Irish miles

Kilbride RC church features on the Stanley family history. The church has a sizeable car park. There are very few houses nearby. Attendees are unlikely to walk there. It is located at Four Mile House. This is on the N61 heading north out of Roscommon town. Four Mile House is five miles from Roscommon. Is…

Mary Stanley

On March 18th 1887, Mary Stanley, age 19, married Patrick Muldoon, age 22, in Cams RC Church. Mary was the daughter of John Stanley, a labourer. This is the second child of the Stanley & Ormsby marriage. (See ‘The Ormsby connection’) The witnesses were John Stanley and Catherine Farrell. Mary is recorded as being a…

Irish Geography

Patrick’s birth certificate says that he was born in Cams. My birth certificate gives the name of the road and the house number. Why the difference? It is important to understand the concept of a townland. I am indebted to Roots Ireland for the following explanation: The townland is the smallest territorial division of civil…

The search begins

  Why did I start researching my family history? In common with many people, I knew very little about my origins. For three of my four grandparents, the trail was easy to follow. I found lots of ‘Ag Lab’ (Agricultural Labourer) references spread around Sussex and Kent. Piggybacking on the work of others (an important…