The mystery of who in the 1890s and late 1880s raised my grandmother, Mary Lydon, in Kinvera, County Galway
Greetings and God bless you!
Mary Lydon's father, James Lydon died in Kinvara 2/23/1888 when Mary was six. I know from the parish church marriage records of 1880 and Jame's civil death record that Mary's actual birth mother was Honor Fahy, but my grandmother's marriage record in 1913 in Boston MA states that her mother's maiden name was Margaret Fahy. I am applying to register myself on the Foreign Birth Register and I might need to know who Margaret Fahy is. Perhaps this was her aunt. One Ancestry.com record has a Margaret Fahy born to Mary's grandfather, Thomas Fahy, Honor's father. Thomas Fahy is on the Kinvara parish record as being Honor's father.James Lydon's father was John Lydon. The parent's fathers of Mary are recorded in the Kinvara parish marriage record of 13th December, 1880. After age six, Mary may have been raised by Margaret Fahy (maiden surname), relation unknown, but possibly an aunt or grandmother.
Mary called herself "May" in Ireland, and when she emigrated to Boston, MA, in 1908, her named changed to "Mae". Mae Lydon studied nursing, and that is how she met her future husband, John Mark Smith Sr, who was studying Dentistry at the Harvard Dentist School. Mae Smith lived in Chelsea, MA her entire life in the US until she died in 1965 at age 83.
The mystery of Margaret Lydon is why I am trying to use "cluster genealogy" to prove that James Lydon and Honor Fahy are my Grandmother Mary Lydon's parents. Mary's only sibling was Bridget Lydon, born 2 July, 1883. Herein is a story that makes a circle and joins Bridget to Mary in case the FBR requires more documentation for proving my citizenship by descent. It revolves around my adopted aunt, Phyllis O'Kelly Smith. But, one problem for me is that I can't determine where Phyllis was born. I believe she was born in Ballymote near Sligo. Her date of birth is 5 September 1920. All us records say she was an American citizen, but there are no records of her birth in the US. Phyllis was adopted in the US somehow.
In about 1930 Mae and John Smith legally adopted Mae's neice, Phyllis Patricia Alexander O'Kelly, who was her sister's, Bridget (Lydon) O'Kelly's daughter. Bridget married Michael Joseph O'Kelly on April 17, 1911 in Dublin in the church of St Joseph. The Smiths received Phyllis at age three in August 1924 when she emigrated by ship from County Sligo, Ireland. Phyllis lived 92 years and passed in South Roslindale, MA in 2013.
In the mid 1950s, Mae Smith took me in and cared for her three grandchildren born to her son, John Mark Smith 2nd, after her divorced his second wife, my mother, Barbara Morris Smith. The three children were Johanna Marcia Smith, John Mark Smith 3rd, and Sydney Dodd Smith - me. Us three children returned to our mother, Barbara, within three years and were all later adopted by Sydney Dodd Frissell, Sr, when Barbara remarried in June,1963 in Darien, CT.
I have my relatives records below to refer to as well as possible records of Margaret Fahy. I want to establish who Margaret is in relation to my grandmother, Mary, and I would like to know if Phyllis was born in Ireland. Probably I won't know. Civil records end 1919, but on January 1st, 2021 the records of Phyllis's birth should be visible after 100 years?
Thank you all if anyone can help me. Mary Lydon is listed as a Galway ancestor on Irelandxo with numerous records also. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Syd Frissell Jr