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Richard Kelly, of County Wexford?

Richard Kelly is one of my paternal great, great grandfathers.  What I know about him is as follows:

On November 4, 1856 Richard Kelly married Ellen Murphy in the Basillica de Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada.  The church record of this marriage states both Richard and Ellen were from County Wexford, that this was the first marriage for both, their parents were, respectively, John Kelly & Mary Farrell and Jeremiah Murphy & Ann Roach and that they were both spoken for by a brother Patrick Kelly and Michael Murphy.

In the 1851 Canada East Census (Quebec) there is a Richard Kelly from County Wexford, age 28, but he is listed as a widower.  This would give a birth year of about 1823.

In the 1861 Canada East Census Richard, Ellen and their children (including my great grandfather) are listed.  Richard's age is given as 40 for a birth year od about 1821.

In the 1880 U.S. Census Richard and his family are in Worcester County, Massachusetts,his age is listed as 55 for a birthyear of about 1825.

Richard died on August 4, 1890 in Royalston, Worchester County, Massachusetts.  His age is listed as 73 for a birth year of 1817.  Both my great grandfather and grandfather died young so there are no family traditions or lore to speak of.  There may and I stress may be a connection to Mooncoin Parish in County Kilkenny.  There was a Richard Kelly born there in 1811 to a John Kelly and a Mary Farrell, but there is no record of these three or another son named Patrick in the 1821 Census of the Parish.  Is it possible that Richard's family could have moved to County Wexford when he was very young?

 

pauldenguy@gmail.com

5 replies

pauldenguy:

I searched on the subscription sites Roots Ireland and FindMyPast.ie   and did not see a Wexford baptismal record for Richard Kelly with parents John Kelly and Mary Farrell. I looked for the baptismal record you located in Mooncoin parish Co. Kilkenny. The only record I found was October 19 1811. The parents were John Kelly and Mary Keefe.  I even looked up the actual parish register record in case there was a transcription error but it did show Keefe not Farrell.  Did you see a different record? 

You also mentioned that you did not find the family in the 1821 census. Almost the entire 1821 census for Ireland was destroyed. A few fragments remain and for Co. Kilkenny all that remains are two families in Callan parish.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Roger:

Thank you so much for your reply.  In my haste to present all the facts I had at my disposal I made one crucial mistake and that was the last name of Richard's mother.  It is, indeed, "Keeffee", or at least that's how the French Canadian priest wrote it down in the parish record.  I have seen the October 19, 1811 record.  Do you suppose it's possible that a transcription error occurred.?  Could someone have read "1811"  as "1817" somewhere along the line?  The study of early 19th century hand writing styles in Ireland is beyond my abilities.  I do know that the Richard Kelly in the 1851 Canada East Census place of origin is transcribed as "Nexford County" clearly there is no "Nexford" County in Ireland so I know transcription errors can and do occur.

By some miracle the 1821 census for Mooncoin Parish survived in its entirety,  one of only a literal handful that have.  This census includes the 32 townlands that made up the parish at that time.  The census is full of Kellys and Keeffes .

I have been in contact with a distant Irish cousin  via Ancestry.  When I asked her about possible common ancestors her reply began with "are your Kelly & Keeffe people from Mooncoin?"  That's what sent me in that direction.

I do have a baptism record for a Patrick Kelly, parents John Kelly and Mary Keeffe born in 1824 in Killegeny, County Wexford.  The problem for me (and everyone else) is that these are such incredibly common Irish given names and surnames.  Looking at a map Mooncoin doesn't seem to be very far from Killegeny, but I don't know how common it was for rural farm families to move around back then in Ireland.  

My thought is that if his family moved when he was very young it might never have occurred to Richard that he was from anywhere else than County Wexford.  I do know most of my Irish ancestors were pretty fluid when it came to reporting their ages to any civil authority in the U.S., particularly so with the women and also as both the men and the women  got older, but they seemed to be a lot more truth with their priest.

Bill Kelly

 

pauldenguy@gmail.com

Bill:

Here is a link to the actual October 1811 parish register   https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000635315#page/189/mode/1up ;  The record for Richard is on the right hand side second record. The priest showed the date in the middle of the page.

Is there a site online with the 1821 census for Mooncoin? It did not appear to be on the National Archives site unless I missed it.

Mooncoin and Killegney are 46 kilometers apart  (28 miles). Not impossible but unlikely for 1824.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

The website is History of Mooncoin.

pauldenguy@gmail.com

Bill:

Thanks! I'm going to see if we can add to our parish page for Mooncoin. Happy New Year!

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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