County Down

[June Speakman]

DORNAN: County Down

Hello

I am trying to trace family history before 1891 on:
DANIEL DORNAN born Slieveniskey County Down. 1870 ish.
His mothers name, also if he had any brothers/sisters

He is listed on Scotland 1891 Census
Age 21. Occupation a Taylor

Daniel's, Father also called Daniel Dornan a farmer.

When Daniel Dornan Jnr got married. 1895 Manchester England.
On the Wedding Certificate it listed his father as being deceased. Occupation a farmer

Also please can anyone let me know where in the present day would Slievenisky have been in County Down.
I would like to find any living desendants of my Gt Granddad

 

[Siobhan]

Hi June

A quick search on the online Irish Civil Registration Index shows just two possible Daniel Dornan deaths between 1871 and 1895 in the registration district of Downpatrick. One is of a 19-year-old, the other a 50-year-old.

You can obtain copy death certificates by downloading the appropriate form from www.groireland.ie and sending them by post to Roscommon. If you fill in the form with the full registration index number ('Downpatrick 1868 1/403' for the 19 year old; 'Downpatrick 1876 1/441' for the older man) you'll be charged just 4Euros for a 'research' photocopy of the certificate. The certificate will tell you the man's townland, so you should be able to tell if the death relates to your Slieveniskey Dornans. Details of the informant (person who registered the death) can also be enlightening.

In the index there is also a birth registration for a Daniel Dornan's in 1870. You follow the same procedure as above.

I hope this helps.

 

[June Speakman]

Hi Siobhan

Thank you for the information.

Daniel Dornan married my Great Grandmother in Manchester Uk in J-S 1895.
He died in Manchester UK J-S 1939.

It is his parents and siblings from Slievenisky County Down,
I am having trouble finding.

 

[Siobhan]

Hi June

You've got to follow up the information you already have ie info that you are reasonably confident of. It seems there are four snippets that fall into that category:

Daniel Junior was born around 1872.
He was born in Slievensky.
His father was Daniel.
His father had died between the time of his birth and the date of his marriage (1872 to 1895).

You have two options, really.

Follow up the death of the father, or find the birth of the son.

Death of father route:
A death certificate will confirm the townland where the deceased died, will confirm his age, occupation, and (v imp) the name of the person who registered the death, very often the widow.

The death registration mentioned in my earlier post is worth obtaining. If the death was registered by Daniel Dornan's wife in Slievensky, you may be able to find her in the 1901 census (see below).


Birth of jnr route:
A birth certificate will confirm both parents names. There is a birth registration (see the online register link in my earlier post) for one Daniel Dornan in 1870 (Reference 1870 Downpatrick 1/605). If the birth certificate shows that the child was born in Slievensky and had a father called Daniel, you've got the right one! It will also give you Daniel's mother's maiden name. And you can then find a marriage for his parents.

THE CENSUS
In 1901 there were five Dornan family groups in Slievensky. One is headed by a widow, Eliza, and the family is Presbyterian. If the religion fits what you know of your gt grandfather, this is probably the family you're looking for (but you must 'prove' it).

The other four families are Roman Catholic. One family contains only unmarried folk so they can't help you at this stage. Another family group contains a widow, Ellen, of the right age to be your Daniel's mother, and a daughter who's a year or two younger than Daniel. The other two families might contain relatives.
You can view all the details online, free, at www.census.nationalarchives.ie.

You mentioned in your pm that 'all the records were lost'. They were not. (Some were.) The problem for many who've enjoyed the luxury of searching in England and Scotland is that there are no huge online databases for Irish records. For Irish records, you have to search several smaller ones, and some records are not online.

But it's not impossible, especially not for the period you're researching (late 19th).

My best advice is to order one or both of those certificates and see what they tell you.

All the best