FINDING A TOWNLAND IN IRELAND FOR THE O'CALLAHAN FAMILY

Thomas L. Murphy

Father               Thomas N. Murphy                                                                                    

Grandparents                           Thomas J. Murphy          &             Florence McDonald                      

Great Grandparents     John Murphy & Honora Quinlan   Owen McDonald & MARY O’CALLAHAN

I have researched for a long time trying to find where in Ireland this side of the family originated. The O’CALLAHAN family is the family of my husband’s paternal Great Grandmother Mary O’CALLAHAN. Mary O’CALLAHAN was the youngest daughter of Callahan O’CALLAHAN and Julia O’BRIEN.  She had two brothers, Patrick and John and three sisters Joanne, Margaret and Ellen who were all born in Ireland. Mary was born in New York. I have not found her birth record but she probably was born between 1839 and 1853.  Her mother Julia O’BRIEN O’ CALLAHAN died in 1853 in New York.

Mary married Owen MCDONALD about 1866 in New York and I have her in census records and death records.  Owen MCDONALD and Mary O’CALLAHAN had 7 children, George, Oscar, Blanche, Ida, Ellen, Gertrude and Florence.  In some of the census records I have found Ellen O’CALLAHAN living with the MCDONALD family as sister-in-law to Owen MCDONALD.  This was how I found the maiden name of Mary MCDONALD.  The break through to finding the town the O’CALLAHAN family originated from in Ireland was from the obituary of Ellen O’CALLAHAN in 1921 in New York.

Brooklyn Eagle Page 22,  April 22, 1921 (Bklyn.newspapers.com)

I searched the parish records for the town of Castletownroche, County Cork, Ireland on the web site for the National Library in Ireland (NIL.ie) and found the birth records for the 5 children born to Callahan O’CALLAHAN and Julia O’BRIEN and their marriage record.

Callahan O’CALLAHAN and Julia O’BRIEN were married 26 April 1826 in Castletownroche

All the brothers and sisters of Mary were born in Castletownroche

Joanne was born 4 June 1829

Patrick was born 25 April 1831

Ellen was born 24 August 1833

John was born 4 November 1835

Margaret was born 25 July 1838

More and more records are becoming available on-line that will help in the research of family histories.

Many of the Irish parish registers are now on-line and can be viewed for free.  You must have the parish that the family came from not just the county. Many newspapers are being put on-line now, some like the Brooklyn Eagle are free but there are fee paying web sites that have newspapers also such as GenealogyBank.com, Archive.com, Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com.

THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR. #9 52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS

 

In January 2014, Amy Johnson Crow of the Ancestry blog issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.

 

The premise: write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor. In 52 weeks, you’ll have taken a closer look at 52 people in your family tree… and maybe learned a little bit more about them in the process.

 

My paternal great grandfather was THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR.  He was born 29 December 1846 in TYNAN parish, county ARMAGH, IRELAND.  His parents were PATRICK MC GUIGAN and MARY HUGHES.  The family also included ALICE born 25 July 1842 and PETER born 27 December 1839¹.

 

This family was a farming family and THOMAS SR. took over the farm when his father died.  The farm and house have stayed in the family since that time.  A great grandson owns the property now. The house and farm are located in CROSSDALL, TYNAN, ARMAGH, IRELAND².

 

THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR. married ANN MALLON 17 June 1874 in the parish of Tynan³.  They had 5 children, MARY ANN born 1875 (my grandmother who I wrote about in 52Ancestors #2), ALICE born 1876, ELIZABETH born 1879, BRIDGET born 1880 and PATRICK born 1881.  THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR’S wife, ANN died, when the youngest was 2 and the oldest was 8 years old, in 1883.  I am sure it was a very hard time for the family but they did have family close by to help.

 

In 1886 THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR. married CATHERINE MC NAUGHTON of LYHOLLAND, county MONAGHAN⁴.  They had a son, THOMAS MC GUIGAN JR., born 21 January 1888 in TYNAN parish⁵.

