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Mary McNamee (1800s in Lurgan/Castlerahan/Mullagh parish)

CavanCastlerahan (Cavan)Lurgan (Cavan)

 

TMy 2nd great grandmother was Mary McNamee -- married Phillip McMahon in 1843  (in Curacloghan, Lurgan Parish) and gave birth to my great grandfather Phillip McMahon in 1854 (Raffony, Mullagh Parish).  This Philip eventually married Mary Duffy (1879) and had 14 children (area of Rahardrum).  Anyway, I am trying to discover more information about Mary McNamee.  Ancestry trees where I have distant DNA matches have a Mary that  was born in 1800 (without documantation), but I find that hard to fathom as she would have been 54 at the time of Philip's birth. I am wondering if anyone has any further insight or could perhaps direct me in a direction to research.  I am not 100% convinced that I even have the correct branch of the McNamee family.  I know that records are likely scarce from this time period, so my quest may never be accomplished.

  I am actually in the process of planning a trip to Ireland in September (Or if that doesn't pan out, for next March.  I notice that County Cavan is never included on any established touurs.  I plan to spend two nights in the area of Virginia (as this is where my mother was from -- she was born and raised in Aughacashel. Both her parents were McMahon.  On her father's side, surnames also included Walter McMahon who married Mary Smith.  Walter was the son of James McMahon and Julia Tuite; Mary was the daughter of James Smith and Judith Glennon.  On her mother's side, Nora McMahon was the daugher of Philip McMahon and Mary Duffy.  Philip was the son of Philip McMahon and Mary McNamee; Mary was the daughter of Michael Duffy and Catherine Kelly.    I would welcome any insight anyone might have on any of these families (I do have some information form census data. parish records, etc. ) I will be planning to visit various cemeteries in the area and just drivinng through the areas where their families once resided.

Thanks in advance for any information! 

 

 

 

 

 

blashe@sbcglobal.net

5 replies

Kathy:

The RC records for Lurgan and Castlerahan parishes go back to the late 1700s. I searched the subscription site Roots Ireland and there is a July 18 1816 baptismal record for a Mary McNemee (as transcribed) in the Castlerahan RC parish. Father was Michael McNemee and mother was Rose Boly. Possible lead for your Mary.

If you have not done so already, your research may be enhanced by a short-term subscription to Roots Ireland.

The free site www.irishgenealogy.ie  has civil birth, marriage and death records starting in 1864. Birth records stop in 1921, marriage records stop in 1946 and death records in 1971 due to Irish privacy rules.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger.  Thank you so much for your reply.  I periodically subscribe to Roots Ireland when I have a bunch of people that I need to research to see if anything pops up and I am a huge fan of the Irish Geneology sitet! I do have the record that you cite for Mary McNamee from 1816, but as of yet, have no other information to determine if she could be the Mary McNamee I seek. She will likely be one of the "brick walls" in my research.  Take care!

blashe@sbcglobal.net

Hi Kathy,  

I agree Co. Cavan is never included in any of the tours, (which is its charm!) but you can come to Cavan on the national buses (Bus Eireann) and just as if you got off one of those tours you would have to find your way around, the buses all stop in Virginia. When I go to a place I don't know (even cities) I just take local taxis, (the hotel or B & B you are staying in can give you the names of the best local taxis) I would ask them to leave me for an hour or so and come back for me, though if you know exactly what you are looking for and where it is, you may ask them to wait while you dash for the photo.  I find taxis a convenient method of transport, particularly when the distances are not too far, best time for photographing grave is in the morning before noon.  

I see you are planning to visit several cemeteries before you come you can look online and see what records are available.  Records of Lurgan new and old graveyard are on Findagrave there are very few photos, Raffoney is well photographed and you will find a list of the other graveyards here https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery-browse/Ireland/County-Cavan/Virgini….  You may find some more on https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/cavan/photos/tombstones/markers….  Castlerahan graves are recorded on https://historicgraves.com/graveyard/castlerahan/cv-crhn.  Grave transcriptions have given me my oldest family record, however I am still missing the generation between that transcription and church records, however I feel luckier than most for that.  If I am available I could meet you.

