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James Fitzgerald who moved from Ireland to Wayne County NY prior to 1848

I am looking for James Fitzgerald whose father's name is William. He was born in Ireland around 1815 and first appeared in the records for Wayne County New York in Dec1848 when he marrired. So presumably, he was there for some time prior to December 1848.

There is a range on James Fitzgerald's birth year in various sources. They range from 1819 - 1820, although 1815 is by far the most common year given.

James Fitzgerald was a citizen by 1870, but the naturalization records of that time contain no real information. James Fitzgerald's death certificate listed place of birth as Ireland and father's name as William Fitzgerald.

The names of his children in order are: Edmund, William, Mary (wife's name too), James, Nora (Hanora), Elizabeth, John, Michael, Patrick andNellie(Emma).

James Fitzgerald was Catholic. He was a farmer in New York.

In the 1855 Census, William Fitzgerald, aged 90 (bc 1765 in Ireland) was living with James Fitzgerald and his wife and children. This could possibly be his father.(I do indeed know his father's name was William from James' death certificate). The relationship was not listed on the census.Also living with the family was Hanora Fitzgerald, age 28 (bc 1827 in Ireland). She was listed asWilliam's child so is possibly James' sister.

I have not been able to find the immigration records for William, Hanora or James, nor have I been able to find any of them in in 1850 census, despite the fact that James was married in Macedon, Wayne, NY in 1848.

Another family named Fitzgerald lived nearby in the 1855 Census. While I have no indication that this family is related, they live very near by in a less populated, rural area. They are the only two families named Fitzgerald in the town. Garret Fitzgerald, age 36 born Ireland; Mary Fitzgerald, age 36 born Ireland; Richard, age 6 born Ireland; John, age 4 born Ireland and James, age 0 born New York. So this family moved from Ireland to New York between 1851-1855.

I found the following advert in the Boston Pilot. infowanted.bc.edu/record/?recid=23520 Looking for Patrick, Phillip and William Fitzgerald, last seen in Wayne County NY in 1855. From County = Galway, Parish = Killeenavarra, townland = Ballyclough, Barony = Dunkellin; Poor-Law = Gort. Contact for the advert wasThomas Fitzgerald, brother from Boston. Date of advert20 Nov 1858.Again, I don't know that this is the same William Fitzgerald, but Wayne County NY is not a very large place and the last known place for William was in 1855 per the advert. The above William is the only William Fitzgeraldin the Wayne County Census in 1855. However, Philip and Thomas are not names that appear in the Fitzgerald family in subsequent generations.

I'd appreciate any suggestions or expertise you can lend to this puzzle of the origin of this Fitzgerald family.

Nancy M, Sunnyvale CA, USA

Nmclist@gmail.com

8 replies

Nancy:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

This Irish Times web site  http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/   will show you where surnames were found in the mid-19th century. Fitzgerald was a very strong Munster surname: Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford. There were a small number of Galway Fitzgerald households (37).

I looked on Roots Ireland for James Fitzgerald baptismal records with father William and the only one around your range of years was an 1816 record which is below. Note the truncated Fitzgerald. You need to find out his mother's maiden name if possible so you can confirm any records. I suggest that you also search www.irishgenealogy.ie which has baptismal records for half of Co. Cork (Diocese of Cork and Ross) plus Co. Kerry and Dublin city.

I'm not optimistic about the connection wirh Gort plus the RC parish register for Gort starts in 1848 for baptisms.

You may want to consider autosomal DNA testing.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Name:James F GeraldDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:10-Aug-1816Address:Not RecordedParish/District:YOUGHALGender:MaleCountyCo. Cork
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:William F GeraldMother:Abigail FoleyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John WalshSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary McCarthy

 

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your prompt reply.  Thank you too for your input.  I do have several death certificates on order in hopes of finding a mother's name (even a first name could be helpful).  So far, all things I've tried to obtain this information have failed - wills, vital records, newspapers, obits, etc.  I've also recently ordered a y_DNA kit, but need to track down a Fitzgerald male from east coast to take the test. Perhaps I'm putting too much emphesis on naming patterns, but there is no occurance of Abigail as either a first or middle name in the Fitzgerald family that I have seen.  Best regards and thank you, Nancy

Nmclist@gmail.com

Hi Nancy-Some information that may help -or confuse you even more.

Having checked the Parish registers for Killeenavara parish,I unearthed the following.

Baptisms.No.143 13/01/1858 John Linnane.Born-Ballindereen. Sp. Thomas Fitzgerald&Mary Linnane

 No.323 17/03/1861. Patt Fitzgerald.P.-Michael Fitzgerald&Honor Kearney.

No.398. John FitzgeraldB.12/08/1862 Ballindereen.P.Thomas Fitzgerald&Mary Linnane.

These are later than the time period that you were looking for but they establish that Fitzgeralds lived in Killeenavara.This area is in County Galway,Barony of Dunkellin and was part of Gort Poor law Union-used as an aid distribution region in the time of 'The Famine'

Modern maps show an area called' Clough' just South of Ballindereen village which is most likely where the Fitzgeralds came from.There are is also a townland called Ballycooloo and one called Ballyclery both near Ballindereen.Both Dunkellin Barony,Gort -Poor Law Union.

Liam Irwin

 

Liam Irwin

Hi Nancy-There are quite a lot of Fitzgeralds in the Castle Garden Records,if you go through them you might find something useful.At least 4 from Galway. Liam

Liam Irwin

Nancy:

The autosomal DNA test would be more helpful. You can take the test and it would look at all of your DNA and identify matches on both your paternal and maternal lines. The Y-DNA test (in my experience) goes back too far. 

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you everyone for your ideas.  My husband did take the Ancestry DNA test (James Fitzgerald was his 2XGGF).  I've slogged through all of the results (142 so far) and found 8 matches with surname Fitzgerald.  While I haven't heard back from everyone, 5 are not matches on the Fitzgerald line.  Of course, some people don't put up a tree so there could be more matches out there.

I have looked through Castle Garden, Ancestry, FindmyPast, FamilySeaerch, NARA and Famine Imigrant databases.  There could be matches there, but none are with the possible sister Hanora or the father William. 

 

Again, my thanks,  Nancy

Nmclist@gmail.com

Hi Nancy,    I am researching a Fitzgerald in much depth and today I have crossed paths with your search in Wayne, NY.   

If you are still active in your search please contact me.

mhayes29@hotmail.co.uk  I am in Chester, England.

Regards Martin Hayes

 

 

IrelandXO member

I have a James Fitzgerald/Curboy

min my family lineage from County Cork Ireland and Emly Tipperary

Margaret Curboy

lived in Troy NY

She was my 3rd g. Grandmother

married James Fitzgerald

Andream777

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