Where in Ireland did my Shea family come from?
QMy great great grandfather, John Shea, died in Islington in 1873. He is recorded in the 1861 and 1871 censuses as being born in Milltown, Ireland, c1855. I have found a possible marriage for his parents, a John Shey and Catherine Wren (also born in Ireland), in 1853. This record states John’s father as Jeremiah (deceased). How do I find out about John’s background? Terry Shea
AThese are common names in Ireland, and without knowing John’s mother’s name you are stuck. Unfortunately, although the 1871 census notes the same place of birth in Ireland for both John and his wife, Catherine, the poor-quality image makes it almost illegible. The index on Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk) suggests that the place is Mitton (sic), but I doubt that. What is recorded must be the name of a town or parish, because it is not a county name. In the 1881 census, Catherine appears at 10 Henry Place, Islington, but unfortunately only notes that she was born in Ireland.
When people leave their homeland for another country the general pattern is chain migration, where people followed others gone before. I suggest you plot on a map the various addresses John and Catherine lived in London. Then, look in the census for other folk called Shea (sic) and Wren (or even just other Irish) in the same areas in the hope you can identify a link that might lead you back to Ireland.
Also look in the civil marriage indexes for references to Shea (sic) and Wren, again, in the same areas. Linking these entries back to the census might allow you to work out which register entries might be worth buying.
Finally, check if there are Poor Law records for the same areas in London. These often note the home parish of the destitute, and the majority of those coming from Ireland c1850 were fleeing the famine with virtually nothing more than the rags on their backs. Steven Smyrl