Rodger(Roger) Dowd

RE: Looking for Rodger(Roger) Dowd (Born 1800) and Mary Feely

Hi Michael,

I read your post regarding Rodger/Roger Dowd and Mary Feely (Feele), and I believe I have found the exact location of your family in Ireland!

While your records pointed to County Leitrim, the family actually lived just across the county border in the townland of Cloonfad More, County Roscommon (Parish of Aughrim), which sits right outside Carrick-on-Shannon.

I have recently accessed the official Land Registry folios and historical Valuation books for the family homestead in Cloonfad More. The legal documents explicitly preserve a historic Land Commission right for James O'Dowd dating back to an order from 4th July 1900. Furthermore, the local 1901 Irish Census for this exact land parcel lists James O'Dowd (born 1869) living with his 74-year-old father, John O'Dowd (born circa 1827).

This John O'Dowd matches the 1857 Griffith's Valuation records for the plot. It is highly probable that John was the brother of your James Dowd (born 1830) who emigrated to Boston in 1853, meaning John stayed behind to farm the family land while James and Roger went to America. The handwritten family name "Dowd" is still noted on the modern maps of this specific land plot.

I would love to connect with you to share the Land Registry images, census links, and map coordinates for the homestead so we can piece this lineage together.

Looking forward to hearing from you! #s