Genealogy & Family History Homepage.

There are lots of good sites out there but anything you find here on this page is unique to this site and available from our collection. We know what it is like to find that elusive link to the past - we look for them ourselves in our own search for family roots!

Local History has become a common theme in all the genealogy magazines. To find a billhead with your ancestors name and possibly an ancestors signature, is a great thrill. There are many items of ephemera that can give the same satisfaction.

Headings are in alphabetical order. We hope you enjoy your visit and please let us know if you do. Happy hunting!

Please use the "back-arrow" to return to this page. Blue links are live.

Documents & Links.

We have documents for individuals and families that are part of our general collections. Sometimes this material is of a confidential nature but of interest to researchers nonetheless - this is particularly true of legal material. If you are interested in an individual and you think we might have something of interest then an email will solicit the information you require. Where we do not consider the material to be sensitive then we will put the name here and a link to the database where the material is listed. Interesting genealogy links are also featured here.

Alexander Byrne (or Beirne)

Alexander Byrne died in Australia in the late 1880's. He left his legacy to his relations in Tulsk. Follow this link to find out more.

Balfe Family of Southpark, Co. Roscommon.

This link is to the story of the Balfe Family of Co. Roscommon. It was written by a descendant, Mary Elmer. Mary would be delighted to hear from anyone who can shed more light on her family.

Chapman, Billy.

Billy Chapman from Strokestown had a cinema in the town for many years. This link is to our small collection of material relating to him.

Cotton Family of Castlerea.

William Cotton and Cox Cotton were two of the family that resided near Castlerea during the 19th. century. This link contains some information about the family.

County Roscommon Family History Society.

This link is to the CRFHS page which shows the publications we have in our collection for this society. Our collection is incomplete and we would welcome further additions.

 

Gaughan, Martin.

Martin Gaughan, originally from Co. Mayo, was a Gaelic League teacher in Roscommon and one of the organiser of the Roscommon Feis. This link is to the story of his life, as told by his daughter, Monica Paton.

 

John Hunter's Resource County Roscommon CD. (right)

This link will take you to John Hunters page on our site. John is well known in County Roscommon for producing a series of excellent CD's with lots of data for those interested in searching for their Roscommon Ancestors. John has allowed us to place some of his date online. The page also has a link to John's website. To find out more just follow the link.

 

Laurence Patrick Duke of Crossna.

Laurence P. Duke was a landowner at Crossna, in the Parish of Ardcarne in Co. Roscommon. This link is to his Last Will & Testament (Proved: 1896).

 

McGlynn, Francis, of Clooneyquinn.

Francis McGlynn was Principal of Clooneyquinn National School during the early part of the twentieth century. A brief history of the school is here.

 

Mackenzie, Captain Roderick.

Captain Roderick Mackenzie was made a Justice of the Peace for Co. Roscommon in 1820. This link has his official appointment document.

Maurice Mahon, Lord Hartland.

A letter from Lord Hartland (Maurice Mahon, 1st Baron) to his agent George Kelly, dated 1810. The letter mentions the names Hogg, Dillon, Conry, Ball, Birmingham, Costello, Hughes and Nuheny (sic). Places mentioned include Ballykilcline and Ballyfiney (sic)(Ballyfeeney?).

Pilley, Hyacinth.

Hyacinth Pilley (today Pelley) was from the Ballybeg area near Strokestown. The document illustrated on this link dates from 1706.

Family Names.

We have some family name material in the collection. Individual names are listed in the "People" page e.g. Douglas Hyde, John Downey, John Hubert Plunkett etc. Check the full list by following this link. Where the reference is to a family, e.g. O'Conor, Beirne etc. we will develop individual family-name links. Follow the individual link for details.

Balfe. (of Southpark)

Beirne.

Cotton.

Duke. (of Crossna)

Feely, Killoran and Martin Family.

Finnerty.

Gibbons. (of Ballybeg & Aughamuc, Co. Roscommon & Iowa USA)

Keigher. (of Tulsk)

Kelly.

Manning.

This essay by Peter Manning FIGRS gives the early history of his family in Kilbride, Co. Roscommon.

McDermott.

McGreevy.

Mullaney.

O'Conor / O'Connor.

Pilley or Pelley.

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Cemetery, Graveyard & Burial Grounds.

Graveyard Homepage.

This link is to the graveyard homepage. We have links from it to various collections relating to graveyards, mostly photographs of headstones and monuments. The main headstone database we have is for Athleague, follow the next link.

Graveyard Database - Athleague Old Cemetery.

Note: Very large file - slow to load unless you have broadband connection. This is a link to Athleague Old Cemetery list of names on monuments. We produced this list in electronic format for The Athleague Visitor Centre from their typescript notes and we thank them for permission to have it here. We have amended the database recently due to new information we received.

Graveyard Database - Kilcommon Cemetery, St. John's, Lecarrow.

Note: Very large file - slow to load unless you have broadband connection. This is a database of names and images of memorials from Kilcommon Cemetery in St. John's Parish (Lecarrow). We thank Christopher Keane for allowing us to use his research and photographs for this page.

Graveyard Database - The New Cemetery, St. John's, Lecarrow.

Note: Very large file - slow to load unless you have broadband connection. This is a database of names and images of memorials from the new cemetery in St. John's Parish (Lecarrow). We thank Christopher Keane for allowing us to use his research and photographs for this page.

Tulsk Graveyard Memorials.

This link is to a database of memorials in Tulsk graveyard provided by Melissa Keigher of Canada. It contains information and images of memorials to her relations buried in the cemetery. We thank her for sharing her research with us.

Memorial & Remembrance Cards.

Memorial Cards.

We have always had an interest in memorial and remembrance cards. These items are very often discarded when granny dies because no-one knows who the people in the old photographs are! We recognise these items as valuable family history material. We hope you do too! Our collection consists of place-name links for cards from Roscommon (and some cards from other places). We do not retain this material after scanning, but return it to the owners. We therefore welcome additional material. If you have same please contact us.

Telephone Directories.

We have noticed that on eBay Telephone Directories are often sold under the Genealogy heading. These books are a useful source for those looking for their roots. We are slowly building up our collection of Telephone Directories for the Roscommon area. To see our current collection follow this link. If you are looking for a name from the list, please contact us.

We hope to develop this page over time so that it becomes a useful resource for those seeking their Roscommon roots. We hope you find it useful and please let us know if you do!

CENSUS LINKS.

If you are looking for your family in the Census Records you could try Censusfinder: (links below):

For Irish Census Records.

For UK Census Records.

We are occasionally asked to put links to Roscommon Family websites on our site. We list them here for your interest.

(Please note: we make no guarantee whatsoever regarding the usefulness or otherwise of these links: It is provided solely as a public service.)

http://www.tiernan-family.net

(Castleplunkett)

Genealogy books (including Roscommon) are available from Flyleaf Press.

If you are new to tracing your Roscommon Ancestors we recommend:

"Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors"

by John Hamrock.