Maher/Ryan - Tipperary

Oops, the reference to my gt grandfather is his birth date as 1860 in Cahir, Tipperary

Thanks Tom,

Your quick reply is amazing, and much appreciated.

However, these are not my people.

Mary Josephine Maher (nee Ryan) is described as being a widower, her late husband was Michael Maher.

There are some discrepancies on her death certificate in NZ. e.g. her age was given as 45,

but her date of birth was noted as 1825. Obviously, one of these must be wrong given she died

in 1876. Her oldest daughter  (Ho)Norah is indicated on the immigration list as being born in 1848.

This would suggest a marriage date prior to that, and that fits with her birth date.

Her sons were Michael Joseph, and James Joseph Maher. I suspect the middle name of Joseph is possibly

significant.

I trust this additional material is of assistance, and await your further investigation with much interest.

Kind regards

Alan Maher

 

Tom,

That is amazing to come up with this so quick.

My only concern is the marriage date. If Mary Ryan was born in 1825, then her age

at the time of marriage would have been 14 yrs old. Would this have been unusual

at that time? I know people married young, but this seems close to the mark.

Your thoughts?

Regards

Alan Maher

Thanks Tom,

I appreciate your comments on shipping lists and the ages represented as being approximate.

Sadly, the records in New Zealand suffer from similar problems to those of Ireland. In 1952 (co-incidentally the year of my birth), our National archives burned to the ground, so research is limited to whatever local scraps of information remain, and also our digitised newspapers from earlier days. Along with little scraps of oral history.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/71666196/wellingtons-hope-gib…

As such, I am attempting to work with what little detail remains, which is only 2 death certificates.

What I would appreciate from you, is an indication of what possible ports someone from your area may have used to leave from in Ireland after 1852. If I could pin down some shipping lists that this family may have used, it would help things immensely. From oral history, I know they travelled to Victoria in Australia for the gold rush there, and that would suggest a timing closer to 1860. After that I have found very little in Australia, but have a few "possibles" from their old newspapers.

One thing I have noticed, is that upon their arrival for the gold rush in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island in 1870, is that they took over a respectable hotel quite quickly, which would suggest they had more than sixpence to their name. Upon Mary's death in 1876, her son Michael Jnr sold the pub fairly soon after, as the gold rush was over. He seems to have gone back to Victoria and appears to have died in Melbourne in 1911.

My great grandfather, James Joseph Maher was the youngest of the family. He left the West Coast and moved to Ashburton on the East coast of the South Island where he was a book maker (race horses, not books !). After that he owned a series of pubs in Christchurch and Rangiora, before retiring to Auckland in 1911.

One thing I have observed amongst the Irish of the West Coast, and indeed Victoria , Australia, is that they used kinship and general local Irish connections for mutual advancement. So, there are likely wider connections amongst kith and kin here. 

I know this isn't much help in your research, but it might help to explain a little of the background.

Regards

Alan Maher

Kia ora,

I'm a descendent of Mary J Ryan (b1825ish) and Michael Maher (b1819). Their son James J Maher (b1860) had a son Michael (b. 1899). I'm just wondering if this is the same Mary and Michael that you are discussing here. Are you able to tell me who your gt. grandfather, James J Maher married, to see if this in the same family, as I have some conflicting resources about Mary J Ryan. 

Thanks!

Becks