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Gowen/Linihan/Dowling/Lalor

LaoisClonenagh And Clonagheen (Laois)

Good Day!

My name is Matt McCormick. My great-great grandparents were born and married in Laois. Fenton Dowling was born about 1823 and Eliza Gowen about 1831. They were married Feb 18, 1850 - Mountraith. A Maria Fitzpatrick was a witness.

There is some indication that their town or townland was Trumera but I also see it listed as Trummery. Forgive me for not understanding the political subdivion structure better.

Eliza Gowen may have been the daughter of a Mick Gowen and a Bridget Linihan. I have not found Eliza's birth or baptism records.

I don't have any clue as to fenton's parents.

There is some relationship between the Gowens/Dowlings and the Lalor family. It is possible that a brother of Eliza's, -Fenton Gowen married a Catherine Lalor.

Eliza and Fenton left for the USA in 1859. They landed in NYC where their first daughter was born, moved to Philadelphia where their remaining children were born and then came to St. Louis, Missouri - my home town.

Any suggestions for researching these families would be greatly appreciated. I have used ancestry.com and ireland.ie extensively.

Matt

IrelandXO member

4 replies

Matt:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

A few comments. The townland was Trumra. I also looked at the 1850 Griffiths Valuation ehad of household listing for Clonenagh and Clonagheen parish and there were a number of Dowling, Gowan and Lalor records including in Tumra.

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/laois/clonenaghandclonagheen.htm

I was not able to find the baptismal record for Eliza Gown on Roots Ireland. Here is a link to the parish register for Mountrath

http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0718

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Roger.

Are there similiar on-line documents for other Laois catholic parishes?

IrelandXO member

Matt:

Yes. Here is a link to the National Library site http://registers.nli.ie/   which has the RC parish registers. Most registers end around 1880 and the start date varies with the local record keeping. Co. Laois registers generally go back pretty far.

Roots Ireland which is a subscription site should have all of the baptismal records for the Co. Laois parishes. However, there are records on the various registers which are very difficult to interpret due to their age and the handwriting legibility of the priest who recorded the baptisms. Sometimes the Roots transcriber came up with a different surname than the real surname.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

thanks so much

IrelandXO member

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