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James McFadden family

Hello, in my family research I found that my gg grandfather James McFadden came to Philadelphia, PA from Londonderry in April 1847. He was from County Donegal. Birth abt 1825 to 1827. I have no information of his parish nor of his parents or siblings. On the ship Susan E Howell, he is listed with John (16) and Margery (13) so I am assuming they "may be" his siblings. There were also 8 other McFaddens on the ship. On James' death certificate, 1899, no parents are listed. Thanks for any guidance that may be provided.

Sincerely

Denny McFadden

dmacfad49

5 replies

Denny:

Just finished responding to the Sharkey message and then saw your McFadden message. Lack of available church records in Co. Donegal will make it very difficult to search your McFadden family. Likely they were from the western part of Donegal: Tullaghobegly, Raymunterdoney, Clondahorky, Mevagh, Kilmacrenan parishes.

You maywant to consider autosomal DNA testing as a way to identify matches that may help you determine where your McFaddens came from. I was able to confirm where my McFaddens lived in Donegal with DNA testing.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks so much Roger for both replies. James McFadden married Sophia Sharkey in Philadelphia, PA in 1850 at St Francis Xavier RC church. Their 1st son was named Thomas so I am thinking James' father may have been Thomas McFadden. James and Sophia lived at 2325 Hamilton Street in Philadelphia, PA from 1860 until their passing away 1899 and 1903 respectively. If they were from western Donegal, that was a long way to go to Londonderry for their trip to Philadelphia in 1847. Guessing they fled Ireland due to the famine. Thanks for DNA tip.

dmacfad49

Dmacfad49,

Londonderry wasn’t really a long way to go to get the boat to the USA. People made that journey from all parts of Ireland not just western Donegal. In fact the port with the most Irish emigrants was Liverpool. It had far more sailings than Londonderry. Liverpool had 2 or 3 sailings a day to Londonderry's 2 or 3 a month, and the Liverpool agents generally threw in free passage to Liverpool as part of the deal). See this for some background information on migration from Donegal in the mid 1800s:

http://donegalancestry.com/donegal/emigration/

Probably worth commenting that people had been  pouring out of Ireland all through the 1800s due to a combination of factors eg lack of employment and land unrest. All the famine did was speed the process up significantly.

There’s still very little employment in Donegal to this day, and sadly young people are still pouring out of the county for work elsewhere.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks for the feedback Elwyn and sorry to read that County Donegal is having employment issues.

Sincerely

Denny McFadden

dmacfad49

I am a, McFadden of near milford
Ramelton area dome of our relatives went to. America.
Our link would be Francis, McFadden father of John McFadden and Sarah Elliott of Clooney.

traymc@hotmail.com

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