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The Conry Mystery

GalwayBallinakill Derrybrien (Galway)

Hi,

 

I am trying to get details of my great great grandparents Richard Conry and Mary Goonan. Their children migrated to Australia in 1850 and 1854. On the immigration papers they are list as deceased. My cousin and I have been searching for records of them for more than two years without success. The immigration papers for all of the migrating Conry's state that they are from Ballynakill. Since arriving in Australia they family has used the name Conroy. We were surprised to find the name Conry on the immigration papers.

 

We believe Ballinakill-Derrybrien may been the home parish of our forebears because of family links in Australia. My great-grandfather married Catherine Abberton of Woodford in Australian in 1870. There is some evidence that the Conrys/Conroy and the Abberton were connected through marriage before immigration.

 

Is it possible that there may some rrecord of Richard and Mary in records at St Patricks, Ballinakill. My cousin plans to travel to Ireland next month would love to see any records should they exist.

 

Any help or suggestions would be deeply appreciated. Our family has been in contact with cousins Tipperary on our grandmorther's side but we love to get some clues about the Conry's.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

IrelandXO member

1 reply

Hi Terry,

Thank you very much for your message.

The Irish Times website is very useful when it comes to Catholic records as it gives an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For ballinakill parish follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=East%20Galway&parish=Ballinakill-EastGalway&churchid=321

As you can see baptisms for the parish do not begin until 1830 and marriage records 1870 so unfortunately you will be unable to find Richard and Mary?s birth records or marriage records. However, depending on the childrens year of birth you may find their birth records which can sometimes be useful in terms of sponsors listed.

Most Catholic records are still held locally so visiting the local church is a good idea. The local priest may be able to give you some advice on where the couple may be buried.  However I would ring in advance to set up an appointment. Here are the contact details for St. Patrick?s:

http://www.clonfertdiocese.ie/html/ballinakill.asp

The East Galway Family History Society have copies of the records so your cousin could also try there, however a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

East Galway Family History Society,

Woodford Heritage Centre,

Woodford,

Loughrea,

Co. Galway.

Phone: +353 (0) 90 9749309    Email: galwayroots@eircom.net

I Hope this is helpful. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

All the best,

Genealogy Support

 

IrelandXO member

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