Rhatigan Family (Longford??)

Hi Roger!

Thank you so much for checking! We do have his naturalization record, but his birth date is not listed on it. He is on multiple NYC censuses, but his birth year varies from 1865-1871. He appears to have been born in August. We also thought we found him on a list of passengers (since the arrival date matches that of his naturalization record), but according to that list, he was born in 1860. Also, according to the censuses, Bridget was born around 1865 and Mary was born somewhere between 1870-75. Bridget's death certificate lists her parents as James and Catherine, but his lists them as James and Mary. (Essentially we keep hitting brick walls since the information we do have is so vague).

-Colleen

As far as I know, we don't have any Patricks in the family at all. I saw the John Rhatigan/Mary Devine couple, and I was wondering if that was John and Mary's parents as well. Both John and Mary's death certificates list Mary as their mother, it's only Bridget's that mentions a Catherine. I looked through some of the microfilm records of baptisms in different Longford parishes, but the ones where I found Rhatigans listed were also the ones that were not always clear.

Hi Roger,

We just received the death certificate for John Rhatigan, and it lists his mother as Mary Kline. I'm guessing that the James Rhatigan/Bridget Clyne seems like the more logical conclusion, but as far as I know, we don't have any Patricks on that side of the family at all.

Thanks!

Colleen

Colleen and I worked on this family together.  I thought I would update, since Roger was kind enough to reply Colleen's query.  We posted this back before we were familiar with the records.

Roger, you are correct.  James Rhatigan and Bridget Clyne are the correct parents for John Rhatigan.  Bridget must have also gone by Mary, because John's death record gives his mother as "Mary Kline" (Clyne), but a marriage reord for him in the U.S. shows "Bridget Cline."  They lived in Carrickedmond.  I cannot find a marriage record for James and Bridget, but I found a dispensation in parish records in 1955.

We found a Baptism records for John (1963), Mary (1966), and Patrick (1869), and civil birth records for Mary and Patrick.  I was not able to find birth or Baptism records for Bridget.  In U.S. census records, Bridget and Mary are listed as sisters. Bridget's death record has the same father and the same maiden surname for her mother, but a different first name.  This could be an error; I have found many errors on birth certificates.  Or it could be that she was not a biological sister, but maybe a cousin, raised with the family.  Just one theory.  It remains a mystery.  All four siblings emigrated to New York.

I believe there was at least one other sibling, James, who remained in Ireland.  All evidence points to that, same father, townland, children who emigrated to U.S. indicate the above-mentioned Bridget as an aunt.  But I haven't found birth or Baptism for James, and so I don't know his mother's maiden name which would tell us for sure.

Roger, thank you for assisting us last year!

Of course, I meant 1863 and 1866 for John's and Mary's births, and 1855 for the dispensation....

Roger,

Thank you for all that information. I neglected to mention in my post that I had made good progress in piecing together the family. I had found all the same records that you post here.  It is reassuring to know that your findings exactly confirm what I was able to find.  Thanks so much!