I am often given information on families that went to the USA and obviously researchers want information from Ireland.... which is grand when you know where they came from. But what of those researchers that only have Ireland?
Before trying to get back too quickly researchers should gather as much information as possible from the country where their ancestors settled. For example....church records. A baptism will give sponsors (if R.C.) and these are often relatives.....even if the godmother has a name you do not recognise she could be a sibling to the mother or father. (obviously her married name.)
From my experience many Irish had relatives that followed them or indeed they themselves followed relatives.
All of this is worth checking out in Church records and census returns. I also believe Irish immigrant bank account records are available.
Any researcher worth his/her salt should gather as many records as possible...if you have a church record go for the civil registration too. Obviously if money is tight then I leave it to the individual what record they should go for.......a civil record usually gives more information.
Also, names are often indicators to what area/County a family could be from.
Keep on searching.
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I must admit that Irish immigrant bank records for New York City are confusing as many people had the same or similar names. You just can tell if it is your ancestor or not. For example, there was more than one Charles McGuire.
ReplyDeleteI know the indexes exist but is there anywhere within NY that gives more info?
ReplyDeleteI thought I had read in some circumstances that more might be able.
Have you tried US passport applications for c1920's? I found a few of mine on there. (see my post on Ohio.)