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Help with finding relatives in Mayo

South Mayo community

This is a project I’ve been working on for years. I’ve been trying to determine where my great-grandmother, Anna Mary Kerrigan Lynch, is from in Ireland. After a lot of work on Ancestry and DNA checking, I’ve got some strong leads. But I need some help as you’ll see in the last paragraph.

First a little bit about her. Anna was born in 1872, according to family records. Though her birth date could be off a few years either way. According to her death certificate, her father’s name was Michael. I don’t know her mother’s first or last name.

As a teenager, Anna came to America and lived with her uncle, John Finnerty, in Sharon, Pa. John’s wife was Mary Gibbons. I don’t know where either John or Mary are from. Anna, who worked as a maid, married my great-grandfather Daniel Lynch in 1893 in Youngstown Ohio, my hometown. She died in 1963.

From reviewing DNA matches, everything points to her being from County Mayo. From people who share a 4th-6h cousin DNA match with me and other of my close relatives, their family trees show three last names that I believe have connections to the Kerrigans: Gibbons, Lally, and Heneghan.

I researched Griffith’s Valuation and the 1901 and 1911 censuses. The censuses and Griffith’s show a number of Kerrigan, Gibbons, Lally and Heneghan families in the area around Shanvallyard. In those two censuses, I found a Michael Kerrigan and his wife, Honoria, in the townland of Shanvallyard, near Tourmakeady. According to the census, they were married the year before Anna was born. They could be Anna's parents.

Here’s where I need help

Are the birth, baptismal and marriage records for Shanvallyard online?

What is the birth recording district for Shanvallyard and other nearby townlands?

There is a mention of an 1883 Roman Catholic census for the civil parish of Ballyovey, which encompasses Shanvalley. Is that available online?

Finally any other suggestions are appreciated.

Kindest regards for any help

Mike Casey

 

 

KCmike

3 replies

Hi Mike,

You have probably done this, but just in case...look at all the U.S. records for Anna and family for clues to her birth/place. Censuses, birth, marriage, death, obituaries, wills, newspaper obits and death notices, headstones, interment lists.

Look at the order of birth of Anna's children. Irish naming patterns meant that the second son was named after the maternal grandfather, the second daughter (or sometimes the first) after the maternal grandma. This could give you a clue to the names of Anna's parents.

I saw in the 1900 census that Anna was said to have been born in March 1873. If March is correct, that would help you narrow down the births at irishgenealogy.ie.

I hope this is helpful.

Pat

glanvil3@aol.com

Mike:

Civil registration for births, marriages and deaths started in 1864 and records are available on the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie

The Supervisory registration district for Shanvallyard would be Ballinrobe.

The 1883 Ballyover census is available on the subscription site Roots Ireland and possibly other sites.

I searched for Anne Kerrigan birth records from 1865-1873. There were 12 records in Co. Mayo but only two had a father named Michael. See links below. 

I would lean towards the 1871 record. Did she have any siblings?

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

first record  https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

third record   https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Mike:

I checked out the Michael Kerrigan who lived in Shanvallard townland in 1901.

Michael Kerrigan and his wife Honor Heneghan married in 1871. Their earlier children were all boys.  The only girl was apparently was Mary (shown in the 1901 census as age 20) but for some reason, I can't find a baptismal/birth record for her.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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