County Mayo, Ireland Genealogy

Ireland Counties of Ireland  County Mayo Guide to County Mayo ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
County Mayo (Irish: Contae Mhaigh Eo) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Connacht. The county town is Castlebar.

Archives and Libraries

 * The National Library of Ireland
 * National Archives of Ireland

Cemeteries
A considerable number of cemeteries in County Mayo have been transcribed and published. Some of these are available online. Here's a list:


 * http://www.mayoancestors.com/default.aspx?DepartmentID=3&amp;DepartmentIndex=5 - has transcribed numerous gravestones throughout County Mayo. Index search is free; fees may apply for further details.
 * John Grenham's excellent web site has a few graveyards with links listed.
 * County Mayo has currently 5 cemeteries which have been documented by photograph at the following web site: http://homepage.eircom.net/~kevm/Co.%20Mayo/co__mayo.htm. Contact the owner for copies.
 * CMCR or the County Mayo Cemetery Records Project, now online has modest numbers of online entries from several cemeteries at http://cmcrp.net/Mayo/index.html Click "View Records" at top.
 * Internment.net currently has fifteen township/parish cemeteries for County Mayo. View these at: http://www.interment.net/ireland/mayo.htm
 * Indexed Headstones photos from north County Mayo (free): as of June 2013 the catalogue includes 22,000 photos of the legible headstones in almost every burial ground (79) in north Mayo (around Achill, Ballycastle, Killala, Ballina, Belmullet and Crossmolina) - http://www.goldenlangan.com/headstones.html

Census
Census records for County Mayo (and Ireland in general) were mostly destroyed prior to 1900.

The following web site provides researchers with free on-line access to an index, with images, to the only two complete censuses available for Ireland: the 1901 and 1911 censuses, available at the National Archives of Ireland

Church of Ireland
The Representative Church Body Library has all surviving Church of Ireland registers. Some copies are held at:


 * the local parish
 * local archives and libraries
 * FHL (Family History Library) has few transcription copies of Church of Ireland parishes

Presbyterian
The vast majority of Presbyterian chapel registers have never been centrally archived, and thus are found in various locations. [Regretably, preservation of these precious records and the rich Presbyterian heritage of local Presbyterians as well as descendants of same, at large whose roots originate from Ireland, are at risk unless and until such time as when these registers are all copied into at least microform or, better--a digitized format.]

You must conduct exhaustive, thorough studies to determine to which Presbyterian denomination your ancestor belonged; and to then, determine the whereabouts of surviving registers--if any. The following most likely places to start your search to find and search Presbyterian registers starts with checking at the following locations:


 * the local Presbyterian congregation/church (if still in use)
 * distant Presbyterian chapels (if the local chapel closed)
 * town libraries
 * county archives/libraries
 * PRONI (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland)
 * The National Archives, Dublin
 * The National Library of Ireland

Other:


 * 1) The excellent rootsireland web site for County Mayo has some Presbyterian data now available online for 7 different chapels; some from as early as 1819.
 * 2) The FHL (Family History Library) has but few transcription copies of Presbyterian chapels

Methodist
The rootsireland web sitefor County Mayo has some Methodist data now available online for about 5 different chapels in the county from as early as 1829.

Roman Catholic
The FHL (Family History Library) has several copies of the original Roman Catholic parish registers of County Mayo parishes in its collection. You can identify these listed online at FamilySearch.org. IF you know the name of the civil parish in which your Catholic ancestor resided, or was from, click "Catalog" and type in the name of the parish and then highlight/click on "Church Records". The National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin, is the custodian of all available Roman Catholic parish registers from throughout the country--including County Mayo.

The rootsireland.ie web sitehas data from numerous Roman Catholic parishes now online for searching. There are fees attached (about $7 for each entry).

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information

 * List of County Mayo Civil Parishes
 * List of County Mayo Catholic Parishes

Civil Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths
Government-sponored registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1864. To find information on the vital events of your irish ancestor, here are some helpful websites for obtaining critical information:


 * FamilySearch.org- has online databases for births, marriages and deaths; click "All Records Collections", then scroll down to and click "Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845 to 1959".


