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Sea-stained Linen in Tin Trunks for 'Kilkenny Cat'

Kilkenny

I am trying to find more information about my ancestors from Kilkenny. I have a great grandmother who described herself proudly as a 'Kilkenny Cat'. Shecame on a difficult sea voyage, according toa family story passed down, and her ship was almost lost and shipwrecked when they went around the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage tooka lot longer than usual (?4-6 months). She was immigrating to Australia, and took tin trunks with Irish linens and fabrics that were seastained and half rotten when she finally opened the trunks. I don't think her parents came with her, but can't be completely sure.

Her father was George Fitzpatrick and her mother was Fanny Fitzpatrick (nee Glandon). They had the daughter (my great grandmother) - Catherine Caroline Fitzpatrick. I am not sure, but I think she was the only child.Catherine married in Sydney, Australia in 1884. This would make her birth approx 1860, and therefore George and Fanny's marriage 1855'ish in Kilkenny. 1820-1840 would be the era of George Fitzpatrick and Fanny Glandon's birth in Kilkenny.

I don't know ifCatherine's ship sailed toSydney ... but this is where she got married.My grandmother, Catherine's daughter, had a picture of the boat on the wall of her house. I am still trying to locate it within the extended family to no avail (I immigrated from Australia to New Zealand when I was 9 y.o.). This would have helped a lot to trace the voyage.

I have noticed a previous person (Annette from Australia - hi!)posting for a Fitzpatrick that went to Victoria, Australia. Melbourne is where Catherine ended up until she died. Her father's name George is not listed amongst the siblings unfortunately.

I thank anyone in advance for any snippets of information that could help my search.

Best wishes

Roslyn

IrelandXO member

7 replies

I dont see any likely baptism for Catherine n the RootsIreland index, but based on father's firstname, not that common a first name, there are signs of three possible siblings, all Co. Kilkenny - Mary in 1851, John in 1856 and Patrick in 1861. Tracing further back shows a possible marriage for a George Fitzpatrick and Frances Glindon in 1845. Based on the gaps it looks likely there could have been additional children - maybe that were noted on register pages no longer legible, or that have been damaged or lost...

I'll try to work out which parish, or parishes these are recorded in..

 

 

 

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

Thankyou for your efforts.  This is looking hopeful.  I have just found out tonight that George and Fanny Fitzpatrick's daughter, Catherine, immigrated to Australia in 1883 recorded at 30 years of age ... she then married in 1884.  This would push back the years of my guestimates of the parents year of marriage ... 1845 cited in your example would fit (they would have had Catherine in 1853 ... which fits with the siblings that you list in 1851, 1856 and 1861.

On the gravestone in Australia of Catherine, the mother is cited as Fanny Glandon ... but assuming that she did not have other family out there with her, the misspelling of the surname (i.e. Glindon) is reasonable ... and Frances is a name that has been in 2nd names in the family to my generation (my sister has it as a 2nd name!, and Catherine's daughter had Frances as a second name also) ... so Fanny may be a popular abbreviation for Frances?

This is very exciting!  Cant wait to see what you manage to find!

Best wishes

IrelandXO member

Thankyou for your efforts.  This is looking hopeful.  I have just found out tonight that George and Fanny Fitzpatrick's daughter, Catherine, immigrated to Australia in 1883 recorded at 30 years of age ... she then married in 1884.  This would push back the years of my guestimates of the parents year of marriage ... 1845 cited in your example would fit (they would have had Catherine in 1853 ... which fits with the siblings that you list in 1851, 1856 and 1861.

On the gravestone in Australia of Catherine, the mother is cited as Fanny Glandon ... but assuming that she did not have other family out there with her, the misspelling of the surname (i.e. Glindon) is reasonable ... and Frances is a name that has been in 2nd names in the family to my generation (my sister has it as a 2nd name!, and Catherine's daughter had Frances as a second name also) ... so Fanny may be a popular abbreviation for Frances?

This is very exciting!  Cant wait to see what you manage to find!

Best wishes

IrelandXO member

Thankyou for your efforts.  This is looking hopeful.  I have just found out tonight that George and Fanny Fitzpatrick's daughter, Catherine, immigrated to Australia in 1883 recorded at 30 years of age ... she then married in 1884.  This would push back the years of my guestimates of the parents year of marriage ... 1845 cited in your example would fit (they would have had Catherine in 1853 ... which fits with the siblings that you list in 1851, 1856 and 1861.

On the gravestone in Australia of Catherine, the mother is cited as Fanny Glandon ... but assuming that she did not have other family out there with her, the misspelling of the surname (i.e. Glindon) is reasonable ... and Frances is a name that has been in 2nd names in the family to my generation (my sister has it as a 2nd name!, and Catherine's daughter had Frances as a second name also) ... so Fanny may be a popular abbreviation for Frances?

This is very exciting!  Cant wait to see what you manage to find!

Best wishes

IrelandXO member

the marriage and baptisms are all listed under St. Mary RC parish which covered part of Kilkenny city. ('Kilkenny' can also refer to the county of the same name.)

While working out the the parish I spotted a baptism for a Catherine Fitzpatrick during 1853 in the same parish - mother's name is not matching anything beginning with 'F' so doesn't appear to be Frances, but might be worth checking out if the age/year of birth might  fit with the later records you have...

RootsIreland is a pay-website, and has transcripts.of these parish records. An RC baptism from this timeframe would usually include child's name, date of baptism and parents full names, and names of godparents (sponsors), while a marriage usually includes date of marriage, the couples full names, and names of witnesses. The records may include a residence, but this may be quite basic, or just assumed to be somewhere within the parish.  

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

Sounding good, apart from the first name.  Sounds like I need to pop over to the website you recommend.  Its 2 a.m. in the morning now, so I'm off to bed!  Will contact you again once I've looked up your recommendations.  Thank you very much again.  You've done amazing given the lack of info that I actually have.  Very helpful.

IrelandXO member

forgot to mention that for that 1853 baptism the father's firstname is matching George, and mother's maiden surname is matching Glindon, so could possibly be a transcription error on the mother's firstname, or blob of ink on the register.

also found another possible sibling to add to the list - an Ellen baptised 1848, same parish and same parents

shanew147IrelandXO Volunteer

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