Dear Sir/Madam,
I am trying to research my family history that I believe in part comes from the Castlecomer area (possibly Monenroeand/or Gorteen). My great great great grandfather claims to have come from Castlecomer. He was born in 1800. His wife was Elizabeth Shelly who was born in 1805. Any help in any details about their lives, family members, etc., would be greatly appreicated.
Thank you.
Stuart Booth
Dear Stuart:
Many thanks for your post to the Ireland Reaching Out message board and welcome to the site!
We have a few volunteerws in the Kilkenny area who may be able to assist you with your query. Will you please post more information as there isn't a firstname for your great-great-great grandfather? If you have further details, please post them here on the message board as part of this query so that we can assist.
The very best of luck with your research and thank you for your interest in Ireland Reaching Out!
Kind regards,
Jane.
I am sorry about that. Here is what I know:
G, G, Grandfather: Thomas Booth, born 1800 - Thomas immigrated to the US around 1820 (estimated)
Thomas's brother was Augustine (or Augustus) Booth born around 1800.
I am looking for Thomas's siblings, parents, etc.
I am also looking for information about Thoma's wife: Elizabeth Shelly, born 1805
Thank you,
Stuart
Dear Stuart:
Thank you for the further information. I did find a baptism record for a Thomas Booth born about 1796 on Roots Ireland in County Offaly.
Name: Thomas Booth Date of Birth: 20-Mar-1796
Date of Baptism:
Address: No Record Parish/District: Birr
Gender: County Co. Offaly
Denomination:
Father: Isaac Booth Mother: Sarah No_record
Occupation: No Record
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:
Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:
I was unable to find any reference to an Augustine Booth born about 1800 on the database. However, there was a reference to an Augustine Booth born in 1895 in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny. Although this birth is 100 years later, it is interesting to note that the first name is Augustine, which is not a common first name in Ireland, and may be a family name. The religion of this Augistine was Church of Ireland. I'm copying it here for your reference.
Name: Augustine Booth Date of Birth: 11-Jan-1895
Date of Baptism: 31-Mar-1895
Address: Massford Parish/District: CASTLECOMER
Gender: Male County Co. Kilkenny
Denomination: Church Of Ireland
Father: James Booth Mother: Marian Wilson
Occupation: Farmer
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1: Not Recorded Not Recorded
Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2: Not Recorded Not Recorded
Notes:
[MOTHER GIVEN AS MARY ANNE] [FATHER'S OCC GIVEN AS FARMER AND
WRITING CLERK]
It is very difficult to find any parish registers that go back as far as the early 1800s, although they do exist in some areas.
As to Elizabeth Shelly, I did find one reference and I copy that for you:
Name: Elizabeth Shelly Date of Birth:
Date of Baptism: 23-Feb-1810
Address: Not Recorded Parish/District: TEMPLEMORE
Gender: Female County Co. Tipperary
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Father: John Shelly Mother: Judith Carroll
Occupation: Not Recorded
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1: John Spelane
Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2: Hon Shelly
Notes:
* Betty
*** Judy
You will note that she was baptised as a Roman Catholic. There is a parish register refernce to her and it is listed below:
https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632695#page/6/mode/1up
Your best avenue of research might be to look at headstone inscriptions. These are available on several websites:
In addition, the IGP website has a free listing of a number of graveyards that have been transcribed by volunteers. That link is below:
In addition, you might add Thomas Booth or Elizabeth Shelly Booth to the XO Chronicles as ancestor profiles. These profiles are read by our members who may also be researching the same family and they may offer additional information. The link to "XO Chronicles" is at the top of the page and will bring you to the People database where you can create as many profiles as you wish.
The very best of luck with your research! Many thanks for your interest in Ireland Reaching Out.
If you need further assistance, please let me know.
Kind regards,
Jane.
Hi Jane,
Thank you so much for taking the time to research my questions. I haven't found any specific information in Ireland. It's all circumstantial. I hope to go there soon to see for myself where my forefathers came from. I have attached some of my research on Thomas Booth. This document is a banking document from the Immigrants National Bank. Thomas and his son James sign the document and described details about thier lives (circa 1860). In this document you can see that Thomas declares he came from Castlecomer. The signature is at the very bottom of the document. In this document, he states his birth year is 1800. Given that timeframe, 1796 may be close enough. One thing to note is that Thomas had a daughter named Sarah, but no son named Issac. Not sure if that means anything. Perhaps they had a falling out. i.e. Thomas (Father), Eliza (Wife) , Thomas, Sarah, James, Margret, Catherine, Eliza, William, Mary, Richard, Henry. As you can see, these are common family names handed down (also no Augustine.. )(My G, G, grandfather is Henry) :)
I believe as you do that Augustine's denomination is Chruch of Ireland. I have found an earlier references of an Augustine Sr. who is the approximate age of Thomas. Augustine Sr. lived in Gorteen in 1853. I suspect the Booth lineage immirgated to Ireland soon after the Wandesford estate was established. This means the family was likely not Catholic. I also found a Wandesford document where Augustine Booth requested land for the Collery Church. I have seen that the Augustine name has been handed down after Augustine Sr.
Thomas married Elizabeth Shelly (a Catholic). My hunch is that Thomas converted the Catholocism before or after marriage. The entire family is buried together in a Catholic cemetery.
I will send additional research.
Hi Jane,
Here is some additional research: Wandesfore estate - events... describes a Augustine Booth requesting land for the Collery Church. James Booth requesting compensation for fire damage. I also stumbled onto the Griffth's 1853 Evaluation. This gives me a clue that I believe Thomas's relatives live in Gorteen and Moneenroe.
Not sure if any of this is helpful. My theory is that the Booth family immigrated to Ireland after the Wandesford estate was estabablished. This could go back as far as 1636.
Thank you again for your interest. I would love it if I could trace the family back several generations.
Best, Stuart
Hi Stuart and Jane. My maiden name was Booth and I believe the Thomas Booth you mentioned early I n this feed born in Birr (Parsonstown) County Offaly (Kings County) in 1796 of parents Isaac and Sarah is my GGGrandfather. He had a brother Robert and a sister Anne as far as I know. He became a COI minister and lived to be 82 years old. Passing away in Dublin. Hope this is useful even if it might eliminate him from your enquiries! Good luck with your search.