FARRAHER (or Faraher or Farragher)/NASH/FARRELL/ KEATING of Tuam

Hi Melissa

I live outside Tuam in a neighbouring parish and will have a look at this for you over the weekend. If I can find out the dates of death for some of the above I will ring the county council to see if I can get a grave plot number for them and take some photos for you. I am not aware of any Nash off the top of my head but will ask around for you. 

Talk soon

Clare Doyle 

Hi

The marriage of Michael Faraher and Winifred Keating took place in Tuam on 12th Feb. 1851, page 120 of the register.

Regards

Hi Clare - 

Thank you so much for looking into this!  I will see if I can track down any specific death dates.

I can tell you that Thomas Henry Faraher (1856-1907) died at age 50 on 21 Oct 1907.  His family lived in Tuam at that time, but it looks like they took him to the hospital in North Dublin where he died. I would guess that his body would have been brought home to Tuam, but was that the practice back then?

In case this helps, one of Thomas and his wife Kate’s daughters, Annie died at a young age - born 05 Sept 1897 and died 10 April 1899.  Since she was the only child who died in Ireland, perhaps discovering her burial place will lead to the graveyard of other older relatives or maybe Thomas was buried near his daughter?

I always assumed that my family was entirely Roman Catholic, but Col Caff who responded to my inquiry, mentioned that one of a couple marriage records for William Nash and Bridget Farrell claim their denomination was Church of Ireland...

-Melissa

This is terrific, Col!  I had come across a record for Mary through some Irish baptism records, but I had no idea about the existence of Laurence or Honor. (Ha! Thomas named two of his children Laurence and Nora!)  And the mention of Michael and Margaret Keating gives me a few more names to explore!

I was on the NLI Catholic parish registers for Tuam just after I’d posted my note and found the marriage date for Michael Faraher and Winnifred Keating: 11 Feb 1851.  Interestingly, the witnesses were “Michael and Catherine Forkin” who share the same last name as the woman who was a sponsor at the baptism of their son Thomas.  Yes, the NLI records are a painful slog to review -- and lots of handwriting to decode -- but what thrill to find something relevant!

Interesting to hear that the men of the Nash family were soldiers.

I really appreciate your exhaustive search!

Thanks,

Melissa

Thank you, Gerlish!  After I posted, I discovered the marriage date, too.... but on the NLI Catholic Parish registers of Tuam on page 62 (Microfilm 04221 / 04 PAGE 62 “Tuam; County of Galway; Archdiocese of Tuam. Marriages, Feb. 1851 to May 1851”)  Were we looking at two different sources?

Thanks for your help!

Melissa

Hi Melissa

I have been in touch with the  County Council to see if they can find Thomas and Annie in the burial registers. As you know, he died in Dublin and his death record reflects that but he is likely buried in Tuam graveyard. 

Will let you know when I hear back and if we can locate them I will give you directions/we can meet up.

When do you plan to travel?

Best wishes

Clare 

PS there is a Winifred Keating HERE baptised on 29th Oct 1818 who might be your Winifred. No harm to keep it in the collection as a possibility. Father Patrick Keating and mother Honor Pierce.

Thank you, Clare!  This is very exciting! 

We will be in the Galway area during the week of August 14, but will most likely visit Tuam on Tuesday, August 15.  (We're still a bit flexible!) There's so much to see in your country, already our 10 day trip seems much too short!

Thanks for the other Winifred Keating info - certainly could be a relative!  I'll take a look!

 I really appreicate your help.  Good luck!

Melissa

Afternoon

I have had a look at the burial registers for both Thomas and Annie but could not find any reference to them in Tuam Graveyard. 

I will have to try to find out what other place they might be buried in. There is a small graveyard in Belclare and there are a few entries for it on Find A Grave but they are not mentioned there either. It could be the case that as he died in Dublin he might be buried there somewhere but that would not be very usual and it doesn't account for Annie's final place of rest. I will try to find out from a local what other potential graveyards there are and suss that out. The County Council will only check out an area if I can narrow it down as most of the records/registers are still in hard copy and not easily searchable.

