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Cornelius O'Brien & Mary Nolan

Kia ora/Hello

I’m looking for information on Cornelius O'Brien from County Clare and Mary Nolan from County Kilkenny. They moved to Australia and married at St Francis in Melbourne, 1859. They then moved to Hokitika, New Zealand in 1866 (on the ship Rangitoto I think?). I'm assuming that they were following the gold!

Most of their children were born once they reached New Zealand. They had three sons named Edmund (b. 1867), Thomas and William. They also had three daughters named Ann (b.1861), Katherine (b.1869) and Mary (b.1878).

They remained in the West Coast of New Zealand for the rest of their lives. Cornelius died in 1904, aged 69, in Reefton. Mary died in 1913, aged 74, in Greymouth. Their children moved around New Zealand and there are many O'Briens who can trace their roots back to the West Coast of New Zealand, including myself as their son Edmund is my great great grandfather.

I have copies of their New Zealand death certificates and have found their burial site in Greymouth but have no further information on where they came from other than County Clare and County Kilkenny. I would appreciate any extra information as I am traveling to Ireland in August 2025 and planning to visit the areas that my ancestors are from :)

Ngā mihi nui/Thank you very much! 

A.O'Brien

3 replies

A. O'Brien:

Do you have a copy of their 1859 marriage record? Any ages shown? Parents names for either Cornelius or Mary? I just checked and there are many Mary Nolan baptismal records in the 1830s in Co. Kilkenny.

Have you considered a general DNA test which may provide matches and the matches may have more info on the origins of either party in Ireland.

Roger McDonnell

 

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Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello,

Are you on Ancestry? There is a very well documented and lengthy tree there -the Sullivan Family tree, by esulli01. It shows that Mary Nolan was baptised in Bennetsbridge, Danesfort, Kilkenny on 17 Feb 1840. Her parents were Thomas Nolan and Ellen Carty. Her three siblings were William, Jane and Matthew. Cornelius' exact birthplace in Clare is not given, but the tree shows his parents as Edmund O'Brien and Ann Gleeson...they too emigrated to Australia, and died in Melbourne, Australia. The tree shows Cornelius and Mary had 11 children between 1860 and 1882. There are too many records to post in this reply, so hopefully you can find the Ancestry tree...maybe get a month membership?

Regards,

 

carolyntoohey@…

To add to Carolyn's message, there is a marriage certificate connected to the tree that identified Cornelius and Mary's parents, identified above, and also notes Cornelius was 22 and Mary was 18 at the time of their marriage.

Regards- Mary

 

mtvrdk@gmail.com

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