.

    I haven't been able to find out which relevant Irish records have survived, and which of those have been collated. And is there a way of searching them without going to Ireland?

  2. #2
    thewideeyedowl
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    Default Galway Family History Websites

    Hi Araminta

    I have found this useful website: https://www.galwayroots.com/main/home. It gives a number of sources on its Links page and some helpful info about researching; there are also, I gather, one or two other Galway Roots websites. Might be of use?

    But a print book that would most definitely be useful for researching Irish ancestors is this one by Robert & Elizabeth Blatchford: The Irish Family and Local History Handbook, 2013 (224pp). Unfortunately, there is no Index and the whole book is a bit of a mish-mash BUT it contains some very useful stuff and includes a 16-page Irish Genealogical Services Directory (yellow pages, at the back) which gives lots of websites. In spite of the annoyances, it is worth persevering with this book. You might be able to get it through your local library or perhaps find a 2nd-hand copy(?), but I would advise reading reviews before splashing any cash in case it is not to your liking. (There is a review on the TNA Bookshop website, and there might be others elsewhere.)

    Owl

  3. #3
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default Records at TNA

    Hello, me again...

    When I entered (Gavin AND Galway) into Discovery, TNA's search engine, I got 15 hits: https://discovery.nationalarchives.go...+AND+Galway%29 Might any of those be of use - I think there is a John somewhere.

    Owl

    PS If the link doesn't work, just go to TNA and enter the same search query, with the brackets.

  4. #4
    Araminta
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    Default

    Thank you for mentioning the Galway site. Finding them very helpful. Thanks.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    There is a book by Chris Paton Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet which may be of help. I am looking to buy it as I know so little about researching my Irish ancestors. Just type it in to a search engine.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
    Knowledgeable and helpful
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    Be aware that the records you are looking for may simply not exist. You don’t say what denomination the family were but I’ll assume they were RC. Many RC parishes in Galway don’t have any baptisms or marriages before the 1830s. So if your family came from one of those parishes, there’s probably little chance of tracing them.

    You can see what RC records exists for each parish in Galway, and where copies are kept, using this link:

    https://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/b...unties/rcmaps/
    ELWYN

  7. #7
    Araminta
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    The Galway offices have been very helpful but have found no trace of these ancestors. Nothing but a few tithe records for John Gavins around the right time, but no occupations listed.

    If trade directories for other Irish counties up to 1842 are available online, I will have a look at them. Those seem to be the only possible way of tracking down these people, before giving up as a dead loss.

    The records may simply not have survived. Perhaps the accounts of some gentry family somewhere mentions one of his coaches, but the likelihood of that being linkable is very low.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Araminta View Post
    The Galway offices have been very helpful but have found no trace of these ancestors. Nothing but a few tithe records for John Gavins around the right time, but no occupations listed.


    .
    Tithe records generally related to people who had land. So the majority would be farmers. You would not normally expect a coach builder to be in the tithes.
    ELWYN

  9. #9
    Araminta
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    Were coach builders an urban phenomenon? Or were there some in the countryside or attached to aristocratic households?
    Perhaps that should be a separate thread.

    in 1915 there was a Gavin Brothers Carriage Maker in Roscommon, not far from the border with Galway. Unfortunately the next oldest trade directory is from 1824, when there were no coach builders in the town. So there's no way of telling whether the 1915 firm was descended from my ancestor or his relatives, perhaps having started between 1824 and 1842. There are plenty more to look through yet.

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