Hello Leslie,
Many thanks for your reply and additional information.
I looked for the Find My Past baptisms for any children of Patrick Casserly and Catherine Burke/Bourke in all of the Catholic parishes of County Mayo from 1823 to 1855, but found none. I also expanded the search for the baptisms to nearby county Galway, and uncovered one baptism. This is for the baptism of John "Cassely," who was baptized in the St. Nicholas North and East, Galway City Catholic Parish on 6 June 1847. His mother Catherine's maiden name is transcribed as, "Burke." See the FMP transcription:
https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F7225051&tab=this
There is no way of knowing, just from the baptism record, if John's parents were the Patrick Casserly and Catherine Bourke who married in Kilcolman/Claremorris on 8 August 1823. John's baptism would have taken place 23 years after Patrick and Catherine were married.
One of the challenges with finding Casserly baptisms and marriages, is that the Casserly surname is a variant of the surname Cassidy/Casidy, which in turn comes from the Irish, Ó Caisile and Ó Caiside. See the Wiktionary entry at: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Casserly
What this means is that without knowing the names of Patrick's father and mother, finding his baptism, if it exists, may not be possible, given that the surname Cassidy is the more numerous spelling of the name, and that many Catholic baptism records do not go back far enough to have recorded his baptism circa 1830.
I did find a baptism for an Elenor Boyle, however. The FMP transcription shows that an Elenor Boyle was baptized in the Kilcolman Catholic Parish on 3 June 1835. Her father is Edward Boyle. Her mother is Ellen McDonnell. See the transcription at: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4921878&tab=this
The original Kilcolman baptism record from the NLI shows that Elenor's godparents were Michael and Nancy Boyle.
Are there any McDonnells in your DNA matches?
I also uncovered the FMP marriage transcription and copy of the original marriage record for Patrick and Ellen. The transcription shows that Patt "Capvily" and Elenor Boyle were married in the Kilcolman Catholic Parish on 27 October 1849. See: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FMAR%2F1014120%2F1&tab=this
A copy of the original marriage record shows that Patrick's last name is spelled with the aforementioned "medial s," where one of the double s letters looks like the letter f. Hence, Patrick's surname is spelled "Cafsirly/Cafserly." The witnesses to the marriage were John Boyle and Patrick Stanford. John Boyle may have been Ellen's brother.
Patrick Casserly and Ellen Boyle made a donation of 7 Shillings and 5 Pence to the church for performing the marriage.
A copy of the original marriage record is attached to this reply.
I knew I had seen the name Patrick Stanford before. I went back to my reply of 28 June and found that Patrick Stanford was the Immediate Lessor for the property that Patrick and William Casserly had leased in Birchfield, as found in Griffiths Valuation for the year 1856.
I now have some doubt that the Ellen Boyle baptized in 1835 is the same Ellen Boyle who married Patrick Casserly in 1849. The Ellen Boyle baptized in 1835 would have only been 14 years old in 1849, and I'm not sure if a Catholic priest would have married a girl that young, or that her parents would allow her to marry at that age. But, the marriage did take place during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1852), and so there may have been extraordinary circumstances during this time of rampant starvation and disease, which would have allowed for the marriage to take place.
I next Looked for the baptism record of Mary Boyle in both the Mayo Abbey and Kilcolman Catholic Parish registers, but did not find a baptism which would have made her old enough to marry Patrick Casserly in 1845.
But I did find information that two different Patrick Casserlys had married Boyle girls: Patrick Casserly and Ellen Boyle, and Patrick Casserly and Mary Boyle.
Baptism records shows that both Casserly/Boyle families baptized some of their children during the same time period, with the children of Patrick and Ellen being baptized in the Kilcolman Catholic Parish, and the children of Patrick and Mary being baptized in the Mayo Abbey Catholic Parish. Coincidentally, both families had daughters named Bridget and Biddy baptized in the same year, 1857.
