County Roscommon, Ireland Genealogy

This page is under development.

A great Web site for research in Roscommon, Ireland is: http://www.roscommonhistory.ie/

Ireland County Roscommon

General County Research Information
Further information about County Roscommon is available at the GenUKI site.

Archives and Libraries

 * The National Library of Ireland
 * National Archives of Ireland

Online resources:


 * Irish Times, also lists all county Heritage Centres' addresses

Cemeteries
Visit the FHL Favorites web site for numerous sites containing online cemetery inscriptions.

Church of Ireland
The Representative Church Body Library has just about all surviving Church of Ireland registers from the 1922 Four Courts, Dublin fire. Some transcript copies are held at:


 * the local parish
 * local archives and libraries
 * FHL (Family History Library)

Presbyterians
The vast majority of Presbyterian chapel registers have never been centrally archived, and thus are found in various locations. [Regretably, preservation of these precious records and the rich Presbyterian heritage of local Presbyterians as well as descendants of same, at large whose roots originate from Ireland, are at risk unless and until such time when these registers are all copied into at least microform or, better--a digitized format.]

You must conduct exhaustive, thorough studies to determine to which Presbyterian denomination your ancestor belonged; and to then, determine the whereabouts of surviving registers--if any. The following most likely places to find and search Presbyterian registers starts with checking the following locations:


 * the local Presbyterian congregation/church (if still in use)
 * distant Presbyterian chapels (if the local chapel closed)
 * town libraries
 * county archives/libraries
 * PRONI (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland)
 * The National Archives, Dublin
 * The National Library of Ireland

Other:


 * 1) The excellent rootsireland web site for County Roscommon currently has no Presbyterian chapel registers data available online. Keep checking back to see if this status changes.
 * 2) The FHL (Family History Library) has but very few transcription copies of Presbyterian chapels

Methodist
The rootsireland web site for County Roscommon currently does not have any Methodist data online. In the future this web site might have some Methodist data available to researchers online. Keep checking back often.

Roman Catholic
The FHL (Family History Library) has copies of some of the original Roman Catholic parish registers of County Roscommon parishes in its collection. You can identify these listed online at FamilySearch.org. If you know the name of the civil parish in which your Catholic ancestor resided, or was from, click "Catalog" and type in the name of the parish and then highlight/click on "Church Records". The National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin, is the custodian of all available Roman Catholic parish registers from throughout the country--including County Roscommon.

The rootsireland.ie web site has data from numerous Roman Catholic parishes now online for searching. There are fees attached (about $7 for each entry).

Useful Church Records Web Sites

 * 1) GenWeb Ireland - has numerous online links to data-rich lists of Roscommon County families
 * 2) John Grenham's web site has several helpful links for Roscommon names
 * 3) Roscommon County Surname Query board is here
 * 4) CMCRP Project (Roscommon) - has a few records for the county
 * 5) Civil Registration of births marriages and deaths for County Roscommon, online, 1864, on

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information
A map of the Civil Parishes of County Roscommon is available at Irish Times site.

Genealogy

 * Jane Lyons' website for Galway records online
 * Morris' website for Galway genealogy ($)
 * John Grenham's Galway webpage

Place-Names
Here are two important place-name aids/tools for locating your Irish place and its parish jurisdiction[s]:


 * 1) List of All Townlands, Towns and Townships in County Roscommon. - click county "Roscommon"; then click "Submit" to view a complete alphabetical listing of all townlands, towns and townships and the parishes in which they reside
 * 2) Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel A. Lewis; at LibraryIreland.com - provides a rich 1837 historical perspective of each Ireland parish and large township; great for determining which churches existed in each parish--Church of Ireland or Nonconformist

Probates

 * Abstracts From Some Skerrett Wills covering 1670-1820 in Co. Galway. The Irish Ancestor vo.V.no.2.1973, pages 100-104. Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i v.5-6
 * Diocese of Clonfert Probate (wills index only) 1663-1857 ($)
 * Diocese of Killala and Kilfenora (wills index onlin) 1653-1800 ($)

Societies
Family history societies often publish helpful journals, transcripts, compiled genealogies and host helpful websites. They may have ongoing projects to transcribe records and create indexes. Most societies publish queries in their journals and maintain lists of members’ research interests that may be helpful to you. You may want to join one of these societies, reap the benefits of their expertise and resources or support its efforts.

Web Sites
To view a list of Roscommon web sites, visit FHLFavorites.info for some great sites.