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ELLEN BROPHY of CASTLECOMER

KilkennyCastlecomer (Kilkenny)

I'mlooking for info about my great-grandmother, Ellen Brophy. She was born in 1887 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1903 at 16 years of age( along with a Katie Brophy who was 18). Her hometown is listedas Castlecomer and her birth is registered for Oct-Dec 1887. I can't find any further information as to which Brophy Family she is from. Ellen Brophy married William Ganes/Gaines in New York sometime after that & had children, one of whom is my late grandfather Thomas Patrick Gaines. As far as I know she stayed in the U.S. Any additional information would be great!

IrelandXO member

7 replies

Allyson:

As you found out there is no obvious 1901 census record which fits your information. If you are sure the 1887 birth registration is for your Ellen, why not get a copy from the General Register Office? It would cost around 4 euros and would show the names of her parents and where they lived. I assume you don't have the names of any other siblings?

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

..... [mods pls delete - post appeared twice]

 

 

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

as far as I can see from the Umbria passenger list, Katie was a cousin.

I think a search for a marriage or death cert would be a good idea, as far as I know certs for New York city should show parents names, which would help confirm any links back to the correct Brophy family in Castlecomer.

I had a quick for for a marriage of Ellen & William on Italiangen which covers many records for the city & boroughs but didn't spot any likely matches, but worth checking in more detail..

 

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger,

Thank you for your help. I don't know for sure it is 1887, that was family info passed down to me, but they may have derived that from the passenger lists which say Ellen arrived in 1903, at 16 years of age.She perhaps was born in another area of Ireland but I couldn't say.I have no names of siblings, just that she travelled with he cousin Katie Brophy who was 18, from Castlecomer.

Regards,

Allyson

IrelandXO member

Hi,

Thanks for your help! I knew Katie was a cousin, also from Castlecomer. Do you think Katie was her full first name, or short for Katherine/Catherine? I will look at Italiangen, I didn't know of it. I haven't found a death certificate for Ellen yet, working on it..she had to put 3 of her sons in an orphanage ( St Agnes at Rockland, NY)  in 1915, something happened to William her husband. One of those sons was my grandfather Thomas Patrick Gaines. He stayed in contact with Ellen and knew of her passing, and I think she may have remarried, but she was always referred to as Ellen Brophy. So this is part of why it's hard to find the right info. We have contacted the orphanage but they did not have much new information to tell us.

Regards

IrelandXO member

Kate/Katie etc would be short for Catherine/Kathleen etc.

The reason I mentioned her being a cousin is to see if that additional detail might help connect up to the correct Brophy family. There are a number of Ellen Brophy births and baptisms around the right time in Co. Kilkenny, but this assumes that Ellen's age/estimated year of birth is accurate, which is not always true, and that the she came from somewhere in the district based in the town, and not somewhere nearby e.g. a neighbouring parish. People often gave the nearest town in records rather than the exact townland.

There seems to be two separate Ellen Brophy births/baptism on the index of RootsIreland in exactly 1887, I'll see if I can figure out parish and subdistrict and parents... neither are in Castlecomer RC parish or sub-distrct, and one of them appears to be in Ballyraggett

Since Ellen and Katie travelled together in 1903 from Queenstown / Cobh, maybe it would be worth another search of the 1901 Irish Census for them to see if any clues can be found there. There are also two others on the same manifest from Castlecomer that could be leads, Esther & Judith Purcell - might be neighbours to your Brophys.

 

 

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

following up a possible lead on Catherine/Katie, unfortunatly one to probably eliminate is the Katie Brophy at High Street Castlecomer in 1901, she's the right age and location in 1901, but also listed on the 1911 return at the same address, so not Ellen's cousin unless she returned home from the US for some reason.. a possibility might be after the death of her mother.. 

see Brophy household, High St. Castlecomer - 1901

and the same address on the 1911 return,

 

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

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