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Gannon Family - search for town or county or parish assistance

Hello, Thank you for your efforts to assist research activity. I've been trying to find my great-great-grandparents for the past 50 years of periodic research. Could you please advise as to where I may be able to turn next to determine, at a minimum, which town, county or parish they may have been from? Here's what I know to-date:

William Gannon, born approx 1805 in Ireland. He died by 1861 as the Census of England for 1861 shows his wife, Margaret (Walsh) Gannon as a widow, but I can't determine where he died.

William's wife: Margaret (Walsh) Gannon, born approx 1811 in Ireland. She came to the U.S. on August 6, 1886, according to a Boston (Massachusetts) Passenger List, but there's no record of her staying here, nor do I know where she went after arriving here with other family members.

William and Margaret had six children: Bridget b1835; Patrick (my grandfather) b1840 and apparently a twin sister, Mary b1840; Margaret b1844; Ann b1845; John b1848 -- all born in Ireland; all Catholics. Some time between John's birth in 1848 and 1861, they emigrated from Ireland and ended up in Carlisle, Cumberland, England per the England Census of 1861. Bridget, Patrick, Mary and Ann were married in England (alas, marriage certificate don't say where they were born other than Ireland) and subsequently emigrated to New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts. Vital records in New Bedford only list places of birth as Ireland - no county or town. Bridget, Patrick, Mary, and Ann all emigrated to New Bedford with their families. I don't know for certain what happend to Margaret and John.

Bridget married Thomas Riley. Per a fellow researcher for this branch of the family who I connected with via Ancestry.com, most all Rileys came from either County Cavan or County Leitrim (Thomas' family came from County Leitrim), so it's possible that my branch of the Gannons came from one of these counties or nearby.

When Margaret (Walsh) Gannon arrived in Boston in 1886, she was traveling with her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth (Flynn or Flinn) Gannon (wife of Patrick Gannon) and their seven children (Mary, Margaret, James, William, Elizabeth, John, Helen). John was my grandfather.

I have tried Irish vital records and church records to no avail, mostly because I don't know a town, county or parish name. Griffiths has not been helpful to me, but I'm not an experienced user either.

I would be very appreciative of any advice, suggestions or findings you may have access to at your convenience. Thank you, Patrick Gannon

Patrick

9 replies

Hi Patrick,

Just checking to see if you've tapped all the U.S. records that might give place of origin: headstones, obituaries, death notices, wills, church records, newspaper articles...  

I hope this is helpful.

glanvil3@aol.com

On Ancestry.com, there are some public member trees listing William's birthplace as Mayo townland in Co. Leitrim.  Also at least one saying he was from Newport, Co. Mayo.  No documentation is included.

glanvil3@aol.com

In Griffith's Valuation, there was one head of household in Leitrim and one in Mayo called Wm. Gannon:

Source

 Surname First Name Townland Parish County  
1857 Griffith Gannon William Sunnagh More Cloone Co. Leitrim  
1856-57 Griffith Gannon William Killadangan Oughaval Co. Mayo
glanvil3@aol.com

On the 1861 Census in England it states County Mayo, as the place of birth.  Look at the actual document. 

Margot Secrette

Hi Patrick and Patricia, Patrick I am also a volunteer on this site and a lady surname Gannon from Boston to whom I am related asked me to enquire if you were on Ancestry or had a tree online anywhere. Her Gannon surname are is from Longford with links to Galway and Mayo also.

She has done extensive Gannon research on her line using DNA matching etc, if you prefer you can email me on my site email: stpeters@irelandxo.com 

I am the volunteer for the Drogheda area and county Louth.

Regards

Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Patrick, I spoke with someone in Cloone, Leitrim who knew the Gannon family in Sunnagh More. I think they may be the descendants of your relatives. I've sent an email to you so that that you can make contact with him.

Regards

tercanada@gmail.comIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you all, very much! I do have a tree on Ancestry called Gannon-Poirier v2023, but I do not have an active membership with Ancestry at this time. I also have versions of my Gannon tree on MyHeritage and FamilySearch. There is a small section of the Gannon tree on WikiTree.com as well. 

I have reviewed many public trees on Ancestry, and have researched death notices, vital records in Massachusetts where the family lived and I have some stories from family members. However, none of these attempts ever confirmed which County the family came from in Ireland. 

Pat, I will email you at the address you provided - thank you. I’ve not yet done DNA testing. In your experience, which vendor’s DNA model(s) seem to be most helpful for Irish-based families? Ancestry? 23andMe? Other?

Teresa, I would very much like to contact the person from Cloone, but I have not received an email from you. Could you please try to send me his contact info again? morganmusic1@yahoo.com.

Many thanks to you all! Patrick

Patrick

Hello, Thank you for everyone's suggestions which I have reviewed. Using Catholic Parish Registers at NLI, I checked every available Catholic parish register for baptisms in Counties Leitrim and Cavan, plus Aughaval in Co Mayo (based on a hint from Griffiths) to no avail. I'm 95% confident that my great-grandfather, Patrick Gannon, was born in May 1840 (based on info an a U.S. Census report), so that is the time period I checked in all registers that are on-line for 1840. As this record seems to be my brick wall, do you have any further suggestions that I may check other then doing a DNA analysis? There are no further details available from U.S. documents for any of the family members. Suggestions are much appreciated! Patrick Gannon/USA

Patrick

 I'm 95% confident that my great-grandfather, Patrick Gannon, was born in May 1840 (based on info an a U.S. Census report), 

 

Patrick, Ages vary widely in the old records, including U.S. census records.  People at the time were not as aware of their birth dates as we are.  In Ireland birthdays were not celebrated. And even if Patrick did know his exact date of birth, he may not have provided the info to the census taker himself. 

glanvil3@aol.com

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