Thanks Ken, I received your note. Don't despair. It's quite surprising what consistent effort over time will do in genealogy. The most important thing is to establish unequivocally the county of origin in Ireland (or that part that is now Northern Ireland). If I didn't mention it the first time, get hold of a copy of "Locating your immigrant Ancestor" Revised Edition, by James C. Neagles and Lila Lee Neagles, published by The Everton Publisher, Inc (probably have an e-mail address). It's great for determining where you might find the naturalization records that can give you at least the age of the immigrant and the county of origin.
In Ulster (includes Northern Ireland, the Ulster Historical Foundation--UHF-- can help you find baptisms and marriages once the county of origin is known. They are slow but not too expensive and can get you over that first hurdle.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has numerous Family History Centers where you can access microfilm that can open up many Irish and Scottish records to you for as little as 3.50 a film (keep in the local library forever for 3x that. And their Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a wealth of information on Ireland--just take the elevator down to 2B and you'll be surprised.
The internet remains a surprising source of information, but you MUST find the county of origin if you have not already (I have forgotten the original e-mail message already you see).
Only a couple of years ago I was completely lost as far as my Fearon ancestor. From his son's marriage record in Scotland, I knew his name was Francis Fearon but I had trouble finding his county of origin. I knew the family had relocated from Scotland to PA, but when I wrote to find the naturalization, they said there was none. Fortunately, my cousin was more persistent and asked that all spelling variations be searched. That turned up the fact that my ancestor, John Fearon (Farren or Farran in those PA records) was b County Armagh.
Once I knew that I went to the Tithe Applotment Survey and to Griffith's Valuation. The first was about 1830 but was earlier or later depending on the location in Ireland. The latter was about 1864 in the case of my ancestor. I found a Francis Fearon in Kilmore Parish in the Tithe applotment Survey and in Killevy Parish in the Griffith's Valuation. Both were in Co Armagh. Then, I got Ulster Historical Foundation to check baptisms in Co Armagh and they found a Francis Fearon in two baptisms in Loughgilly Parish (near Killevey parish) in co Armagh.
I then spent a couple of years sorting out the possibilities. Eventually, a Fearon descendant of a Francis Fearon of Kilmore contacted me by e-mail and explained that their ancestor moved to Ontario. That really helped me to focus, because it eliminated Kilmore Parish, Co Armagh from my immediate ancestry. Then, I went to the Family History Library at Salt Lake City and went through all their Irish records. From the names mentioned at the baptisms of my ancestor's children in Loughgilly Parish, I was able to locate my Francis Fearon to Ballymyre Civil Parish (part of the Roman Catholic Parish of Loughgilly) about 1830.
From there I noticed it was only about 1.5 to 2.0 miles to the Francis Fearon of Killivey parish in the 1864 Griffith's Valuation. I now suspect that my ancestor in Loughgilly parish and the Francis Fearon of Killivey parish (where as I mentioned there was also a Thomas Fearon born inthe latter 1700's) are the same fellow.
As I explained to you, I do not know if the Thomas Fearon of Killevy Parish was related to my Francis Fearon---chronologically he could have been Francis' father. I only know he may have had a son Thomas Fearon who died in young adulthood. He proably also had a son John Fearon, who died in Ireland.
If you want to know more about those two, just let me know.
Point here, is keep trucking--but try to do it intelligently.
Please feel free to contact me by e-mail about your Irish research strategy. I have been to Ireland three times and am heading back this Spring and can offer guidance.
Regards,
Don Coonrod