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Edward Donnelly of Ashfield, Arles

LaoisArles (Laois)

Hello

I would like to make contact with descendants of my 2xgt-grandfather, Edward Donnelly of Arles (born c1831).

He and his family movedto Manchester England between 1871 and 1881. Census records list him with wife Ann and children Ellen, James, Bernard, Thomas, John and Patrick.

Via Arles church records transcribed on the excellent Brennan Family History Website, I have now discovered that these 6 children were all by his first wife, Margaret nee Tracey (I don't know when/where Margaret died/is buried or when/where Edward married Ann or what Ann's maiden name was), and that he and Margaret also had 2 other children, Peter and Anne.

All 8 children were born and baptised in the Arles area. I have seen from the various records and websites that there were several Donnelly families in the area, but the 1911 UK Census record for Edward's youngest son, Patrick, specifies that he was born in ASHFIELD, Arles in 1868.

My Mum and I visited Arles Church graveyard in June 2014 and discovered the large 3-stone Abbin Donnelly plot erected by USA relatives, which mentions Ashfield and several Christian names that also occur in my family. I've since done more research which seems to point to my Edward belonging to the Abbin line - but where and how....?!

Mum and I will be back in Laois 16-30 June 2015 and plan to revisit Arles. We'd like to see Ashfield - does it still exist? We'd also love to be in touch with anyone who could give us more information, hence this message in search of Donnelly descendants.

Thank you.

Pauline Lloyd (Stockport, England)

IrelandXO member

5 replies

Pauline:

If you have the Google Maps application, you can see Ashfield near Arles or Arless not far from the N80 road. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arless

Ashfield is a townland in Killabban civil parish and Arless is also in the parish.

I found an 1873 civil marriage index record in the Carlow registration district and it appears that Ann was either a Walsh or Kelly. You can get a copy of this record from the General Register Office for around 4 euros and it will show the maiden name for Ann.

I also looked at the 1901 census record for Ashfield and there were two Donnelly households. One was an Abbin Donnelly 33 living by himself. In 1911, he had a family.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Queen_s_Co_/Arless/Ash…

First name(s) Edward
Last name Donnelly
Registration year 1873
Registered Quarter/Year 1873
Registration district Carlow
Volume 3
Page 433
County -
MarriageFinder? Edward Donnelly married one of these people
Hannah Nolan, Anne Walsh, Annie Kelly

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Pauline,

I have seen your query only in the last few days. It is up against your visit so this is a rather rushed reply. First of all, Ashfield does exist, it is quite near Arles. With regard to the Donnellys I have made some enquiries in the area, with the following results.

The Donnelly name has disappeared from the area for some time, and to complicate matters further there was more than one Donnelly household in the area . I did manage to pinpoint one of these locations. An old local resident informed me that a descendent of that family lives in Carlow town which is about six miles away. His name is Christopher Donnelly and his phone no. is (0)59 913 1350. If you decide to ring him from the UK do not use the zero in brackets. Use the zero when in Ireland. If you wish we could arrange to meet say in Arles and I could show you the Ashfield area and location of the former Donnelly homestead.

We could also discuss the other part of your query and see if anything can be done in that regard.

Best Wishes,

Paddy Lacey,

Ballyadams, Co. Laois.

Ballyadams Laois
Ballyadams Laois

Hello Paddy

A thousand apologies for my very long delay in replying to your message and even more thanks for the wonderful information and your enquiries on my behalf.  It was very kind of you.

I'm so sorry about the delay.  Just before you wrote to me last year, I started having problems accessing my IrelandXO account and eventually gave up on it, all without seeing your message.  I've finally managed to sort it out and so have only now discovered your message.

I'm hoping to get in touch with Christopher Donnelly very soon.  In the meantime, one of my Laois relatives did drive Mum and me to Arles and along the lane to Ashfield, so I got some idea of where my ancestors lived.  Maybe next time Mum and I are in Laois (summer 2017, hopefully) I can take you up on your kind offer to meet and see exactly where the Donnelly homestead was.

I've also discovered that my Edward Donnelly's 2nd wife was Anne Walsh.  Their 1873 marriage was in Bagenalstown - a strange choice when he was from Arles and she was from Newtown!

Thank you again so much, Paddy.

Kind regards

Pauline

 

IrelandXO member

Pauline:

Welcome back! Glad you were able to sort out the technical issues. If you have problems in the future, you can contact our administrator, Clare Doyle, at cdoyle@irelandxo.com

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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