 

The family was getting too big for the farm so the older two daughters, MARY ANN and ALICE, immigrated to the United States in 1897. ELIZABETH followed several years later. BRIDGET, PATRICK and THOMAS stayed in Ireland.

 

THOMAS MC GUIGAN SR. died in CROSSDALL, TYNAN, IRELAND in the 1920’s.  He lived long enough to see several grandchildren born to his children in Ireland. 

 

Notes

1. FHL Film  #979710  Baptisms, Tynan, Armagh, Ireland
2. FHL Film #258750   Land Valuations 1864, Armagh, Ireland
3. Middletown Registration Office of Ireland - Record #11 1897
4. FHL Film #4179726 Marriage Record – Record # 49   1886
5. Middletown Registration Office of Ireland – Record #107  1888

 

 

WILLIAM JOHN MATHERS - #5 – 52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS

In January 2014, Amy Johnson Crow of the Ancestry blog issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.

The premise: write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor. In 52 weeks, you’ll have taken a closer look at 52 people in your family tree… and maybe learned a little bit more about them in the process.

William John Mathers was born in 1845 in County Tyrone, Ireland. He was my Great Grandfather.  I have only one record that indicates his father’s name.  His marriage certificate dated 31 January 1864 indicates his father was Thomas and was deceased at the time of the marriage.  William John Mathers married Mary McCrudden of Sion Mills, Tyrone, Ireland.  On the marriage certificate it states his residence is in Gallony, Tyrone, Ireland.

Sometime after his first daughter, Mary Jane, was born in December of 1864, William took his family to New York.  He felt he would have a better opportunity for work in his trade of boot/shoe maker.  His wife was very afraid of the move and consulted with her parish priest who told her she had to stay with her husband.  I have not found them travelling from Ireland to New York but find them in Manhattan when their first son is born.  James was born 31 July 1868 in Manhattan.  They lived at 357 7^th Avenue at this time.

He and his wife Mary continued to have children, 9 in all.  Two children died when they were young. Thomas died when he was 11 and Elizabeth when she was 15.  The other children married and had many children.

The children are

• Mary Jane who married  Joseph Flanagan and had 13 children.
•  James who married Cecelia O’Brien and had just one son. 
• Catherine who married Patrick Morris and had 2 daughters.
• Ellen (Nellie) who married William Hickey and had 6 children
• Ann who married William White and one daughter
• Theresa (Tessie) who married William Rudolph and had 5 children
• William Joseph who married Mary (Mamie) McGuigan and had 4 children

I have several city directories showing him as a boot maker and all of his census records have him working as a boot/shoe maker in Manhattan until his death. I was very curious about how his shop might have looked and how it serve customers.  I found a movie made in 1954 about a boot maker in 19th century England that gave me the answers I was looking for.  The movie was "Hobson's Choice".

I had a very hard time finding out when and where William John Mathers had died.  Over the years the Mathers family name was changed (not legally) but just for convenience of spelling I think.  It was Mathers, Mathews, and Matthews.  In Ireland the spellings were interchangeable and so it also happened in the United States.  Every time I would search data bases for a death for William John Mathers I would use all 3 spellings.  After many years of on and off searching I came across a William Matthers that looked promising. It was a certificate dated 27 February 1902.  I sent for the document and it was him.  It gave his address which was the same as on the census for 1900.  It also listed his occupation as shoe maker.  I was pretty sure it was the right person.  I then contacted Calvary Cemetery where it stated he was buried.  I was given the plot number and the names of others buried there.  The two children Thomas and Elizabeth were buried with William John Mathers. 

I have a lot of information on all the family members here in New York but would love to find more information on his life in Ireland.  He was an only child according to several family members I have contacted.  I will have to find church records in Ireland to find out about his family there.  I have searched in the data bases that are available in Tyrone but I think his parish also included part of County Donegal and will have to look at churches in that County.

His adventure from Ireland to New York turned out to be for the best and we are all very happy he made that decision.