Duck families in Killinvoy

Roger,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my message and check all the available records. Yes, it seems that the Ducks who landed in Killinvoy may have come north from the Athlone / Glasson area or south from  the Kilteevan / Ballyleague / Longford area.  No doubt, they were all related at some time but sadly no records.  I was told, some decades ago, by an American relative, that her father(my uncle) had said there was a Northern Ireland connection on that side( at the time, the surname Duck was not mentioned). It appears that the name Duck was particularly common in Co Antrim . . . so maybe there are pathways to finding clues there?

Arís, go raibh mile maith agat

Slán  agus beannacht!

Veronica Jennequin

My great grandfather was James Morris who was born in Knockcroghery about 1848. His father was William Morris and his mother was Ann Naighton. The family lived in St. John's.
Rootsireland has a record for a Martin Morris born in 1843. I don't know who he is but he is probably a relative. Martin's father was John Morris and his mother was Elizabeth Duck. The sponsors were Malachy Naughten and Brigid Geragty. I don't know who John Morris is but my great grandfather had a brother and cousin named John.
There is also a Michael Morris born in 1859 to John Morris and Brigid Duck. The father would not be my great grandfather's brother or cousin because of age. The sponsors were John Egan and Mary Egan. The same couple had another son Patrick in 1861.The sponsors were John Breheny and Ann Kenny.  My great grandfather had another brother named Patrick so that is also a family name although not an unusual name of course.
I don't know if there is actually any connection but have you done a DNA test? Elizabeth wouldn't be an ancestor of mine but the families seem like they may be connected somehow. 

Hello and thank you for this interesting information on the Duck / Morris connections. I am particularly interested in Elizabeth Duck / John Morris, I feel there may be a connection there so I will work on that…

 Since my previous message, I have made some progress; my great-great grandmother (married to Patrick Duck) was Mary Connaughton.  As well as my great-grandmother, Mary, they also had two daughters, (possibly other children – I’m still working on that)

 Bridget Duck married John Morris 24 Feb 1852.  On the same day, her sister, Catherine duck, married George Perdue.

Bridget and John Morris had 4 sons: Michael (1859), Patrick (1861) James (1863) John (1866)

John Morris died in 1867, aged 50.  Around 1875 Bridget emigrated to Boston Ma.

1900 census, she was living with her sons Patrick and James. She declared 4 children born to her, 2 living. She died in Boston in 1902.

Her son, Patrick married Catherine O’Brien in 1894, daughter Mary b 1894 daughter Catherine b 1896.  Catherine(O’Brien) died in 1897, their daughter Catherine died in 1898,  Patrick died in 1907, their daughter Mary died in 1910 aged 15 – so there are no descendants from that branch. 

Catherine Duck and George Perdue moved to Athlone, they had 2 children: John born 1856 – no further records found so far,  Catherine born about 1859, she married Michael Reilly and they raised 6 children in Athlone, so lots of possible  living relatives there.  I have my DNA on MyHeritage an Ancestry, I have several matches which confirm the Connaughton side.  I hope to visit Roscommon in the next couple of months so I will have an opportunity to check out some local info, cemeteries etc which may help.  Thank you very much.  Regards Veronica

I looked for matches with the first name of Veronica but no matches seemed to fit although I don't know your name on the DNA sites. Are you on GEDMatch? Mine are under Brian Morris. However, even if there might be some connection, it may not show as a DNA match especially at the 8 used now by both ancestry and My Heritage. I did save my lower matches on ancestry before they changed and have found some matches at 7 or even 6. 3rd Cousins may not match at 7. My wife has a 3rd cousin with no DNA match even at 5 although they have a number of people who match both of them.
I have no known connection to Boston and my known relatives on that line came through New York and stayed there or went to Connecticut. I have father and son Y DNA matches who trace to Castlerea although there may be a connection to a few miles from Knockcroghery. They emigrated to Boston. 
I have found a number of records for Morris in Athlone but I don't know if there is a connection.

I look forward to continuing this discussion.

Brian Morris