Irish ancestry

[cymbeline]

I would just like to pick some expert minds (again!!) with a question.  By means of the 1860 cencus i've gone back to Patrick b. 1821 Ireland and Mary Connelly (Carrol) b. 1815 Belfast.    i cant begin to imagine how many women carried the name of Mary Connelly in Belfast/northern Ireland in 1815.  She may have even been born elsewhere.    As the info. i have is so scant i wonder would it even be worth trying to trace their birth certs. etc. or any infom about them ?  I'm off to Belfast soon for a short break so i was wondering if a trip to the records office would be worth the time invested.  Thanks for any help.  Regards J.

[kingskerswell]

Hi
   Bad news, I am afraid, Civil records for births and Catholic Marriages did not begin until 1864 and for Protestant marriages 1845. This leaves you dependent on church records, where they were kept, so you need to know the religion and the parish, or better still the townland, where births or marriages occurred.

Regards

[RichardK]

Plus even if you know which church to look in, many Catholic registers don't go back as far as 1815 - many registers started in the 1820s as Catholic emancipation gradually came in.

[cymbeline]

Thankyou both for the info.  So it seems i've hit the end of the road on this one.  Never mind...i shall just walk through Belfasts old town and think of her !