Have a look yourselves at the first link above for Tuam burials though I am certain I haven't missed them in the Tuam registers. I'll keep looking this side!

Talk soon

Clare 

Thanks for your persistence, Clare!  I'm sorry to hear it's so difficult!  Thanks for working on this.  I'll comb thorugh the Tuam Burials link you suggested.

Keep in touch! 

Melissa

Hi Clare (and others who might want to chime in),  

Well, I reviewed EVERY handwritten name in the Tuam Graveyard Registers (both editions) and, like you, I found no info about Thomas or Annie Farraher.  I also kept a lookout for ANY of my family names (Farraher, Nash, Keating, Farrell, Creaven) and found very few and none of them were from the Galway Road area, except for two Mary Creavens (who I believe were related by marriage) on Galway Road  and two Farrells on Dublin Road.  There were a few Farrells and Farahers at the Workhouse, but I don't know if they are any relation. (A sidenote: I am stunned and saddened by the sheer volume of people - of all ages - who were housed at the Workhouse.  It must have been a miserable existence!)

I would expect to find family members grouped in the same graveyard, eh?

So, where else in Tuam (or elsewhere) might I (or we) look for other graveyards to find them?

Thanks for your advice,

Melissa

Hi Melissa

I spent some time on Sunday visiting the other local graveyards having asked a local gravedigger what possible options there might be and visited all including Killower, Claretuam (aka Belclare), Clonfush and another close by but in a neighbouring parish at Kilbannon without any luck. There were a few from Galway Road in Claretuam graveyard and a few were Creavens but I didn't see any Nash listed/recorded. If they lived far enough down the Galway Road they would be buried there or possibly Cloonfush. I 'created' a map to show you where they are, attached. 

I am at a loss to know where they might be buried, though I suspect either Tuam or Claretuam and probably an unmarked grave. That, or they are buried in an entirely different county or perhaps Annie in Tuam (unmarked) and Thomas in Dublin - unfortunately, we can't rule that out. There might have been an intention to add a headstone or maybe no resources to do so and it was forgotten. 

I would be happy to meet with you if you wanted to go to either or all of these graveyards with some flowers or if you want me to do that for you I can. Let me know what you think.

All the best

Clare 

Dear Clare,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - we've been busily planning the final details of trip to Ireland next week.  It's so exciting!

I am so grateful for all the time and work you've put into trying to track down my elusive Thomas Faraher.  Such a mystery!  I was hoping that since he worked as a letter carrier, he was financially stable enough to have a 

I'm especially disheartened that none of my four family lines seem to be buried in Tuam although they seemed to live there. 

Dear Clare,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - we've been busily planning the final details of trip to Ireland next week.  It's so exciting!

I am so grateful for all the time and work you've put into trying to track down my elusive Thomas Faraher.  Such a mystery!  I want you to know how much I appreciate your dogged determination to explore all avenues!

I was hoping that since he worked as a letter carrier and was treated in a hospital far away in Dublin, he was financially stable enough to have a burial and gravestone, but perhaps his illness (died of Tubercular peritonitis [according to Irish Civil Records] ) drained the family coffers and, ultimately, led the rest of his family to immigrate to America.

I'm especially disheartened that none of my four family lines seem to be buried in Tuam although they seemed to live there. I wonder what I’m missing?  I will continue to look...

Thanks for your offer for placing flowers, but given that there is no burial site, I’m not sure where I would choose to put them!

One (hopefully more simple) question:  Thomas was employed as a letter carrier in Tuam for most of his career (prior to his death in 1907).  I believe the post office in Tuam is newer than that, so I wondered if there is anything left of the “old” post office?

Again, many thanks for all of your help!

-Melissa

I am fortunate enough to have a photo of Thomas and some of his children:

Evening

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have asked someone elderly living in the town and she says she only ever remembers the post office on that site at Circular Road.  

Tuam Post Office
Circular Road
Tuam
Co. Galway
H54 DE00

Opening Hours: 
Mon 9:00 - 5:30
Tue 9:30 - 5:30
Wed 9:00 - 5:30
Thu 9:00 - 5:30
Fri 9:00 - 5:30
Sat 9:30 - 1:00

Latest Time of Posting: 
5.30pm

Phone: 093-24144

Hello Clare! We are in Ireland now and it is lovely!

