I can’t find a record of my great grandfather’s birth in Ireland
QI’m trying to find the birth of my great grandfather, James Malia (born c1854, Longford, Ireland). He married Mary Prendergast at St Godric’s Roman Catholic Church, Durham, in 1876 and his father is recorded as James on the certificate. James and Mary had nine children. He died in 1916 in Durham.
John Malia
ASince your great grandfather was born in County Longford c1854, I looked for a possible baptismal record on rootsireland. ie. Searching 1844–1864, there was only one record identified. This was for a James Melia, son of James Melia and Margaret Gallagher, baptised 28 April 1851 in the parish of Longford town. This may be the baptismal record of your ancestor but will require further research to confirm.
Returning to the census return for 1891, residing in the same building as James Malia, though as a separate household, was a Catherine Malia, widow, born c1825, with daughter Mary (a single, farm servant) born c1856 and son Michael (a single, mason’s labourer) born c1862. All three were born in Ireland. Without jumping to conclusions, these individuals may well be the mother and siblings of James. It is worth noting that in the 1891 census, James’ eldest son and daughter were named James and Catherine.
Searches in the 1901 census failed to find an obvious candidate for Catherine, so maybe she had died by then. However, Michael was found lodging with a family called Riley in the Crossgate area of Durham City. He was single and born in County Roscommon, which adjoins County Longford. A further search on rootsireland.ie, 1852–1872, failed to identify any baptism for a Michael Malia/Melia in either Longford or Roscommon.
Before undertaking more work in Ireland, you should try to work out the relationship between James, Catherine, Mary and Michael using census and civil records. Steven Smyrl