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Nellis/McNelis

Seeking the burial place of the parents of Bernard “Barney” Nellis who was born in Donegal in January 1827 and who left Donegal for Pittsburgh in January 1847.

Our recent search indicates a strong possibility the family may have come from the area north and west of Ardara.

The extended Nellis family are coming over to Donegal in August and I'd like to locate the grave of Barney’s parents or a ruin or townland to bring them to, to show them their actual roots.

Paul Kennedy

pfpkennedy@gmail.com

086 852 4015

Paul Kennedy

3 replies

Paul:

As you likely know finding RC church records in Co. Donegal pre-1850 is very difficult. The records for the parishes near Ardara: Ardara, Glenties, Inishkeel all begin in the 1860s.

The most common spelling of the surname in the 19th century was McNelis. I looked at the 1857 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Co. Donegal and there were no William McNelis records. (Since the oldest son was William, I was thinking that maybe Barney named his oldest son after his father). As an aside, there was a 13 year gap between William McNelis and Mary Ann McNelis. Was Barney married twice?

The 1901 census for Co. Donegal lists 108 McNelis families. The civil parishes were mainly Columbkille, Killybegs Lower, Killybegs Upper, Kilcar, Templecrone and Inishkeel. All of these civil parishes are in the southwest Co. Donegal.

Any other clues? Siblings to Barney who stayed in Ireland etc? Did your cousin test his or her DNA?

Roger McDonnell

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks, Roger, for the detailed response.

You've posed some interesting ideas - re siblings remaining in Ireland re siblings remaining in Ireland and the likelihood Barney's father may have been named William. I'm heading up to Ardara to-morrow (Wed 18th) for a couple of days and these are areas I'll look into. First I have to find the townland where they come from.

In response to your queries, Barney and Bridget were married right to the end and my cousin has indeed tested his DNA. Ideally it would be great to obtain DNA samples of those who may be related to him but I'd be reluctant to ask given the age we live in.

Paul

Paul Kennedy

Paul:

I figured you lived in Ireland based on the phone number. I'm in the States. I have two Donegal lines: one ( McFadden) up in Raymunterdoney parish and the other (Brennan) near Lifford.

I don't know what company your cousin tested with but he should have received a listing of matches starting with the closest to more distant. If he has not done so already, he should e-mail his closest matches (he may recognize some already) and see if he can identify any with McNelis connections. Hopefully, they might have more info on the origin of the family in Donegal. Even a match who is living in Australia/England or the States might have the key information.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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