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Hehir family

MHi my name is Karla and I have been trying so hard to find my Great Grandfathers Parents his name was Michael J Hehir born 1869 in or around Galway and limerick he cane to the US in 1887 he settled in Louisville Ky and married Delia Winn in 1894 in Louisville Ky he passed in 1907 at a young age 38 he had 5 children at the time as Delia was pregnant with my Grandfather at the time of his death . I found where he was naturalized but no parents name just a small record . My Aunt and I are coming to Ireland in June Im so hoping I can figure out what parish or the exact area he was from .Thank You for any help Karla

IrelandXO member

8 replies

Hi Karla,

There are 3 1869 birth/baptism records of Michael Hehir (+ surname variations) on www.rootsireland.ie/: All are from Galway

The first one is a birth and the second a baptism for the same Michael so it's a choice of two as long as he was definitely born in 1869 as there are a few other records for the years before & after

Name:Michael HeherDate of Birth:30-Jul-1869
Registration Date:
Address:LisbrianParish/District:GORTGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Civil Parish / District
Father:Patrick HeherMother:Catherine GillOccupation:Gate Keeper
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Mary Nilan 

Name:Michael HehirDate of Birth:28-Jul-1869
Date of Baptism:01-Aug-1869Address:LisbrineParish/District:KILBEACANTYGender:
CountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Hehir PatrickMother:Gill CatherineOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Ryan Thomas Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Ryan Mary 

Name:Michael HehirDate of Birth:26-Sep-1869
Date of Baptism:30-Sep-1869Address:ChrushuaParish/District:KINVARAGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John HehirMother:Bridget DooleyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John Quinn Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Hynes 

Do you happen to know any of his siblings' names so that I can search for them to try to narrow it down?

I notice your tree on ancestry.com has his parents' names but I couldn't find that record or the parents' marriage.

The third record above is from Kinvara which is where your ancestry record is from so perhaps that's the one?

This is their marriage - with very little info!

Date of Marriage:08-Dec-1852
Parish / District:KINVARA
County:Co. Galway
Husband
WifeName:JohnHehir
BridgetDoodleyAddress:Crushua

I checked for Hehir death records in Kinvara on roots and there are 16 but not one has the name of the graveyard!!

Col

 

 

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

First off Thank You So Much for looking this up and for going out of your way to help Me it is So appreciated. Part of my tree is a mess I was making guesses on his parents as I would add someone to see if I would get hints if nothing else to rule them out ! I don’t know any of his siblings names what I do know is that in a few censuses it does have September as his birth month no date just a month and yr 1869 . I have been working on this side of the family fo 4 years looking every where on the internet and traveling around Louisville to different record depts trying everything to figure this out . I wanted to find out as much as I could before bringing my Aunt to Ireland Ireland but I finally said we just need to go as my aunt is now 75 yrs old no time to waste lol 

I’m thinking the Michael Hehir born sept 26th Parents John Hehir and Bridget Dooley may be the right ones only because of birthdate . Then I noticed on the baptism record it list a Mary Hynes may not have in relation at all but the lady Michael married here in Louisville Delia Winn her mother’s name was Mary Hynes.I also know there was only a few Hehirs here in Louisville at the time of his arrival one was a Bryan Hehir , there also was a John Hehir wondering if maybe that could be a brother or cousin I know there’s a connection with them but not sure where . There was also another Michael Hehir here for a short time but only see him for a few years here !!!

Once again I can’t Thank You enough for helping me on this it means a lot Thank You Karla 

IrelandXO member

That's great Karla - the Mary Hynes connection does sound convincing.

The other children to John Hehir & Bridget Dooley are:

Name:Bridget HehirDate of Birth:07-Nov-1860
Date of Baptism:08-Nov-1860Address:CrushoeParish/District:KINVARAGender:FemaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John HehirMother:Bridget DoolyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Thomas HYNES Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Bridget Kilkelly 

Name:Martin HeherDate of Birth:13-Oct-1863
Date of Baptism:15-Oct-1863Address:CarroneenParish/District:KINVARAGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John HeherMother:Bridget DooleyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Patrick Not Recorded Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Bridget Heher 

Name:John HeherDate of Birth:26-Jun-1866
Date of Baptism:28-Jun-1866Address:CrushuaParish/District:KINVARAGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John HeherMother:Bridget DooleyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Thomas Kilkelly Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Farrell

 Name:John HehirDate of Birth:20-Jun-1866
Registration Date:
Address:HehirParish/District:KINVARAGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Civil Parish / District
Father:John HehirMother:Bridget DoolyOccupation:Labourer
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John Hehir 

Name:John HehirDate of Birth:04-Nov-1869
Registration Date:
Address:CrushuaParish/District:KINVARAGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Civil Parish / District
Father:John HehirMother:Bridget DoolyOccupation:Labourer
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Bridget Hehir 

There are 3 Johns - the custom was to name another son for a previous one which had died. However, the last John was born only two months after your Michael...?!

The address where it is given seems to vary from Chrushua to Crushoe to Carroneen but the only one which came up in a google search was CarNoneen.

The Tithe Applotments (free online) have 7 Hehirs in Galway 1826-33:

Surname Forename Townland/Street Parish County Year

HehirMichlBallygerane             Isertkelly Galway1833

HehirDennisKnocktroe Or Woodville Bog IsertkellyGalway1833

HehirEdmondKnocktroe Or Woodville Bog IsertkellyGalway1833

HehirJohnLavalla Connor KilcolganGalway1826

HehirOwenEmlagh Killogilleen Galway1828

HehirJamesRue Kilmacduagh Galway1826

HehirJamesRue Kilmacduagh Galway1826

Even better, the 1821 Irish Census (free online http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/) has 39 HehErs in Galway; there are several Michaels and Johns and Athenry is one of the parishes. If you've never heard the song Fields of Athenry you might like to have a listen. The irish sing it at big football games and it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it - but I'm nearly as old as your aunt (73)!

Couldn't find any Bryan Hehirs in Galway baptisms but there are lots of Michaels & Johns including some from Kinvara.

If we can sort out which of the above are yours it will give you a few addresses to visit during your trip

Col

 

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi again I’ve been dealing with death in the family and I’m just getting back to all this I’m hoping to please be able to speak to you again Thank You Karla 

 

 

 

IrelandXO member

Sorry to hear of your bereavement, Karla, but welcome back.

With the uncertainty about how people fit in your tree I wondered if the Irish naming pattern might be relevant for you to apply?

  • 1st son was named after the father's father.                          1st daughter after mother's mother
  • 2nd son was named after the mother's father.                         2nd dtr after father's mother
  • 3rd son was named after the father.                                      3rd dtr after mother
  • 4th son was named after the father's eldest brother.               4th dtr after mother's oldest sister

Col

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi I’am going to look into this thank you the first part fits for sure I can’t tell you how much I thank you for any help we leave Louisville Ky on the 20th of June heading to Ireland I’m so excited but would be even happier if I could figure this out . Especially for my Aunt it would be so nice for her to know and for us to be able to visit the area from which Michael Lived 

Thank You all suggestions help Karla 

IrelandXO member

Have a wonderful trip!

Will be over there myself July & August babysitting my 5 year old grandson in Cork

If it helps my email is colkar@southernphone.com.au

Col

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Karla. I just joined today. I have read your post and a number of replies. My name is Michael O' Hehir, I live in Sligo. My father Michael born in Galway 1909, his parents were Stephen Hehir and Mary Hynes. Both surnames very common, but the spelling Hehir, is common to Clare or Clare Galway. May I ask if you did dna testing, so we could check if we match. As they say dna doesn't lie. 

michaelhehir

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