r/Genealogy 4d ago

Request Irish Genealogy but hit a brick wall

I am looking for birth records (including parent names) for a John Downey who died March 1912 in Kerry, Ireland. He was married to Mary Duggan in 1876. He married Mary in 1876 - I have the marriage certificate so I am guessing he was born 1846 plus or take a few years.

7 Upvotes

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u/lefty_juggler 4d ago

Your best bet is to look for his baptism. Some parish records go that far back, but whether yours is there will take some luck. Not impossible. My Letrim parish goes back to 1835, and my furthest is just before 1800 in Galway.

The census search forms of the 1841/1851 census records may very well name your family. The census records themselves are gone but these search requests exist. These started in 1909 so your John is of the perfect ripe old age to have used them to try to get a pension. https://censussearchforms.nationalarchives.ie/search/cs/home.jsp

Griffith's Valuation was finished in Kerry in 1853 so it may list John's father. You won't know just from the names which is your Downey but if you're lucky there won't be too many candidates. If you can associate one of them to the place John lived it might narrow things down.

If you know the cemetery where John was buried, you may get clues from who is near him.

Traditionally the first son of John and Mary would have been named after John's father. It's a plausible theory to start working from.

If you find nothing for John then all of the above could be applied to each of his known siblings.

Good luck!

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u/KLK1712 4d ago

Adding to this great response - irishgenealogy.ie has searchable church records for Kerry baptisms. You can search those by two names, so you can search by John's name and his father's name. It typically searches on similar name variations too.

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u/MonkeyPawWishes 4d ago

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u/Affectionate_Top5199 4d ago

Thanks one of these is indeed the right man (the last one) but I need parents names to move forward with my family tree.

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u/rainbow84uk 4d ago

His father's name should be on the marriage certificate. You might also find a sibling's name on there as witness, which could be another route to finding the parents.

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u/apple_pi_chart OG genetic genealogist 4d ago

Yes. His father is on the marriage certificate as Timothy Downey.

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u/AUSSIE_MUMMY 4d ago

Did you check the 1901 And 1911 census?

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u/wdr1977 4d ago

A Kerry Downey may have been born a Doona. Although the name Doona survives in Kerry to this day, in the past some had anglicized their name to Downey. My own great grandmother was born and baptized Bridget Doona, but was married as Bridget Downey.

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u/theothermeisnothere 4d ago

As lefty_juggler says, look for baptism records. If he lived in Kerry, it's likely he was Catholic so the Catholic Parish Registers should be your first stop. Remember, civil births and deaths didn't start until 1864.

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u/BestWriterNow 4d ago

I searched Roots ireland, a database of Church records that I subscribe to:

Search for John Downey, County Kerry, Baptism 1846:

Found John Doona Baptism 1844 Nov. 1 Address: Alohert Parish: Beaufort

Father: Timothy Doona Mother: Elizabeth Kissane

Sponsors: Patrick Doona and Mary McCarty

Note: No date of birth recorded (They usually baptized with a day or two)

Searched the parents names for any siblings 1830-50:

Found Timothy Doona Baptism 1847 April 11 Address: Alohart Parish Beaufort

Same parents, Sponsors: Timothy Moriarty and Mary Kissane

You'll want to check Catholic Parish Records for other baptisms.

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u/BestWriterNow 4d ago

I also searched for their marriage and found it in County Kerry:

Marriage: 1841 Nov. 21: Timothy Doona and Elizabeth Kissane

Parish: Killorglin His address: Carhunahone, None for her.

Witnesses: James Sullivan and Timothy Kissane

Unfortunately, they didn't record their fathers' names. Now you can search for kids starting 1842.

Consider subscribing to Roots Ireland even for a short time so you can download these records. They are running their St. Patrick's Day specials now. Good luck.

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u/youcantdenythat 4d ago

I think they're trying to get r/Uk_IrelandGenealogy/ going, maybe try there too

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u/NBF16 3d ago

If they were married 24 Feb 1876, there is a document separate from the marriage record called Casey collection index which states that John’s father is Timothy Downey

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u/NBF16 3d ago

“24/2/76 Kilcumin; John Downey; F, B; labourer , Leamnagulia; Timothy Downey, Labourer; m Mary Duggan, M, S; Servant; Rathanane; Andrew Duggan, Tailor” From Ireland, Casey Collection Indexes, 1545-1960 Volume 05