 * To obtain certificates of birth, marriage or death for your ancestor[s], write to or contact the following record office; the cost is €10 (about $13) per certificate:

General Register Office, Government Offices,  Convent Road Roscommon. Tel: +353 (0) 90 6632900  LoCall: 1890 252076   Fax: +353 (0) 90 6632999   Fax: +353 (0) 90 6632988

There are fees for performing particular searches; see their website for further information.

Estate Records
Estate records may provide names of households in such records as leases, rents, and mortgages. These ought to be consulted and used when extant, especially when church registers do not exist for the time period being researched. Here are some web sites which hold estate records and some transcriptions of same:


 * findmypast.ie
 * Connacht Province Landed Estate Database (online)
 * Freeholders Records - ;many Irish freeholders

Land and Property

 * 1831 - 1856 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Place-Names
Here are two important place-name aids/tools for locating your Irish place and its parish jurisdiction[s]:


 * List of All Townlands, Towns and Townships in County Mayo. - click county "Mayo"; then click "Submit" to view a complete alphabetical listing of all townlands, towns and townships and the parishes in which they reside
 * Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel A. Lewis; at LibraryIreland.com - provides a rich 1837 historical perspective of each Ireland parish and large township; great for determining which churches existed in each parish--Church of Ireland or Nonconformist

Societies
Family history societies often publish helpful journals, transcripts, compiled genealogies and host helpful websites. They may have ongoing projects to transcribe records and create indexes. Most societies publish queries in their journals and maintain lists of members’ research interests that may be helpful to you. You may want to join one of these societies, reap the benefits of their expertise and resources or support its efforts.

Here are the two major family history societies holding coverage for the whole county and the contact information for each:

Mayo North Family Heritage Eniscoe, Castle Hill, Ballina, Co. Mayo Tel: +353-96-31809/ Skype: +353-96-31809 Fax: +353-96-31885 E-mail: normay@iol.ie Web: http://www.mayo.irishroots.net South Mayo Family Research Centre

Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo Tel/Fax: +353-92-41214 E-mail: soumayo@iol.ie Web:Mayo Irish Roots

Useful Church Records Websites

 * GenWeb Ireland - has numerous online links to data-rich lists of Mayo County families
 * Aghamore and Knock Roman Catholic Parish data online from 1864, on (only)
 * Mayo Ancestors has lots of County Mayo ancestors listed mostly in the 19th C.
 * John Grenham's web site has several helpful links for Mayo names
 * Mayo County Surname Query board is here
 * CMCRP Project (Mayo) - has a few records for the county
 * Civil Registration of births marriages and deaths for County Mayo, online, 1864, on
 * Ireland Civil Registration of (Protestant) Marriages 1845-1863 at FamilySearch.org
 * Ballycastle, Mayo parish registers online: MarriagesDeaths, at GoldenLangan.com


 * Mayo Resources and Help pages RootsChat Mayo Resources and Help pages. (Free).
 * GoldenLangan.com provides a list of resources for researching family history in County Mayo
 * FHLFavorites.info for some great sites.
 * RootsIreland.iehas hundreds of thousands of entries for County Mayo, now online. The index search is free. However, to view the details, there is a fee attached per view.
 * FamilySearch.orghas millions of Irish entries--some of which pertain to County Mayo. To view, see "All Records Collections" and scroll down and view the links under "Ireland"
 * Looking 4 Kin Genealogy &amp; Family History Network - Mayo
 * Centenary Mayo
 * FamilySearch.org- click "All Record Collections"
 * New.FamilySearch.org - many births online - 1864-1880
 * GenUKI
 * GenUKIMayo
 * www.ancestryireland.com/
 * Family history in north County Mayo
 * Mayo Family History at Mayo.ie
 * Heritage of Mayo Parish by Bernard O'Hara World Cat
 * Irish Times, also lists all county Heritage Centres' addresses