O'Mahony. Mahony Michael from Ballylanders

Hello,

Sometimes family stories are just that--stories.  Sometimes they contain some kernels of truth but have been exaggerated or changed over the years. I'm not saying that's what's happened here, but it is possible.  For one thing, Mahony would have been over sixty when he married in 1922. That's possible, but a bit unusual.  Some questions:

Are you absolutely sure that Mahony and Healy are one and the same person? Have you checked legal name-change records?

Have you looked at the 1922 marriage record?  Does it say how many times Mahony/Healy was married? 

Have you found an obituary or news article or death record for Quinn so that you have a year for his death?

Just a couple of ideas.

Wow. Thanks for that information Patricia and Tim.

Patricia we do have the marriage certificate of 1922 and a photo with my father who would have been about 10 at the time, and yes grandfather did look like an old man.   Maggie died of cancer in 1924, so we think that may have been why they married then. We also have her birth certificate as she was born in Australia. 

There are baptism certificates for the children and all church records use the Mahony name. 

We don't have a name change document but I think back then they may have just changed it. The electoral roll shows grandfather (Healy) and Maggie and their children living together, so we know that is the name used.

The story goes that grandfather took over the job at the railways of a friend named Martin Healy so he could get work. As you say it could be just a story, but the name does exist at the railways at that time.

If there are no marriages for Michael in Ireland then its possible James Quinn was the impediment. We have not been able to find his death certificate but he may have moved to another country for all we know.

Thanks for your assistance and investigations. 

Hi,

This may be a stretch, but have you considered that his name was always Martin Healy, that he used another name for a time and then reverted to Martin?

I looked at RootsIreland for a Martin Healy born in Limerick between 1851 and 1871 and got one return:

Martin Richard Healy, born January 11, 1857, in the Catholic parish of St. Michael's. Parents: Martin Healy, Mary Nihill(?). The birth month of January matches your Martin's, though this one is a few years older--not an unusual finding.

Thanks. I will look into that too.