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Donnelly-Martin Family County Galway

GalwayCarrabane (Galway)

Attached photo is of my 3rd Great Grandmother's tombstone, Mary Donnelly (Martin).

It reads as follows:

Mary Wife of Patrick Martin born at Teranascra Co. Galway, Ireland. DIED Oct 16, 1880. May her soul rest in peace. Amen

Along with trying to find additional information on my Great Grandmother, I am trying to figure out the location of "Teranascra" or where this may of been referring to. I have not been able to locate this place on a map or internet search.

Wondering if it may be Gaelic? I have a few Irish relatives that I am unable to locate the towns, parrishes, etc., on their tombstones. At the least, I'm sure it was spelled as it may of sounded? Hoping by attaching the photo, someone may be able to help me figure out what area this may be.

After coming to America she married Patrick Martin and eventually settled in McEwen, Tennesse and raised their family.

Several Irish families settled in McEwen, Tennessee, where they reaised sheep and worked for the railroad.

Ireland Reaching Out - www.irelandxo.com

IrelandXO member

7 replies

Mitzie,

Thank you for your enquiry which is fascinating to receive. The Donnelly/Martin families are still living in the Parish of Tiernascragh. I am not aware of any links with our Parish and the State of Tennessee - and certainly interested to learn more about the Family of Mary who emigrated and her descendants of whom I guess you are one?  What information do you have on the other families that emigrated?  Were any of them from the same part of Ireland.

Kind Regards,

Mike

Mike Feerick

Hi Mitzie
I believe your Tiranascragh theory to be correct.
The relative informing the engraver made a good stab at the spelling.
There is a Tiranascragh parish on the site so you may want to post on that (find my parish on top of page)
I couldn't find an exact birth/baptism for Mary Donnelly in 1827 on www.rootsireland.ie/ but there are some close ones; Tiranascragh is not in the list of parishes in the records however!
Col

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Mike, thank you for your post.  I have a small history written on McEwen I will post later today and a scanned pamphlet from St. Patrick Church with a bit of history also. St. Patrick Church Cemetery is listed on Findagrave.com and contains several of these immigrant families.

Many of the men that worked on the railroad were Irish immigrants from Pennyslvania (my family) and Ohio.  About three hundred families settled here and soon more followed. A few of the family Surnames are listed in the brief history, but not all.

As far as my family and their varied Surnames, they are mostly from Galway.  The few that list their Parish or township, I am unable to locate, due to the spelling. 

I am away from home, but will post more information later.

Best Regards,

Mitzie

IrelandXO member

Thank Col for this information.  And confirming my thought on the Parrish.  I have a few more that I am unable to locate due to spelling errors.  

I will get them together and make a post to see if you guys can assist in decoding them with me. Or at the least making the best guess as we can.

Kind Regards,

Mitzie

IrelandXO member

Mitzie/Mike/Col:

The Killimor/Tiranascragh RC records start in 1831 and Roots Ireland has the records with an annotation that there are missing records.

Your best bet is to wait until July 8th when the National Library of Ireland plans to place all RC parish registers online for free searching. The parish is in the Diocese of Clonfert. Possibly siblings for Mary are on the register.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks Roger - I did not know my own parish records went back to 1831 - too busy organising other parishes - what a great opportunity for us to connect back people to the parish - lots of fun ahead.  

Many thanks - hope all is well. 

Mitzie - a neighbour of mine Connie Donnelly has been involved in Ireland XO and it almost certainly of the Donnelly family you mention. If he does not connect online over the next few days I'll reach out to him.  

Best...

Mike

Mike Feerick

Mike thank you for your post. What wonderful news! Hopefully this will be the beginning of my family's journey back to Ireland.

I can't thank you enough for reaching out.

With Kind Regards,

Mitzie

IrelandXO member

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