Re: James Foley 1808
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In reply to:
James Foley 1808
Sandra McCollum 10/21/07
I research the Irish Family History Foundation's database. It contains 12,000,000 surviving rcds for abt 65% of Irish counties. Rcds are increasingly sparse B4 1840, rare B4 1800.
Note 1 - Without a KNOWN parish, the chance of an ancestor's rcds NOT being in this database is AT LEAST 35%.
Note 2 - Only 1/2 of Co. Cork's rcds are in this database.
Note 3 - The RC church kept control over most parish rcds from Tipperary (north). These are ONLY available thru the Tipperary Family History Research center at a substantial fee (regardless of outcome).
I searched for the children's DOB based on their ages on arrival in 1848. Assuming these were correct (people often LIED to get cheaper passage), I looked for a common parish of birth. I couldn't find one, although Kilkenny and Cork are possibles. Note - 1848 was the height of the Famine. There was social turmoil in Ireland. People, often families, went from place to place seeking work or relief. This fact may account for the lack of a common county.
For James Foley B 1808 +/- 1 yr somewhere in Ireland with the father's forename unknown, I found 6 rcds: 1807 Meath, 1807 Kilkenny, 1807 Westmeath, 1808 Kildare, 1808 Limerick, and 1808 Dublin. Rcds around 1810 are scarce; most B events went unrecorded. There is only abt a 10% chance that one of these is for your ancestor.
For James Foley M 1833 +/- 1 yr somewhere in Ireland, there are 9 rcds: 1832 Leitrim 3-1832 Kilkenny, 1833 Leitrim, 1834 Kildare, 1834 Sligo, 1834 Cork, and 1834 Clare. Again, the Kilkenny rcds look the most promising. Rcd keeping in the 1830s was somewhat better with 50-70% of M events being rcd'd depending on the county; for Kilkenny 9 of 38 parishes weren't keeping M rcds in 1833.
For their transit, Ancestry.com has a database which lists passengers and their ship from 1820 to abt 1845. This is a commercial site. I try to avoid this one. Free sites include "TheShipsList," "NARA," and www.ellisisland.org.
Google the Foundation's name to lead you to this database. Register, opt to be notified as rcds are added and browse. Pls post your search results to my genforum msg.
Hope this helps. Good luck.