Irish Occupations

[michelina]

right thanks for that info thats great to know

[Christopher]

Belfast Occupations
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,154128.0.html
Dublin Occupations
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,266851.msg1795689.html#msg1795689

[janet62]

Hi Christopher  my husband has ancester John Kittson or later as Kitson.       The first we see of him he is based at Colchester Barracks on 1861 census born in Ireland about 1833 he was in British Army right through to about 1901 where he is in Coventry retired My question if possible did they recruit from all over Ireland as thats all we know except his father on M/C was Richard Kittson carpenter
 name does not sound very Irish please can you help

[Christopher]

Hello Janet,

I looked at the Irish Ancestors Surname Search site which is based on Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). There were very few families in Ireland named Kitson or Kittson.

Christopher

[janet62]

 Thankyou Christopher for information  will now have to keep looking as to what part

[Kellbell]

I have been looking for information about my ancestor William Burke b. 1738 in Northern Ireland.  He went to Prince Edward Island, Canada somewhere c. 1770 and his occupation was listed as a Ferryman.  I have done a little research on Ferry routes in N. Ireland, and it appears that there were only two major ports (Larne and Belfast) in which ferry transports were available.  Is this true? 

[aghadowey]

Is his occupation 'ferryman' his occupation in Ireland? "Ferryman" could refer to a man who ferried people, cattle, etc. across a river so it's still not a clue as to where William Burke might have lived.

[Kellbell]

Well, that is interesting...thank you.  I guess I just assumed that ferryman meant that he transported people only.  I am not sure whether or not he held that occupation in Ireland, but I'm assuming (there I go assuming again...lol  he did because on a later census he lists himself as a farmer.  He was also a member of a Loyalist militia group called the St. John's Volunteers, later to be disbanded and reformed as the Prince Edward Island Fencibles. I don't know if that helps, but it was worth a shot!  

[Christopher]

I have done a little research on Ferry routes in N. Ireland, and it appears that there were only two major ports (Larne and Belfast) in which ferry transports were available.  Is this true? 

Hello Kellbell,

Belfast and Larne may not have been included as major ports in eighteenth century ... Bangor, Carrickfergus, Donaghadee and Londonderry were reasonably important at one time.

A man working on ships crossing between Britain and Ireland wouldn't have been described as a ferryman in those days ... even today he's usually not described as a ferryman ... mariner, merchant seamen or seaman would be more common terminology.  

I'd tend to forget about the British - Irish ferries and think in terms of ferries from Ballycastle to Rathlin Island, from Co. Derry to Co. Donegal ... possibly Magilligan to Greencastle or Portaferry to Strangford (Co. Down) as well as many smaller ones. Sandy Bay on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh to Ram's Island would be one of the smaller ones. There used to be a ferry at Maghery (Co. Armagh) which I think went to somewhere in Co. Tyrone. There were also ferries on the River Bann and on Lough Erne in Fermanagh.

Christopher