Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Mary Freehill

CavanKildallan (Cavan)

Hi.

Mary Freehill was my G G Grandmother. We believe she was born c1824 Co Cavanand died in BallyconnellCo Cavan 26 Nov 1900 aged 76 years. She had married Patrick McCaffrey (c1810-1902), also from Cavan (Ballyconnell area, Mucklagh) about 1850. Together they had 11 children all of whom we have tracedwith varying degrees of success and spanning Ireland, USA, Australia and South Africa.

Our family oral history (in Australia)has long held that Mary Freehill was related (she was possibly a sister)to a Patrick Freehill of Ballyconnell, Cavan who came to Sydney in 1844 with his wife Margaret Cosgrove and established himself as a very successful Sydney Baker. His sons became solicitors and started a legal firm which is now one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere. The Freehill'swere strong supporters of the Catholic faith in Australia and were very well knownto the Catholic heirarchy. One of Patrick's daughter in laws (wife of his son Bede Francis Freehill) became Australia's first Papal Countess.

Patrick Freehill's parents were Bernard Freehill and Mary McKernan, but I have had no luck finding a record that links our Mary to this couple as herparents (or otherwise related).

There is too much of the Freehill family's history in Australia that matches our family oral history (passed down by my G Grandfather James McCaffrey, son of Mary Freehill) to be coincidence. The frustration is finding Irish records which support the link. Any help that leads me to a resolution will be very gratefully accepted.

Regards from Pablo in Sydney.

Pablo

6 replies

Pablo:

Records for the RC parish (Kildallan/Tomregan) in that area do not begin until 1867 (baptisms) and 1857 (marriages) which would be after when Mary was born and married.

You may want to consider DNA testing for genealogy purposes and specifically the autosomal DNA test. If you and a descendant of Patrick Freehill took the test, you likely will see the connection you are looking for.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

My G-G Grandmother was Mary Catherine Freehill from County Cavan. She came to California with her brother in 1851. She was known as Catherine. Herr brother went back to Ireland and opened a pub with the money from the goldfields. She stayed and married Louis Byington of Downieville and had two children, Emma and Lewis Jr. Emma is my ancestor.

Charley

 

IrelandXO member

Neglected to put in dates...Catherine Freehill was born in 1827 and died at age 98  (1925) in San Francisco, CA. She married Lewis Byington (1820-1886) in 1857. (Mary) Emma Byington (1863-1921) married Tirey Ford (1857-1928) in 1888 and they had three children, (Mary) Relda, Tirey Jr. and Byington. Relda (1888-1951) was my grandmother. She married S.F.B. Morse (1885-1969) of Pebble Beach California in 1919 and they had one daughter...Mary Morse (1920 and still going strong)

Charley

IrelandXO member

Hi CharleyO. Thankyou for your response. I fair while back I used to communicate (by email) regularly with a Tony McHugh in Ireland who knew a lot about the Freehill's. He was convinced that our Mary was related to one of only two Freehill families in Cavan (one at Snugsborough and the other at Carrowmore). Unfortunately the lack of records made it impossible to verify which of the families she belonged to. He did relay to me the story about your Catherine's brother. (Barney if I recall but not sure). Anyway, our Mary was of a similar 'vintage' as your Catherine and brother having been born circa 1824. Unlikely that they were siblings as it would be strongly unlikely to have two children named 'Mary'. Do you happen to know who your Catherine's parents were and where they were from in Cavan? Interestingly the 'Mary' seems to run strongly in the family. (PS: Tony HcHugh hasn't responded to emails I have sent for awhile so he may have either changed his email or passed away) Regards Pablo (Paul) from Sydney. Australia.

Pablo

Charley

Good to hear from you.  My name is Mary Freehill while I came from Ballyconnell I now  live in Dublin.   I know that a relative (probably uncle) of my grandfather emigrated to Navada and think his name was Tommy Freehill.   He had shares in Comstock Mines and died.  My grandfather and his brothers inherited an amount of money and I am almost sure there was a court case about his Will and have a recollection of a story that some of them in Ireland went to the Hearing in Navada.   I am almost sure  he had a sister with him in Navada.   Does any of that ring a bell?    If so you can contact me at marycfreehill@gmail.com

Mary

mary Freehill

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.