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Shovlin

Hi! We have a brick wall (or three!) and would love some help! 

My husband descends from William J Moran, b. 1910 IN d. 1997 MI (wife Vera Bertrum)

Father of William is: John Moran b 1877 PA   d 1958 IN  his wife: Anna L Kelley b 1879 OH d. 1970 IN

*Grandfather of William is: James Moran b 1842 or 1850  death unknown   his wife: Bridget Gallagher b.1845 Donegal Ire  d 1902 OH

Here is the confusing part: Bridget Gallagher was married to Daniel Shovlin 1st who was also born in Donegal (Glenties) in 1846, we believe they immigrated in 1866 with two young sons (Patrick and Daniel Shovlin). There is conflicting evidence that our John Moran is NOT James Moran's son, but Daniel Shovlin's son. We can't find record of either husbands deaths. There is also a brother named Michael and Bernard and a sister Mary. Michael and our John both seemingly changed their names to Moran after James Moran married Bridget in around 1881. (They were her two youngest children at that time, the others kept the Shovlin name)

We cannot find parents names for either Bridget Gallagher (Not confirmed names, anyway) nor James Moran nor Daniel Shovlin to continue our search.

Any ideas? We plan to be in Ireland in May for a two week trip, and cannot wait!

Jill

1 reply

Jill:

Very likely the surname was Shevlin in Ireland rather than Shovlin.

Civil registration of births and Roman Catholic marriages commenced in 1864. On the free site irishgenealogy.ie I located an 1864 civil birth for a Daniel Shevlin with father Daniel Shevlin and mother Biddy Gallagher. (Biddy was a nickname for Bridget.) Daniel was born November 29 1864 but the birth was not registered until March 15 1865.

See second record at the link  https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1865/03585/2321400.pdf

I did not locate a marriage record but likely it was before 1864 so no civil record and we don't have a church record that I could locate.

I did not find a birth record for Patrick but if he was older than Daniel, there would be no civil record and church records were not available

The townland shown on the birth record appears to be Meenargan but there is not townland with that spelling in Inishkeel civil parish. Could be Meenalargan.

Based on 1858 Griffiths Valuation data, the surname Shevlin was quite common in Inishkeel civil parish. However, finding the names of the parents of Bridget and Daniel will be difficult because of the lack of church records.

Finding where James Moran came from will be very challenging.

Have you considered a general DNA test?

Once you finalize your travel plans, please complete this form  https://www.irelandxo.com/meet-and-greet

Roger McDonnell

 

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