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Seeking help with Colwell

Hello,

Oh, how I wish I had the information necessary to complete the Parish section of this website. Unfortunately, I have hit the proverbial brick wall on my great-grandfather, Charles Colwell. One US record indicates he hails from Co Mayo, but he was an infant when mom, Mary Adams, left Ireland around 1850, which means he only knows what mom told him. Mom married a man in the US in Dec 1850 and I cannot locate any arrival records for Charles or Mary. I also cannot find Irish birth records for Mary, Charles Sr or Charles Jr or an Irish marriage record for Charles Sr and Mary Adams. Barring the one US record showiing Co Mayo as home, all other US records only state Ireland as home. Any help with this brick wall would be so appreciated.

Thank you kindly,

Kathleen

kmecilv@yahoo.com

2 replies

Kathleen:

Civil registration of births in Ireland started in 1864. Civil registration of non-Roman Catholic marriages started in 1845 and the RC marriages were civilly registered in 1864, Do you know if your Colwells/Adams were RC or Church of Ireland?

Colwell as you indicated was not a common surname and according to the Griffiths Valuation data from the mid-19th century, Colwell was found in Norther Ireland counties.

There were no Colwells in the 1901 census for Co. Mayo but there were Colwells in a number of counties besides Northern Ireland such as Dublin, Cavan, Tipperary etc.

One possibility is that the surname may have been Caldwell which was much more common and there were six Caldwell families in Co. Mayo in 1855.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you so much, Roger. Your information has provoked new ideas for my research and I appreciate your offer to answer questions. I'll reach out again once I sort a pathway.

Best,

Kathleen

kmecilv@yahoo.com

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