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Mary Ann Sheehy,Shaye,Sheahy Born Co Kerry Daughter of Dennis and Mary Ann

Kerry

Mary Ann was born in County Kerry in 1835 to Dennis Sheehy and Mary Ann Reilly.

Mary Ann Sheehy ( could be another different spelling ) was born in 1836 in County Kerry, Ireland. Her parents were Dennis Sheehy ( Laborer ) and Mary Ann Reilly

Mary Ann arrived in Australia on 14/04/1857 on the ship "Sabrina" that sailed from Southhampton, England on the 14/01/1857.
She was a Catholic woman aged 21 from County Kerry Ireland and she could read but not write. She was a house maid.

Mary Ann married Thomas Wilson in 1858 in Williamstown Victoria, Australia when she was 22 years old. One of the witnesses at her marriage was a Catherine Ginane who I think was also from Ireland and possibly known to Mary Ann or possibly a relative to Mary Ann.

Mary and Thomas had the following three children while living in Victoria Australia

Mary Ann born 1859 - died 1860,
John born 1860
Thomas born 1861

The family then sailed to Otago New Zealand.

My Great Grandmother Sarah Wilson was born in Dunedin New Zealand 20th Apr 1863.The family then moved to Wellington New Zealand where Sarah's brother's and sister's were born
Alice born 1864 Wellington NZ
Catherine 1866 Wellington NZ
Mary Ann Maria 1869 Wellington NZ
William 1874 Wellington NZ

Mary Ann Wilson Nee Sheehy passed away on the 8 Sept 1892 in Wellington, New Zealand, at the age of 56 and is buried at Karori Cemetery.Wellington.

I would love to know any information about Mary Ann's life in Ireland and about my Irish ancestry

Thank you Elaine

pepenz888@gmail.com

10 replies

Elaine:

I searched on the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie and did not find any baptismal records for Sheehy children of Denis Sheehy and a mother with the maiden name Reilly. I also tried Sheehan with no sucess.

There are a good number of Co. Kerry RC parishes which do not have available records back to 1835.

I also checked the Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Co. Kerry and did not see a Denis Sheehy listed. Most Sheehy records were in the the northern part of Co. Kerry and some on the Dingle Peninsula.

Have you considered DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

I should also add that Mary Ann's father Denis was listed as a laborer on her marriage cert but on her death cert he is listed as a farmer

pepenz888@gmail.com

Hello Roger,

Thank you for helping me research my G G Grandmother. I have had my DNA done through Ancestry but so far I have not had a close match or any I can find with Mary Ann. The information I have provided was taken from Mary Ann and her husband Thomas Wilson who were married in Wiliamstown Victoria Australia a year after Mary Ann arrived in Australia I am not sure if I have the correct spelling for both the surnames which is problematic in itself. I have looked at Mary Ann's mother's maiden name again and it looks like it is spelt Rahally. I will attach the Marriage cert here also which may be helpful.

Elaine

pepenz888@gmail.com

Elaine:

It is Rahally.   The marriage was in a Church of England parish. Do you know if Mary Ann was Church of Ireland when she lived in Ireland or did she convert in New Zealand?

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Rodger I remember reading that Mary Ann was catholic but I have not actually seen any thing to confirm that. Thomas and Mary Ann were married in the COE parish in Australia and I know that Thomas declared he was COE

 

pepenz888@gmail.com

Elaine:

OK. No luck searching using Rahally.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for looking Roger.

I have tried over the years to enter differant ways of spelling both the surnames on my Ancestry family tree. I thought that Rahally may have been Reilly and all the diffrent spellings for Sheehy hoping for a hint or hit on the surnames trying any and every surname that sounds similar I am at a loss where to go from here

 

 

 

pepenz888@gmail.com

Elaine:

Possibly the surname was actually Rahilly in Ireland. This is a surname almost always found in Co. Kerry and Co. Cork. There was a famous Irish patriot known as the O'Rahilly. He was from Ballylongford in north Co. Kerry.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_O%27Rahilly

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger,

Thank you I have entered the new spellling on my ancestry page and will see if I have any hints for that nameI also searched the shipping imformation today for Mary Ann's voyage to Australia I found the following information

Age      Fiche     Month     Org      Page     Port      Ship            Year          Name

21         123        April      ENG       6          B        SABRINA      1857       SHEEHEY MARY ANN

 

I now have another spelling for Mary Ann's surname.

It also states her org is Eng while some of the other's on the list said Irish.

Is there anyway of finding out if Mary Ann left  Ireland in April 1857 and went to Southhamton to sail to Australia or could the Eng mean she was living in England before she left?

Elaine

pepenz888@gmail.com

Elaine:

Records for ships leaving Ireland are basically non-existent. The Eng could mean that the ship left England and then stopped in Ireland for passengers.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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