I'm just checking my email now and saw your message.

We stopped in Tuam on Monday and walked around the town center.  When I spotted the Post Office, I wondered if it was THE post office from 1900.  I felt a bit self-conscious, but I stood on line amidst residents of Tuam who were buying stamps and sending packages until I reached an attendant and then told her I would ask her the most unusual question she'd probably get today: Had this post office building been here since 1900? She told me what I'd hoped to hear; this had been Tuam's post office for ages and certainly even as long ago as the turn of the century! Your "second opinion" helps me feel even more confident this is true! (And the architecture feels right for that time.)

So, I took a long look at the post office and thought about my great-great grandfather Thomas collecting the letters at this red brick building and then walking about Tuam delivering mail. And I imagined his wife and daughters would know these streets well and how my mom and I could be walking where they once stepped. I left Tuam that afternoon so satisfied that we had visited "home" and "found" my family.

Thank you, Clare, for all your hard work and help! I am very grateful to you and the Ireland Reaching Out community.

Melissa

Morning

I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help to you.

The Post Office in Tuam is a really nice building, I hope you managed to get some photos if not, let me know and I can take some for you. 

Give me a shout too, if you learn anything more and I will do my best to help you out.

Best wishes

Clare 

Dear Melissa & Clare, Catherine Nash Farragher & Thomas H. Farragher are my great grandparents as well. On a trip to Ireland in 1998 my father Paul E. Foster (son of Delia M. Farragher-Farrington-Foster) found a wealth of information through the Galway Family History Society West going all the way back to 1790. Sometime after the death of Thomas, Catherine and some of the family emigrated to Philadelphia. I've found 9 family members buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pa. Very interesting, I also have had the picture of Thomas and daughters in our family album for years.  It helps to know that the family name was changed to Farrington when they moved here from Ireland. Heres what I've got so far

Buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, 626 Baily RD,  Yeadon, PA  1(610)232-1782  610-626-2206

My Great-grandmom on Fathers side

Catherine Farrington (American name)Nash- Farragher (Irish name), (nee Nash) w/o Thomas Farragher, mother of 8 girls & 4 boys(Ruth, Sara, Nora, Delia, May, Winifred, Marie, Christina, Michael, Laurence, Joseph, William) in Galway, Ireland. 1867-1935 buried at Holy Cross Section R-Row 6 #23799880- alongside her daughters, my great aunts-

Winifred Traub 1889-1960, and Sarah Hart 1891-1976

My Grandfather Paul E. Foster 1888-1934 Holy Cross Sec. 36, Row 3, & R 4 (JK) My Gma - Delia Marie Foster, nee Farragher-Farrington, w/o Paul E. 1887-1962  Sept. BD, Holy Cross, Sec. 36/ R, 03 (JK)

(Possibly)My great uncle & wife, Lawrence J. Farrington 1904-1989 alongside Rose Marie Farrington 1910-1983 Sec. 36/Row 04

My uncle, Dad's brother and first son of Paul & Delia is Thomas H. Foster, 1912-1970, Section 36, R-04 (JK)

My Aunt - Dad’s sister - third child of Paul E. and Delia Foster, Lillian F. Brady- 2/16/20-2/23/1999 buried Holy Cross, Lived Drexel Hill, PA

Also a daughter of Thomas & Catherine: 

Buried at St. Joseph’s Villa Cemetery, Flourtown, PA,  Sr. Maureen Farrington SSJ, Catherine C. Farrington, Born in Ireland, Died 10/30/82 Sister of Laurence Farrington, Winifred Traub, Mrs. S. Holt (Hart?) and Mrs. C. Stewart .Daughter of Thomas Farragher and Catherine Nash  Farragher-Farrington Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 1, 1982. I believe she was formerly called Christine or Christina before taking her Nun's name. 

In March I'm making a trip to Philadelphia with two of my daughters to put some roses on these graves. If you would like to respond my email is maureengrupper@gmail.com  Sincerely, your cousin,  Maureen Grupper