The Diocese of Kerry covered the area around Castletownbere. The diocese of Cork and the diocese of Ross, covering the area from Cork City through the south and west, have been merged at various times as Cork & Ross. The diocese of Cloyne covered north county and parts of Cork union outside the city. In addition to these dioceses, a tiny piece of the Diocese of Waterford & Lismore and a tiny piece of the Diocese of Limerick cover parts of the border of north Cork.
Over the centuries the boundaries of these dioceses shifted. Some of the Tithe Applotment books show Cork and Ross as two separate dioceses. Records today are under the jurisdiction of the contemporary diocese.
On this page are links to maps of the relevant Catholic dioceses and parishes and to online record sources; tables of East, Middle, and West Cork civil parishes and their nearest associated Catholic parishes; and a discussion of problems you could encounter in research. The tables are derived from the work of Brian Mitchell and use old parish names.
The name of the officiating priest who was the celebrant of the event might not have been recorded on each individual record. Rather, his name, or maybe his initials, may have labeled a group of records.
BAPTISMS A baptism record will contain the name of the baptismal candidate, the names of the parents, the godparents, and sometimes the officiating priest. The record will be marked if the child was born illegitimately. In such cases there will be a notation SPURIOUS or BASTARD or even a large asterisk. If you're lucky, the child's residence is recorded. Adult baptisms will lack the parents' names.
MARRIAGES A marriage will contain the names of the bride and groom, the names of the witnesses, and probably the officiating priest. The residence of the bride might have been recorded, and if you're really lucky maybe the groom too. Those residences might be where they were working, not necessarily where they were born or where their parents and siblings are.
Take a look at the marriage witnesses. Before you get too excited and assume they were always relatives, keep in mind that some people functioned in the parish much like the Las Vegas wedding photographer. They stepped in to serve as witnesses to church events when the marital party did not produce any. One person I strongly suspect was a witness in the can was "Catherine Barry" in church records around the Skibbereen area. This should not derail your research very often, though. Chances are those witnesses were relatives.
Finally, take a look at the image. Some parish priests recorded additional information, including "juicy gossip" about the marital parties. The priest might note the marital parties were blood relatives, or they had eloped, or they were "living in sin." If such details were noted on your ancestors' records, they can certainly add some color to your family history!
Check with the individual parishes for data not covered by the sources listed below.
Ancestry.com and FindMyPast have indexes.
Roman Catholic record survival is patchy, and availability varies from parish to parish. Many old records are too faded, illegible or damaged to be read with certainty. Generally, the Cork City parishes are in better shape and go back further than some of the rural parish records.
Indexing is oftentimes wrong, and sometimes people are missed entirely. Local Irish genealogists , historians or even knowledgeable local natives did NOT develop the published indexes; those jobs were given to Asia. To get errors fixed, it is up to us to submit corrections to the websites that host these indexed records, such as Find My Past.
Sometimes the priest made errors on the original record. He might have confused two similar last names, for example, Barrett for Bernard or Horgan for Hourihane. Sometimes the name of a parent and a godparent were transposed. Sometimes the original records were not sufficiently dated and someone later altered the original records with what were thought to be the correct dates.
The reporting of the names of women actors on these records varies. In many areas, priests consistently or most often used the woman's maiden surname. This seems to be the case around West Cork. Sometimes, the woman was recorded by her married name. Preferences may have shifted in more recent records to record the female witness by her married name. If you know a woman was married, look for her in the records with both names.
Surnames raises the additional problem of people being recorded by secondary names. Agnomina, which typically bear no resemblance to the original surname, were used heavily in Cork, particularly West Cork. Civil registration attempted in some way to standardize names; nevertheless, occasionally people were recorded in the church records with one surname and in civil registration with an agnomen, or vice versa. The most recent occurrence I've witnessed of this was in 1880. This is a topic unto itself.
You should consider all these problems while examining records and you should look at the images.
• Castlehaven & Myross - No marriage records; no baptism witnesses after 1880.
• Dromdaleague & Drinagh - No marriage records 1864-1876.
Check with the local parish or local heritage centre / historical society.
• Aughadown - marriages after 1864.
• Beara - check the Riobard O'Dwyer books.
• Clonakilty - marriages from 1798.
• Dunmanway - records before 1818.
• Kilmeen & Castleventry - marriages from 1845.
• Murragh & Templemartin - baptisms after 1863.
• Tracton Abbey - records missing from IG roughly 1834 - 1840's, available at FMP.