Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

John Ward and Mary Rooney

GalwayKilmoylan (Galway)

Hi. I have a family of Wards baptised at Kilmoylan in Galway. Not sure where father John Ward was born or to whom.There were so many in the archives. He must have been born in about 1812 , give or take, and his wife Mary/Maire Rooney/Runae/Runau was born in about 1822. I'm not sure where he was baptised or died, but I'm reasonably sure they both died in Ireland. The marriage date I have for them is probably wrong and it's in Leitrim. Their children, Patrick, James, Martin, Mary, and John (births range from 1845-1857) were all baptised at Kilmoylan Church or Chapel, and seemed to have lived right through the famine.Patrick, born 15 Sep 1845-16 Jun 1938 married a Margaret or Margot Grace Ford, b. inTuam, Abt. 1850-27 Aug 1893. One of their 9 children, Priscilla Mary was my great grandmother. Martin may be the one buried in the Kilmoylan Cemetery in 1881. Not sure about James. Mary died in Tuam. Ring any bells? I could be totally wrong, but I am sure about Priscilla Mary and her parents being Patrick and Margaret.

moi.je@me.com

5 replies

moije:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

The baptismal date for Patrick on the subscription site Roots Ireland is April 4, 1847. See below (Cummer is a variant name for Klmoylan). I did not find a marriage record so likely the marriage occurred in Mary's parish which does not have records back before 1845. I also located a record for a Bridget who was baptized in 1845.

The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Kilmoylan civil parish shows two John Ward records. One in Common townland and the other in Ardskeamore townland. Possibly one of the two is your ancestor. https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/galway/kilmoylan.htm

Roger McDonnell

Name:Patrick WardDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:04-Apr-1847Address:Not RecordedParish/District:CUMMERGender:MaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John WardMother:Mary RunaeOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:James Ward Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Nestor 

Name:Bridget WardDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:10-Apr-1845Address:Not RecordedParish/District:CUMMERGender:FemaleCountyCo. Galway
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:John WardMother:Mary RunoeOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Thomas Morris Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Honor Murphy 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

It sounds like you could be talking about my Grt Grandfather.  May I refer you to my Ancestry.com's publis tree.  It is listed as Kelly/Ward(e) Extended Family Tree.  If this is not convenient then email me at mbkelly@adelphia.net and we can converse.

If we are talking about the same person then you left out the name of my Grandfather Michael "Mick" Warde.  His wife was Catherine Nolan. Their family home was in Ardskemore in the parish of Kilmoyan.

IrelandXO member

 

 

Hi Roger. Yes, I have the same date (with a copy of the page from the Church) for the baptism of Patrick Ward in my ancestry tree.  It's odd, but the birth date I have is 15 Sept 1845. This record is from ancestry.com in Illinois still births and deaths record. It lists John Ward and Mary Rooney of Tuam. His spouse is Margaret Grace Ford. I'm sure of her because the records do progress back to her. He died 16 Jun 1938 and is burien in Evanston, Cook County, IL (near Chicago) at Calvary cemetery at the age of 92. He had an amazing life and 9 children. The daughter of Margaret Grace Ford is my great grandmother, Priscilla Mary Ward b. 21 Jul 1878. Would they wait 2 years to baptise a child? Seems unlikely, but the birth record could still be off. In those days, children in the US were often born at home and reported at a later date. Thank you so much for looking. I found the Kilmoylan records in one of the Irish sources, but not when I went to find a grave.com... so I will check Cummer. I think the records for John Ward in this parish have various spellings for Mary Rooney, Runoe, Runae..  Patrick's siblings were all baptised there. Martin, James, Mary, John. By sponsors, I'm supposing that these would be the Godparents? I will check out Bridget. I may have seen it. The attached picture is of Mary Priscilla Ward. My grandmother Marie Eunice Dougherty is sitting on the porch below Mary and the child in her arms. This would be in Chicago.

 

 

moi.je@me.com

As far as Mary Rooney is concerned, I found 2 possible records. In Tuam, a Mary is baptised 7 Oct 1822 to Pat Rooney and Celia Martin. Another baptism for a Mary Rooney is on 10 May 1826 in Rahoon. Her parents would then be Sarah Conneely and James Rooney.  ??                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

 

 

moi.je@me.com

Baptisms ususally happened within a week of birth. Sponsors would be the same as a godparent.

The Tuam record for Mary is a possibility since Tuam parish was just north of Kilmoylan/Cummer. However, baptismal records for Kilmoylan/Cummer start in December 1835 so there wwould be no record available if Mary was baptized there.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.