Another source I use is the newspapers though not complete http://www.irelandoldnews.com is a free source while https://www.irishnewsarchive.com can be subscribed to for a month, do remember to cancel the auto subscription, but I find it so addictive that I wait for the big discounts and subscribe for a year.  

McNamee is more common in Co Meath according to the 1911 census.  One of my distant cousins married McNamee, they now use the Irish version of their name MacNamidhe and were from the Trim, Co. Meath.  I have a Michael Tuite in my family tree, he married a distant cousin of mine Rose O'Reilly from Crossafehin, their daughter Penelope Tuite was found in the fragmented census of 1821 age 3 with her grandparents, that is the furthest back I can go on that line.  

When estimating ages I roughly age the parents 30 years younger than their child, particularly when I have nothing else to go on, the other query I usually have is that perhaps the mother died young and the father remarried, the proliferation of similar names makes it difficult to sometimes sort it out.  

I hope I have give you some more avenues to look at.  

Regards Carmel O'Callaghan

 

 

 

Bailieborough CavanIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Carmel!  

Thank you so much for taking the time to repond. I have booked my trip to Ireland and will be passing through Virginia on Sunday, October 16 --spending the night in a local bed and breakfast and heading out on Monday.  (My husband and I have rented a car). From my information, I know my grandparents are buried in the Old Lurgan cemetery.  There is a McMahon family plot there.  My grandparents do not have individual grave markers.  I also know that I have relatives (uncle, great aunt , and likely others)  buried in Maghera Cemetery -- they are from my grandmother's branch of the McMahons which came from Rahardrum.  None of these graves have been indexed on find-a-grave, but I do have pictures of several of them.  The Tuite family from which my great  great great-grandmother came from was from Lurganboy, and my hunch is that her relatives are in St. Bartholomew's Cemetery. (I believe she may have had a brother Michael and a cousin Michael and there may have been a Michael in the previous generation. It appears the two brothers, Walter and Andrew, named their children with the same names: Andrew, Michael, Matthew, Julia, Bridget, and Walter). The Smith family was from Mullaghmore. (In the 1911 census, my great grandmother Mary Smith McMahon's brother James was on the farm there). The McNamee family is likely from the Killakeen area, but I have no details yet that definitively connect Mary to them. The Duffys were from Cranadillon.  The Glennons were from Crossafehin. My mom's homeplace is now referred to as Keelagh on the maps, and according to my aunt is now owned by a woman from Australia.  Just wondering if name places have changed much since the 1911 census .  I am not sure if I would gain further information from the Cavan Geneology Center. Do you know if they have additional records that are not available through online sources?  Anyway, I will look again through the sites you referenced and see if something new pops up for me.  I appreciate the referral to the newpapers, and enjoy reading the tidbits in the articles.  I will watch for a discounted rated on the subscription site.  

Thank you again for your information!

Kathy

 

 

 

blashe@sbcglobal.net

Thanks Kathy,

If you have grave photos you can load them up on the various sites.  Someone usually indexes them.  Not too sure what else Cavan Genealogy has but the library downstairs may have books on the local parishes, they may also be available in Virginia usually for research purposes, meaning you cannot remove them, but I just take photos of relevant articles & pages and review them later rather than stopping to read. Cumann Seanchais Bhreifne publish journals every year see online at http://www.breifnehistory.com some articles are online but are in the library, you may find something refering to your ancestors, journals can be purchased also in the Genealogy office or online.  

Walter would be an usual name, which means it may be easier to track along the families..  

There is a new site relating to all things historical in Cavan https://cavantownlands.com.  This Youtube video explains it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQtsIVzck-c ;

Regards Carmel

 

 

Bailieborough CavanIrelandXO Volunteer

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