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Hugh Gannon - County Mayo - Born about 1840

I would greatly appreciate any assistance you are able to provide in finding information concerning my great-grandfather, Hugh Gannon.  Various sources place his date of birth between 1838 and 1841.  His tombstone says 1840.   His obituary states that he was born in County Mayo and arrived in Philadelphia at the age of 22, where during the next 30 + years he built and operated a successful business as a teamster/rigger.   He was Catholic, married three times and had eight children:

Spouse
  • Anna Corcoran (1852–1888)

Children
  • Mary (Sr. Mary Mercedes) (1880–1965)
  • Anna Maria (1884–1960)

Spouse
  • Elizabeth (Lizzie) (Elliza) (McDonough) Gannon (1848–1871)

Children
  • Male (1871–1871)

Spouse
  • Ellen (McCartin) Gannon (Minogue) (1865–1942)
    Married 1889

Children
  • Mary (Sr. Mary Mercedes) (1880–1965)
  • Anna Maria (1884–1960)
  • Edward (1889–1905)
  • John (1891–1891)
  • Hugh Frances (1892–1965)
  • Bernard (1894–1899)
  • Helen (1897–1956)

He died November 18, 1897 in Philadelphia.  I have done extensive searching in the usual sources outside Ireland including on ancestry.com, familysearch.com and newspapers.com.  I have found him on six or seven family trees, but no one has listed his parents or his birth location beyond County Mayo.   None of his US records ( marriages, births of children, death) provide any helpful information.  Thanks very much for your willingness to assist.

Chris Moran

 

cjmmoran

3 replies

Chris:

I checked the subscription site Roots Ireland and the earliest Hugh Gannon birth or baptismal record in Co. Mayo was in 1875. So your Hugh was baptized in a parish which does not have baptismal records back to 1840 (and a number of RC parishes fall into that category). In looking at your message, it appears that his oldest male child was an Edward so without much else to go on, you could start by assuming the father of Hugh was Edward.

In reviewing the 1855 Griffiths Valuation data for Co. Mayo there were two Edward Gannons listed. A word of caution, besides making an assumption that Edward was the father of Hugh, we don't know if Edward Gannon was leasing land (as opposed to being a laborer) or if he was alive in 1855 both would mean that he would not be in the Griffiths.

In any event, the two Edward Gannon records were in Carrowkennedy townland in Aghagower civil parish and The Green in Aglish civil parish. Aghagower parish is in southwest Mayo and Aglish is near Castlebar and The Green was likely in the current area for Castlebar town.

Aghagower RC baptismal records start in 1828, however, there is a gap between May 1836 and March 1842 which covers when you believe Hugh was born. The baptismal records for Aglish/Castlebar RC parish start in January 1838.

I can't tell if you have taken a general DNA test so if you have not, that would be an avenue to pursue.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks very much.

Eileen, I had that ship/passage as a possible.  It was the only one I was able to locate for a Hugh Gannon in the approximate time frame.  So that may be him.   Unfortunately I don’t know anything about his parents or their names (and could not find anything in the records or papers), except the Mayo connection.  
 

Roger, That he might have named his firstborn son after his father never occurred to me. Thanks very much for looking at that possibility.  Have not gone the DNA route. May ultimately decide to give that a try. 
 

Thanks again. 

cjmmoran

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