Below are the FMP baptism indexes for the children of Patrick Casserly and Ellen Boyle, and Patrick Casserly and Mary Boyle. I kept the original spelling of first and last names from the FMP transcriptions. Many of the errors in transcription concerning last names were due to the original baptism registers being difficult to read because of the handwriting, or because of fading, or because of the poor quality of the image.
You'll also see the Cassity and Casidy surnames in the baptism indexes for two children of Patrick Casserly and Mary Boyle. As noted earlier in this reply, Casserly is related to the surname Cassity.
CHILDREN OF PATRICK CASSERLY AND ELLEN BOYLE
Mary Cassaday, 26 December 1852, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Cassaday, Kelly Boyle*
Bridgt Cassell, 21 September 1856, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Cassell, Eleanor Boule
Bridgt Casserly, 20 September 1857, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Casserly, Ellen Casserly
Eleanor Casserly, 24 July 1859, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Casserly, Ellena Boyle
Honor Caspary, 18 August 1861, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt, Casserly, Ellen Boyle
Richd Casserly, 15 April 1863, Kilcolman, Mayo, Patt Casserly, Eleonor Boyle
Honor Casserly, 12 March 1865, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Casserly, Ellen Boyle
John Casserly, 21 June 1868, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Casserly, Ellen Boyle
Catha Casserly, 29 January 1871, Kilcolman Mayo, Patt Casserly, Ella Bagle
*A copy of the original 1852 baptism record for Mary shows that her mother's first name is Nelly, rather than Kelly. Nelly is a diminutive for Ellen/Eleanor.
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CHILDREN OF PATRICK CASSERLY AND MARY BOYLE
Michl Corry, 2 June 1847, Mayo Abbey, Patt Correy, Mary Boyle
Mary Cassity, 11 May 1853, Mayo Abbey, Patt Cassity, Mary Boyle*
Wm Casidy, 2 July 1855, Mayo Abbey, Patt Casidy, Mary Boyle*
Biddy Caserly, 4 July 1857, Mayo Abbey, Patt Caserly, Mary Boyle
Thomas Casserly, 18 September 1859, Mayo Abbey, Patk Casserly, Mary Boyle
Michael Crass, 4 September 1866, Mayo Abbey, Patk Crass, Mary Boyle*
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*A copy of the original 1853 baptism record for Mary spells her last name as indexed above, Cassity. The baptism record shows she was baptized on 10 1853 rather than 11 May 1853.
*A copy of the original baptism for Wm on 2 July 1855 does show the last name is Casidy, as indexed above.
*The Michael ("Corry") Casserly born in 1847 would have died between 1847 and the birth of his brother Michael in 1866.
Because Michael ("Crass") Casserly was born in 1866, I looked for a copy of his birth record at the free irishgenealogy.ie website. His birth would have been recorded in the Claremorris, County Mayo registration district. I didn't find the birth record for Michael, but did for John "Cafserly," born on 3 September 1866 in Facefield, County Mayo. His parents are Patrick "Cafserly," a farmer living in Facefield, and Mary Cafserly, formerly Boyle. Patrick reported the birth to the registrar, Abbot Trayer, who recorded the birth in the Claremorris registration district on September 4, 1866, the same day that Michael or John was baptized. The birth record is number 271 in the birth register which you can access at: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1866/03515/2292723.pdf
I don't know why the first name John was recorded in the birth record, but Michael in the Baptism record. Perhaps his name was Michael John Casserly or John Michael Casserly.
The Catholic Parish of Mayo Abbey was in the civil parish of Mayo. With this knowledge I looked for Patrick Casserly (whose wife was Mary Boyle) in the Tithe Applotment Books and found him leasing a house and land in the townland of Facefield from an Immediate Lessor named Lady De Clifford.
His land was 14 Acres, 2 Roods, and 37 Perches in size, and valued at 6 Pounds and 1 Shilling. His house was valued at 4 Shillings. The total valuation for Patrick’s land and house was 6 Pounds and 5 Shillings. See the Griffiths Valuation attachment for Facefield.
