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Searching for McGinty Surname

Dublin

I am searching for any connection to Margaret McGinty, born about 1837 in Dublin, Ireland.  Margaret married a man with the last name of Kelly or Kelley in Dublin and they emigrated to the USA in about 1854 or 1855.  At the time of their journey Margaret was pregnant.  Her husband, with the surname of Kelly or Kelley, died on the voyage to the USA.  Their daughter, Mary, was born 2/2/1856 in Richmond, Virginia.  Soon thereafter, Margaret married John Coan and they lived the balance of their lives in St. Louis, Missouri, in the town of Carondelet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

IrelandXO member

3 replies

Hi Kevin,

The only baptism/birth record of Margaret McGinty in Dublin around 1837 is Margaret MacGennnity 1843 on www.rootsireland.ie/

There was no marriage record in Dublin but when I searched all counties there was 1 record:

1873 in county Monaghan

I then re-checked the births for Margaret in all counties and got 2 1836 Roscommon & 1838 Leitrim

In the Tithe Applotments 1823-37 which are free to search online there are no McGintys in Dublin but there are 108 in other counties.

Griffiths Valuation 1848-64 also freely accessible has 6 McGintys in Dublin

on ancestry.com the davis public member tree has her birth 1837 as per the death record but this would make her only 19 when she married John Coan in 1856; the US censuses have her birth about 1830-32

I still couldn't find a birth record in Dublin or in any other county for 1830-32.

I can get access to findmypastireland this afternoon and will check that for her.

Col

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Col,

Thanks, but my searches for Margaret McGinty have proven fruitless.  I searched rootsireland as well and got the results you mentioned in Roscommon & Leitrim, but they are for the last name of Ginty and Geinty, not McGinty.

You seem to be a bit of an expert so maybe if you don't mind you could mull over what I have below and give me your opinions on where next to look:

I don't have much information about her at all, but what I do have is this:

She was most certainly illiterate, so God knows how her name was really spelled;

The USA death Certificates for her children show her name as being spelled as McGinty (on 3), one says McGee, another says McGinn and yet another is blank for the last name.

I also found church baptismal records for two of her children and there her name is spelled McG@@@y, but the names are written in cursive and the letters between G and Y are impossible to make out, but there definately is no T in either one.

I know she came to the USA in 1855 and her daughter Mary was born in Richmond, VA., in February 1856.  I can find no record of a Margaret McGinty on any passenger manifests.  Also, she was supposedly married at the time of the trip over and her husband died in transit.  Some say his surname was Kelly, but I have nothing to verify that and it is such a common name.

Her 2nd husband and my great grandfather was living in St. Louis, MO in 1850 in a boarding house.  By the 1860 census Margaret and John were married with three kids and living here in St. Louis.  Somehow Margaret and Mary got from Richmond to St. Louis between 1856 and 1860, but I have no idea how.

A supposition I've made involves the 1850 census.  At that time when John Coan was living in St. Louis in a boarding house, also living there was an Ellen McGuin (similar name).  I'm surmising that perhaps she was Margaret's sister and that she learned of Margaret's plight in Richmond and sent John to retrieve her?  Just a guess.

Any clues you might have would be appreciated.  ALso, I can find no birth records for Mary McGinty or Mary Kelly in Richmond, VA., in 1856.

Thanks,

IrelandXO member

Hi Kevin,

Yes there were transcription inaccuracies and literacy problems that don't help with a surname like hers - not to mention the evolution of sunames (addition and dropping of Mc) etc But perhaps they warrant consideration as possibilities if the birth years match

I had a look on findmypast ireland. There were a couple of entries for Mary McGinty born in Dublin bur the births were earlier - 1821 & 22. Amusingly, there were all court records of when these Marys had been incarcerated -  1847 in Grangegorma, 1849 in Newgate & 1860 in Kilmainham

In response to your question of where to look next I suggest you try on rootsireland for births in Dubkin for all versions of the name you mentioned were used on the death certificate and baptism records and expand the birth years to 1982 to 1839. If no luck try the same in all counties not just Dublin.

If you search RESIDENTIAL on www.eircom.ie/ for McGinty in Dublin there are 11.

We have had success with people writing to these listings setting out what you have & what you want to know so it might be worth a shot.

Col 

 

 

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

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