Family History Mystery - Michael B Kelly from Williamstown/Glenamaddy/Co. Galway

Is this child a brother of Michael , the details are the same except the fathers name is given as Bryan instead of Bernard as per the birth cert above but it would not be unusual for people to be known under different family names.

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Hi! You are correct, that is Michael's younger brother!

From what I've been able to verify through the civil records database, there were 7 children total. Of those children, I've confirmed that 3 died in early childhood, 3 lived to adulthood and one is a question mark. It appears my ggg-grandmother (Margaret Kelly nee Fleming) sadly passed away shortly after giving birth to the youngest child in 1882. 

My ggg-grandfather (Bernard Kelly) moved to the States later that same year and then remarried 5 years later.

Michael, Patrick and their sister Cecilia all moved to the US in the following years. The only one of the siblings I haven't been able to trace is their sister Bridget who was born in 1875 and would have been about 7 when their mother died. I'm assuming she was living with relatives in Ireland but haven't been able to figure out which of the (many) Bridget Kelly's she might be. 

Death cert for Margaret Kelly who died aged 35 years, the writing is not of good quality but I think she died 16th March 1882. It is difficult to see her cause of death clearly but I think you may be correct that her death followed childbirth. There is a condition called Purpura Fulminans  which is an infection following childbirth and I am trying to see the second word which may be Fulminans, in any event tragic she died so young but it was so common in that time.

Birth cert for Bridget b 3rd April 1875

You were right, this is the birth cert for Martin Kelly born 9th March 1882, three days before his mother died, poor little lad.

Birth of John  12th August 1880

Birth of Celia 14th February 1877

Birth of Mary 19th October 1878.

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So the family are Michael Kelly 1871      Patrick Kelly 1873        Bridget Kelly 1875        Celia Kelly 1877           Mary Kelly 1878       John Kelly 1880        Martin Kelly  1882

Death cert for Bridget Kelly aged two years

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          Death cert for Mary Kelly aged two years 

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Death cert for John Kelly 18 months old ( Died from TB)

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Death cert for Martin Kelly One day old

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So in fact four of the children died in childhood Bridget, Mary, John and Martin, no wonder poor Bernard left Ireland with all the tragedy he had seen, including the loss of his young wife. I hope life was better for the rest of the family when they moved to the states. If I find any other information I will post but at least you know what happened to all the children now even though it is hard.

This is a death cert for a Michael Kelly , I wonder if he is Bernard's father note he is a widower.

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Thank you so much finding and sharing these! I'm sad to see that Bridget also passed away so young. I always hoped that she had gotten remarried and changed her last name and that wasn't why I hadn't been able to find her.

The death certificate for Michael from 1880 is very likely my gggg-grandfather (Bernard's dad). His name was listed on Bernard's marriage certificate when Bernard got remarried in Massachusetts, and I have never been able to track down any records with any additional details about his life. Great find! Thank you!

You're welcome, just sorry there is so much loss in your family but it is similar to my own family history, unfortunately life was just so hard in that time, but it is better to know what happened to all the children otherwise there is always unanswered questions. If anything else comes to light I will update but continue on your journey of discovery. Happy Saint Patricks Day to you and yours.