Looking for McGinley, McGettigan or Byrne

Thank you both so much! We did not know that Hugh  was the father of George, Sr. or what the occupations were of any of them.  I will definitely look into the phone numbers and try and write .  Apparently there was a "McGinley" home that was recently ( over the last several years) sold in that area.  Is there somewhere I can find real estate records? That may help as well. Again, thank you so much for you kindness and help. Best,Kim

Good evening everyone! I want to introduce myself and thank you for such wonderful information. Kimberly, I had written to you via your email address a bit ago but thought I would reach out on here. I do not have any additional information to provide. However, my grandfather was Patrick McGinley (1901-1961). He passed quite a bit before I was born. Per my mother, he came here in 1929...Philadelphia to be exact and lived with his sister, Bella in SW Philly. He married my grandmother, Catherine Doherty, on June 10th, 1939. Together, they had Francis (1940-2005ish). Catherine (1941-2020) and Margaret, my mother, who was born in 1943. Of the other siblings, the one I was most familiar with was Margaret Jane. She married George Lawless and had 8 children. They resided in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. Two of their children entered religious life. I know there was a nun who passed away in the 60s or so from, I want to say rheumatic fever?. Father George Lawless O.S.A. passed away a few years ago. Her eldest daughter, Peggy, was proprieter of McNally's Tavern in Chestnut Hill. Bernard McGinley also settled in Philadelphia and had three children. His only daughter is still alive and is my brother's godmother :) There was another sister in the McGinley clan, Nellie. I know she passed away in 1980 and I believe she was born in 1906 or so. My mother and she were very close so I may be able to get more information from her. I do know that Nellie also came to Philadelphia and helped run the nursing school at Chestnut Hill Hospital in the 1950s and 1960s. However, in the latter part of the 60's or early 70's, she returned to Ireland which is where she remained until she passed away. The property you speak of, I have been told they would sit out at night and watch soldiers run guns in the hills outside of Strabane. At some point, my mom told me she was told it was actually two houses and the home the McGinleys were raised in was rather small. I had also heard that at some point, the property was sold to an order of nuns with the understanding that the family could stay a certain number of weeks a year. I am not sure how accurate this is. My grandparents passed away when my mom was quite young and they died about two months apart so what I know comes from dribs and drabs I have heard over the years and pieced together. I am also very interested in the property and what happened to it. My mom has a painting of it :) So, I was always curious at to what happened to it  and what it looks like now. Be well....Theresa

Hi Everyone,

My name is Paul McCallion and the best way to let all the McGInley connection know who i am is to outline the McGinley history.

Hugh McGinley married Nancy McDermott in Murlog, Co Donegal in 1860. Hughs parents were Daniel McGinley and Peggy Rogan from Killybegs. Nancys parents were George McDermott and Katie Clarke. They had the following children -

Daniel born 19 March 1861,

George 14 June 1863,

MaryAnn 18 November 1865,

Hugh 27 May 1868,

Susan 30 December 1870,

Bernard 17 November 1873

*Margaret Jane 22 July 1876

Elizabeth Catherine 29 September 1880

Emily Ellen 28 Aug 1885

*So my Grandmother was Margaret Jane McGinley and she married John McCallion in 1906 

Your Great Grandfather was George (my Grandmothers older brother) who married Kate McGettigan (known as Catherine also). George and Kate lived in a labours cottage in Ballinabreen, Balindrait Co Donegal. The cottage was semidetactched and would have originally been owned by the Mill where George worked as a 'Scutcher' in the Flax Mill. The Cottage is still there and for many years Margaret Lawless would visit. The last time she visited here in 1989 she did a interview for the local paper where she outlined her life since leaving Ireland as a 16 year old girl and for 69 years was still visiting her fathers cottage. There are still loads of the McGinley and McGettigan connnections in the parish. I hope this is of interest to you and I look forward to any questions you wish to ask. I myself did not know much about those who went to the States except Nellie who came back to ireland and lived out her life in the cottage in Ballinabreen.Hope to meet some of the connections again. Paul.

coneyburrow307@gmail.com   contact me and we can arrange a chat on skype or whatsapp