Finally Found It:)

[renormalised (Carl)]

As you probably already know (from having told you before), I have an interest in genealogy and have been tracing my family tree for some time. I have a very extensive tree on Mum's side of the family, but my Dad's side has been a bit shallow until recently. Luckily, I found an ancestor who was a member of an important family (the Vernon Family of Cheshire) and managed to go back from there. Needless to say, I found out what I'd already suspected that Mum and Dad were distantly related, however something else had come up which has confirmed old family stories.

I'd always heard stories from my grandmother (Dad's mother) that her side of the family had direct connections back to the High Kings of Ireland, as well as a number of other important families in the UK. The stories I heard were that her family were specifically related to Brian Boru and Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages....progenitor of the O'Neill's and others). I already knew I had connections back to Brian on Mum's side, and Niall as well, but it came with great satisfaction to finally put the pieces of the puzzle together over the last few days to find out that Grandma was right. I'm a direct descendant of both Brian and Niall on both sides of the family Niall is my 47th Great Grandfather (through both sides) and Brian is my 32nd Great Grandfather (also through both sides).

[Ric]

Sounds fascinating Carl

It must be quite a buzz to track down and come across stuff like that.

Was it all done through the internet?

[renormalised (Carl)]

Mostly....although I knew the first 5 generations of my family (that's back to my G-G Grandparents). All the information I gathered from then on was on the net....downloaded old books, pedigrees, manorial records, parish records, wills and probate records, government documents, final concords, pipe/court/cartulary rolls etc etc. If I found another site that had the info I wanted, like another person's genealogy, I'd use their info and then go look up what they had plus more of my own. There's plenty of info out there, especially on the genealogy sites like ancestry.com, familysearch.org etc. However, like anything else, you have to be discriminating and check everything. There is a lot of misleading stuff floating around, but you get to know how to navigate around and identify that stuff after awhile.

It's easy enough to start tracing out your family. All you have to do is start with yourself and then your parents. You'll most likely even have records of your grandparents lying about as well. Most states usually have records of births, deaths and marriages going back to the mid 19th Century or earlier (NSW goes back to 1788), so you'll find a few generations more in that info. Then you have the immigration passenger lists and such to find where your overseas family came into the country and where they might be from. After that, it's just time and patience (and a measure of luck as well) to find everyone else. If you're lucky enough to find someone of note in your family or connected to an important family (like I have), then you can go a long way.

[CraigS]

Wiki says Niall Noigiallach lived prior to about 450 AD. They also say:

In January 2006, geneticists at Trinity College, Dublin suggested that Niall may have been the most fecund male in Irish history.

The findings of the study showed that within the north-west of Ireland as many as 21% of men (8% in the general male population) were concluded to have a common male-line ancestor who lived roughly 1,700 years ago.

The geneticists estimated that there are about 2-3 million males alive today who descend in the male-line from Niall. However, more recently some reservations have been expressed, as the subclade, which is defined by the presence of the marker R-M222, is found in a belt from Northern Ireland across southern Scotland and is not exclusively associated with the Uí Néill. It is now more commonly referred to as the Northwest Irish/Lowland Scots variety. Although his remains have never been found, this is speculation.

I find that the reliability of the records in the UK are directly related to the status of the person you're chasing and the accuracy and education of the recorder. If you're descended from a commoner .. its usually 'game over' ... once you hit the early 1800s.

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

You can get early than that if you look for the right records as most records before 1837 (before the government started to take mandatory records) were usually done as per parish. Most parishes have records dating back to at least 1600 and there are many that go back to 1538. Usually means you're wading in Latin but that's no big deal. You pickup the language in the text after awhile. Mind you, it's no guarantee of going back further than the early 1800's, which really depends on your family's circumstances at the time. But in general, even with most commoners, you can get back to the mid 1700's for the most part. If you hit a brick wall though, it can make life difficult. The hardest to trace are orphans and the really poor...they seem to drop off the end of the planet in the early 1800's and it can be hard to go back further.

[blindman]

Fascinating. Did you find out how they came to Australia?
Nev

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by blindman

Fascinating. Did you find out how they came to Australia?
Nev

Yep, some came via assisted passages, other came unassisted. A couple were convicts prior to coming out and were transported. But that was only two people (a literal couple, actually). The earliest I have of family in Oz is 1818....a Michael Edwards, born in Sydney. Can't find his parents, so far. But, most of the family arrived between 1830 and 1885.

[Osirisra (Ken)]

I too have been tracing my family back for the last couple of years and it is very satisfying what you can find. Persistence and patience are surly needed but the rewards are worth it

[Liz]

Wow!! I have been in the presence of Irish nobility!!

That is exciting news Carl, from a fello Irishly descended gal.

I dabbled a few years ago with my Gleeson (Tipperary) and Harrington (Roscommon) rellies. A lot of time and effort and $$ yielded some results. Probably will get back into doooown the track.

[renormalised (Carl)]

More like Irish "no-ability"

Yes, it was rather satisfying to find the links. Took a little bit of detective work and such, but I got there.

I have Walsh and McGrath (Tipperary) and Bradshaw (Limerick), amongst others.

How far back did you manage to go. Some of the records are hard to come by because of the troubles back in the early 1900's. A lot of them were destroyed, especially census records and such.

[CraigS]

I find a certain amount of 'inference' is involved, particularly over the periods of mass migration, like during the potato famine (~1845 to 1852). Frequently there is no embarkation record to match up with the records at this end. Many births and deaths also occurred in the Irish 'poor houses', and went unregistered.

Many names of that era were also very similar … sometimes the firstborn 'Jr', was given the same name as the 'Senior' …. and mis-spelt surnames and unclear handwriting is very frequent in 'official' records. This happened at both ends. Church fires resulted in big gaps in the birth records at the Irish end, also.

Sometimes there's a big temptation to associate the 'nearest' person identified from a record, with the person one is searching for.

Much identification depends on the assumption that few people moved locations back in those times, also.

Correlation of a birth and death record, and its applicability to the person being searched for, frequently involves a certain amount of guesswork.

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

Most of the Irish that left there, either left via Dublin or Liverpool in England. There are some that did leave from places such as Plymouth and London, but most left via the other two cities. That's why with Irish emigration it's always important to check the records in England. You'll most likely find any "missing" Irish relatives in the passenger records there. This is also applicable for those that left during the Potato Famine.

The problem with poorhouses everywhere were as you suggested. Most births and deaths in these institutions were poorly recorded, if it all. As for the legibility of records...that's something that you just have to handle as you come across them. Some priest weren't as eloquent as others, or as well educated, so you just have to go with the flow and figure out what was written. Most people in those days didn't move too far from their places of birth, however it wasn't uncommon for people to travel widely, if the situation warranted it. You just have to be a good detective and know what to look for when tracking people down. Yes, a certain amount of guesswork can be involved, but once a person's initial sets of records can be established, then it's a matter of research to find the rest out.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Liz...something that will be of genealogical interest to yourself...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C3%AD_Liath%C3%A1in

The Irish tribal group from where your family name and group originates

[Liz]

Ooh, thanks for that Carl. Will have a bit of a read.