Flynn / Veale Connection in County Waterford (1830 - 1850)
I am researching Irish ancestors. Unfortunately, I have very minimal information about their lives and events in Ireland. I would appreciate any help in providing or steering me to resources and documentation that may help me in pinning down records that relate to my great, great, grandfather and my great, great, grandmother.
My gg grandfather was Thomas Flinn (or Flynn depending on sources/records). The only documentation that I have about him is from US records, including his Cilvil War service. He is reported as having been born around 1822, in Dublin. Family oral history says that he lived in or near Kilmacthomas before emigrating to the states.
My gg grandmother most likely was Bridget Vail or some variant of that name (e.g, Brigida Veale). I say most likely because the only written record comes from my g grandmother's death certificate, which was informed/witnessed by my grandmother. On the record, it shows my g grandmother's father was Thomas Flynn, and her mother was Bridget Vail. I believe the latter name's spelling is attributed to a phonetic spelling of the original name. My initial guess is that she would have been born sometime between 1820 and 1830.
Family history states that Thomas and his wife had a daughter, Mary (my g grandmother), born sometime in the 1840s along with a brother James in the same time period. See my notes further down regarding a possible baptism for Mary. The family history also says that Thomas left these children behind when he emigrated to the US. It is assumed that he left with his wife but there are no specific records for either of them doing so. Once more, Kilmacthomas was mentioned as the palce where the children most likely stayed. Further Thomas and his wife had a son, Thomas, around 1850 so I'm assuming that emigration had to occur within a timeframe between about 1845 and 1850.
I am not an experienced researcher so I have take a bit of a scatter-shot approach using many different sources and search tools. Nevertheless, I recently came across a couple of intriguing records that might or might not be pointing in the right direction. These resulted from my attempt to place them anywhere near/around the vicinity of Kilmacthomas, and at a minimum in County Waterford or surrounding counties.
I have located a couple of records in the Catholic Parish registers. I have been using both Ancestry.com and Irelandroots for this. I located two baptismal records. One is potentially for my gg grandmother. The details show a Brigidam Veale being baptized in 1825 to Robert Veale and Elizabeth Barton in Parish Portlaw and Ballyduff. The second record shows a Mariam (Mary) being baptized in 1844 to a Thomas Flynn and Brigida Veale in ParishRossmore and Kilberrymeeden. My understanding is that both these locations are roughly in the area where I am searching.
My following searches included looking for a marriage record for Thomas and Bridget, as well as other civil records that might show them together. So far, I have come up empty. I have also tried to located additional records for Mary and James but have not found anything tying their names to Thomas and Bridget in a likely time period. I have also looked at passenger lists and have been unable to either Thomas and Bridget, or Mary and James together.
I am now stepping back in hope that the community might be able to give me any helpful information or suggestions how to proceed further in order to create a history that covers their time in Ireland as well as emigration to the US.
Thanks in advance for any help.