How do I find out where my Irish ancestors were from?

Question

I know that I have particular ancestors who on the census returns give their place of birth as Cork and Kerry respectively. I have a Robert Bolton Justice from Cork and his wife Johannah Justice (dont know her maiden name) is from Kerry.

Without the parish name, how on earth do I go about finding their births or marriage?

Robert Bolton Justice seems to have been born around 1805, he is found in London in the 40s onward. He died in 1870.

Joannah was born around 1805 too, she lived until 1875 in London. I dont know when they moved to England, I think it was around 1822 after the birth of their first child.

Any ideas as to how to progress further back?

Answer 1

Ireland?

Answer 2

You've got a more unusual name than most (pity me with plain old John Dillon with not even a county to work with!), but the sad fact of the matter is that a lot of Irish records do not survive.  Some of the destruction was deliberate by a short-sighted government, but most of it was the result of a large fire at the main Dublin archives centre at the height of the civil war in 1922.  A lot of Irish parish registers and other records simply went up in flames, so trying to find any surviving records is in most cases almost impossible.  I'm always suspicious of people who claim to have Irish ancestry going back into the mists of time, simply because of the general lack of records in this part of the world.  If they are not on the IGI (and I believe the whole of whats left of Irish records are on familysearch.org) then it is probably safe to assume that there is nothing left to work with.

The main surviving source is the Griffiths Tax Valuation records from about 1848.  I'm not sure if the link below will work, but there are a few people with the comination of names Bolton and Justice, who seem to hail from Cullen, West Knockagarrane.  

http://www.failteromhat.com/post1845.php

That would probably be the best place to start.  The church records are unlikely to have survived the 1922 fire, but maybe there is a possibilty of graveyard inscriptions you could work with - assuming they were rich enough to have a headstone - not all families did.  I'd be inclined to suggest you try and google for the nearest Cork county Family History Society and apply to join so you can get the benefit of help from people who know the area quite well and what kind of records might survive.

Answer 3

  Come to Ireland,  spend time in the common localities! especially the places that hold the most Folklore, IE' The Pubs!!!!!!!!! their is were the folklore is spun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

i'm sorry i can't help you i'm afraid i don't know where your irish ancestors come from

Answer 5

I don't think there is an easy way to make progress so I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say! At least you have a county - my gt*3 grandfather joined the army in Ireland giving a place of birth where no family of that surname lived and then 10 years later turns up in India - married to an Irish girl - and they never give their birth county in any subsequent census records - just Ireland! Thanks for your help gt gt gt grandad!!!

Answer 6

Just google Registrar of Birth, deaths and Marriages in Cork/kerry

Try Googling Irishtimes.com They had some remarkable instructive articles a short time back on the best way to research in Ireland  

Answer 7

I just googled the name Robert Bolton Justice and cork together and there are a few interesting results. Try it out.

It certainly isn't a common surname here nowadays, so the results might be a good headstart for you. Good luck!!   :)

Answer 8

                

Knockagarrane, West     Cullen     Cork

There's people with the name Bolton Justice around there.