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Kilchirst, Diocese of Killaloe How to locate name of actual church

ClareClondagad (Clare)

Hello, my latest challenge is to discover if a church still exists from 1862.

Is it possible to locate the name of church where a marriage and several  christenings took place? If so, who do I contact?

All records show the same area of Kilchirst, Diocese of Killaloe., but no mention of a church name. 

Thus far I have been able to :

Establish dates which my great grandparents were married – Thomas Duggan and Mary Purcell – March 3, 1862. They had a total of 7 children.

Baptism of my great uncle Martin Duggan – Nov 1867, we think the 4th.

Birth date of my grandfather – Patrick Duggan – January 12, 1866. I have not been able to locate a baptism record as yet but his birth records show same area.

Patrick’s other sibling’s (including sister Mary Duggan - March 13, 1870 )have records from the same diocese up until 1872 so one would have to consider that the family stayed connected with the same church. In viewing online copies of old handwritten parish registers there is no reference to a location where events occurred. 

I will be travelling to the area in mid March. It would be nice to to locate the church if it still exists. I live in the UK, my sister is traveling over from the US and we are going to explore the area.  It would make a lovely surprise for her if I could find out a name and location. 

cmbrain1

9 replies

If you have not done so already, could you complete the attached form regarding your trip details?  https://www.irelandxo.com/meet-and-greet

The current parish is known as Ballynacally/Lissycasey. One church is known Our Lady of the Wayside in Lissycasey and the other is Christ the King which is closer to Ballynacall/Clondegad.

This writeup on the parish website includes some history and a likely picture of the church where your ancestors were baptized http://www.ballynacally.com/graveyards.html

On the subscription site FindMyPast.ie  I located a March 17 1872 baptismal record for a Margaret Duggan with parents Thomas  and Mary Purcell.

Roger McDonnell

 

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

To add to Roger McDonnells' Post, I add a "History of Ballynacally" by Mary Hester.

The church of Christ the King, Ballycorick was dedicated on February 17th 1861 by Bishop Flannery of Killaloe. The parish priest was the Rev. Michael Dinan, Ballynacally. The site for the church was granted by Thomas Rice Henn, (barrister at Law) of Paradise (local address), together with a sum of £50.

Source: The Diocese of Killaloe1850 - 1904 by Monsignor Ignatius Murphy.

Regards,

McCoy

Clare library  www.clarelibrary.ie ; has the following records for Clondegad-Kilchreest:

Witnesses to the marriage of Thomas Duggan to Mary Purcell - Michael Halvey and John Purcell.

Baptism of  Anne Duggan April 24th 1864 - Sponsors: Michael Conway and Mary Tool.

Baptism of Martin Duggan November 4th 1867 - Sponsors: Martin Kelly and Margaret Toole.

Baptism Sponsor for Margaret Duggan - Kate Donnelly.

In most cases of baptism, the priest did not record the address of the family, which makes it very difficult to identify the various families where you have similar first names.

Regards,

McCoy

I901 Irish Census has a record of a Thomas Duggan with wife Mary, both aged 80 years, in the Civil townland of Gortygeeheen, Parish of Clondegad. Could they be your Great Grandparents?

Mary Purcell apparently was from Glaun, in the area of Lisacasey village - Marriage record.

Regards,

McCoy

Well to use a term that I have adopted since moving to the UK many years ago ... I AM GOBSMACKED !!!!

Thank you all for your contributions.  I look forward to investigating further before coming back with further questions.  I do find it interesting that we could not find any baptism records for my Grandfather  Patrick Duggan – January 12, 1866 DOB, particularly as his siblings older and younger were traceable. 

I have a renewed excitement . 

cmbrain1

CM,

Anne Duggan is recorded as "Nancy" in the Civil records. See No. 167 on attached page.

Patrick may have been recorded under a different name. The surname "Doohan" is common in the area - Possible?

Regards,

McCoy

Hi McCoy, this brings up an interesting point. How common is it for 1st names to be altered?

You have actually helped clear up a brick wall that we had for some time.  We had found birth records for NANCY but then could not find any paper trail after. We also found records for ANNA once she arrived in the US but could never find birth records for her.  We had wondered if the two names were actually the same person. It wasn’t until we reviewed the birth certificate in more detail that we noticed that both names were mention on the certificate (though in different areas). Can you think of a reason why NANCY is mentioned as birth name in line 167 and the stated as ANN DUGGAN in the lower section. Did this happen often?

cmbrain1

CM,

The name "Nancy" would not be a common first name in that period, so the Registrar corrected it to Ann.

I have not seen this situation before.

Regards,

McCoy

Hello CM,

We must be related!  I am a Purcell.  I am quite confident that my GG-grandfather James Purcell came from this parish.  He was born around 1815 and died in 1865 in New York State.  Have you taken a DNA test?  My test results are in Ancestry.com and FamilyTreeDNA.com.  I wonder if you would show up as a DNA match to me.

purcellje

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