Downpatrick Catholic Parish, County Down, Northern Ireland Genealogy

Guide to Downpatrick Catholic Parish, County Down ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, baptism records, marriage records, and burial records.

Maps

 * A map of the Civil Parishes of County Down is available at Irish Times site.
 * A map of the Catholic Parishes of County Down is available at the Irish Times site.

Parish Records
For a free guide to parish records available online, see: Irish Ancestors.

Research Help
This Latin Word List will enable you to translate the Latin used in the records.

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.