Introduction
in a
Sample
Family History
Report
Family reports vary from family to family so these pages only give a brief idea of what to expect. The details on these pages are for illustration only and don't refer to a real family.
|
Introduction The accounts of the families given here are presented in a version of the narrative style devised by Sir Bernard Burke, the originator of such works as "Burke's Peerage" and "Burke's Landed Gentry" Using this system, as much information as possible about each individual can be displayed. Each generation is designated by a common series of letters or numbers. The earliest known male ancestor in each family is given at the beginning of each account; because, in most cases, none of his brothers or sisters names can be established with certainty, he is not given any number or letter. Each of his known children - the second generation - are designated by an Arabic number: 1, 2, 3 etc.; their children - the third generation - are designated by upper case or capital Roman letters: A, B, C etc.; the fourth generation from the earliest known ancestor are designated by lower case Roman numerals - i, ii, iii, iv etc.; the fifth generation, by lower case Roman letters - a, b, c etc. To help distinguish one generation from another, each successive generation is stepped-in further to the right - about one-third of an inch - than the previous one. The names of direct ancestors of the enquirer are given in upper case lettering and are underlined, e.g. PATRICK KELLY. The main sources used in the construction of these genealogies, besides the details provided by the enquirer, were the General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland, 1856 (also called "Griffith's Valuation"); the parochial registers of baptism and marriage for the Roman Catholic parish of Kilbride, which commence in 1834 (baptisms) and 1807 (marriages); the civil registers of births, marriages and deaths for the civil registration area of Ballymore, cornmencing in 1864; and the census of population, 1901. In all cases where both civil records of birth and church records of baptism were available, the latter was used because it is generally nearer the correct date of birth than the former.1 It should be noted that the South Mayo Family Research Centre holds records only up to 1901, and so any dates later than this, and included here are taken either from the enquirer's own information or from gravestone inscriptions. Where a name and date of birth or baptism is given, with no further details, it is taken that no further identifiable references to that individual were found in the data-base in the form of marriage, census, death or gravestone records.
1 Discrepancies in dates between civil birth and baptismal records are quite common in the nineteenth century, and can usually be explained by the fact that fines were payable for late civil registration of births; birth-dates were often brought forward to avoid such fines. Since baptisms usually took place within a week of birth, and frequently one or two days after the birth, these records are usually a better indication of when a birth actually took place than civil records. |
Report examples included on these pages:
