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Looking for Thomas McGourn & family in Castlebar

MayoCastlebar (Mayo)

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone here could point me in the right direction. My ancestor Thomas McGourn (also spelled McGurn, might have once been spelled McGurrin?) was born around Castlebar in January 1849 or 1850. His parents were Thomas McGourn and Mary Burke. Thomas Jr. married Mary McKeone in the 1860s, worked as a tailor, and may have been in the military at some point. They had a son James in 1869 or 1870 and shortly after his birth they moved to America. Thomas had a brother named James who was born about 1835 and also moved to America before 1880.

I've looked at a few parish registers for Castlebar, Barra, and Mayo Abbey parishes, but I've had no luck finding any of them.

Thanks,

Josh Coneby

jmconeby@gmail.com

3 replies

Josh:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I located the baptismal record for Thomas on the subscription site Roots Ireland. He was born in 1838 and baptized in the Balla RC parish whichis just to the east of Castlebar RC parish. I did not see his parents marriage record and did not find any baptismal records for siblings. I also have not yet found a marriage record for Thomas and Mary McKeone. Is it possible they married outside of Ireland?

Let me know what questions you have.

Roger McDonnell

Name:Thomas McGurrunDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:22-Jan-1838Address:Not RecordedParish/District:Balla RC parishGender:MaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Thomas McGurrunMother:Mary BurkeOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Thomas Hughes Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Heneghan 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Roger,

I never saw your comment! That is certainly my Thomas, thank you! I was able to find a few baptisms for Thomas' children John, Thomas, and James, all in Balla (only James came to America - the others may have died?) Also - I did manage to find Thomas and Mary's marriage, January 2nd 1859 in Balla! He was indexed as "Thomas McGuir" but on the page it is clearly McGurn.

A cousin of mine, the grandson of Thomas, visited Castlebar 20 years ago and was told that the McGourns may have originally been called McGurrin and been from a small place named Ballytaylor, and worked as tailors. I haven't been able to find the exact location of Ballytaylor, but Thomas was a tailor and it seems that he lived in close proximity to Balla.

Best, Josh Coneby

jmconeby@gmail.com

Josh:

Thanks for your message. Usually Roots Ireland is very flexible with spelling. I looked again in Mayo for a Thomas McGurn marriage to Mary McKeon and got no record. However, when I changed the spelling to McGuir, the record popped up. All the best with your research!

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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