Patrick’s lease was located at map reference 3 on the Griffiths Valuation Map of Facefield. The map is attached to this reply.
Irish records are not the only records that have alternate spellings for first and last names.
I also found this same confusion of names in the marriage record for Bridget Casserly and Patrick E. Meade, which took place in Boston on 25 November 1885, according to the information you provided in your reply. I accessed the marriage record at the free FamilySearch website.
There are actually two records of the marriage, both of which give the bride's name as "Delia Casshley." One is the Certificate of Marriage filed by the Boston City Clerk, N.A. Apollonis, as provided to him by the clergyman, Arthur T. Connolly, who married Patrick and Delia. The other is from the City of Boston marriage register: "Marriages Registered in the City of Boston for the Year eighteen hundred and eighty-five." The Meade/Casshley marriage is number 24 in the register, and shows that Patrick was born in North Abington, Massachusetts and that his occupation was "Teamster." This was his second marriage, but Delia's first marriage.
Both marriage records are attached to this reply.
I didn't find any information online showing that Delia was a nickname or a diminutive of Bridget. It could be that Bridget's middle name was Delia?
Bridget Casserly Meade's date of birth of 1 May 1863 on her memorial stone is off by almost six years, as she was born and baptized in September of 1857. Her brother Richard was born in 1863, as seen in the baptism indexes above for the children of Patrick Casserly and Ellen Boyle.
But, what the two sets of Casserly baptism records above indicate is that the Patrick Casserly who married Ellen Boyle, had just two daughters named Bridget, one of whom was born in 1856, but died within the year, and the other who was born in 1857, and went on to marry Patrick E. Meade in Boston in 1885.
The Patrick Casserly who married Mary Boyle had a daughter named Biddy (Bridget 1857), who married John Gannon on 6 December 1879 in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Mayo, County Mayo.
I didn't find primary source records (sharing the same parents) making a connection between Ellen Boyle Casserly and Mary Boyle Casserly. There is a locality connection though, as both Ellen Boyle and Mary Boyle were married in the Kilcolman Catholic Parish, Mary Boyle and Patrick Casserly in 1845, and Ellen Boyle and a different individual named Patrick Casserly in 1849.
Irish marriages traditionally take place in the bride's parish. After the marriage, Mary and her husband Patrick Casserly baptized their children in the Mayo Abbey Catholic Parish, while the children of Ellen Boyle and Patrick Casserly were baptized in the adjoining Kilcolman Catholic Parish, as noted in the FMP baptism indexes for both families above.
Then too, there is a circumstantial connection between Ellen Boyle Casserly and Mary Boyle Casserly, as you had mentioned in your reply that, "Mary was a sponsor at the baptism of Ellen's first born Bridget on 21 Sept 1856. Ellen was a witness at the wedding on the 6 Dec 1879 of Bridget to John Gannon at Mayo Abbey, Tuam."
It's also not out of the realm of possibility that the two Patrick Casserlys were related.
Concerning Ellen Boyle Casserly, your information places her death in 1898, but her death record from the irishgenealogy.ie website shows she died on 12 March 1899 in Birchfield. At the time of death she was a 72 year old "Farmer's Widow." The cause of death was "Bronchitis one year." The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the registrar was Ellen's daughter-in-law, Mary Anne Casserly of Birchfield. The assistant registrar, Thomas Patterson, recorded Ellen's death in the Claremorris Registration District on 18 March 1899. See the death register number 145: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1899/05802/4641839.pdf
A year earlier Ellen's husband Patrick died in Birchfield on 14 March 1898 at the age of 80. At the time of death he had been married and was a farmer. The cause of death was "Senile Debility." His son Richard Casserly of Birchfield was present at the death and reported the death to the assistant registrar, Thomas Patterson, who recorded Patrick's death in the Claremorris Registration District on 13 August 1898. See number 78 in the death register: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1898/05818/4647234.pdf
From the 1898 and 1899 death records I knew that Richard Casserly was married to Mary Anne. This was confirmed in the 1901 census which shows that 37 year old Richard Casserly and his 34 year old wife Mary A Anne Grealy, and their 6 children were the "Residents of a house 6 in Birchfield (Kilcolman, Mayo)."
House 6 is not a street address but refers to the 6th house visited by the census enumerator, usually a constable, to collect the census.
Download the 1901 census transcription from the National Archives of Ireland website link at: https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilcolman/Birchfield/1591003/
Once the census downloads make sure to click the box, "Show all information" to view the full census form.
For a copy of the original 1901 census from the National Archives of Ireland, go to: https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001085903/
The 1901 census reveals that Grealy was Mary Anne's maiden name. To confirm this I looked for Richard and Mary Anne's marriage record at the irishgenealogy.ie website, but didn't find it.
Kilcolman Catholic Parish marriages are only available up to 25 June 1871 at the NLI. Richard and Mary Anne would have been married in the late 1880s or early 1890s.
The youngest child of Richard Casserly and Mary Anne Grealy in the 1901 census is 2 year old Kate. I looked for Kate's civil registration birth record at the irishgenealogy.ie website and found it. Kate Casserly was born in Birchfield on 8 May 1898. Her father is Richard Casserly, a farmer living in Birchfield. Her mother is Mary Anne Casserly, formerly Grealy. The person who was present at the birth and who reported the birth to the assistant registrar Thomas Patterson, was Mary Boyle, of Birchfield. Thomas Patterson recorded the birth in the Claremorris registration district on 13 July 1898. Kate's birth is number 491 in the register:
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1898/02069/1790262.pdf
The informant Mary Boyle at Kate's birth was likely related to Richard Casserly's mother, Ellen Boyle Casserly.
The 1901 census shows two families named "Boyll" and Boyle living in Birchfield, but Mary Boyle is not in the census. See:
https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilcolman/Birchfield/1590999/
https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilcolman/Birchfield/1591000/
Kate Casserly is not in the household with her family in the 1911 census, which shows that 50 year old Richard and 49 year old Mary Anne Casserly and their 8 children were the "Residents of a house 7 in Birchfield (Kilcolman, Mayo)." See: https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Mayo/Kilcolman/Birchfield/732799/
Once you click the box "Show all information," you'll see that Richard and Mary Anne had been married for 22 years, and in that time had 10 children, with 8 children still living. All 8 children are in the household with them.
The household includes 4 year old Delia Casserly. As you know, Delia was the first name that Bridget Boyle went by in her 1885 Boston, Massachusetts marriage to Patrick E. Meade.
Kate Casserly's absence in the 1911 census is an indication that she was either in another household when the census was taken, or she was deceased by 1911.
I looked for her death record at the irishgenealogy.ie website and found it. Kate Casserly died in Birchfield on 18 January 1906 at the age of 8 years. She is recorded as a, "Farmers child." The cause of death was "Gastro Enteritis 4 days." Her father Richard was present at the death and reported the death to the assistant registrar Thomas Patterson, who recorded the death in the Claremorris registration district on 3 February 1906. Kate's death is number 18 in the register: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1906/05567/4563183.pdf
After a bit more research at the irishgenealogy.ie website, I found that Richard and Mary Anne's son Thomas, died in Birchfield on 27 February 1904 at the age of 2 years. He is recorded as a, "Famers child." The cause of death was "probably Croup 2 days." His father Richard reported the death to the assistant registrar, Thomas Patterson.
Thomas Casserly's death is number 326 in the register: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1904/05624/4582094.pdf
I'll close here Leslie. I'm not sure if I've cleared up any of the questions you have about your Casserly and Boyle ancestors.
Again, thank you for your reply.
Dave
SOURCES
Find My Past
Wiktionary
Griffiths Valuation
irishgenenalogy.ie
FamilySearch
National Archives of Ireland 1901 and 1911 Irish Census