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Fitzgerald/O'Shaughnessy

LimerickDromcolliher (Limerick)

Hello, I am from New Zealand and am trying to research my Irish roots. I have some queries which hopefully someone can help me with regarding baptisms and births in Ireland and cemetery queries. Also it'd be great to know if anyone else is researching these people too.

James Fitzgerald and Julia (Judith) Keane had a family of 6 children as follows:

MARYbapt 3.2.1841

Thomas bapt 5.2.1842

William bapt 26.5.1845

Ellen bapt 1.11.1849

Richard bapt 7.5.1853

Julia bapt 11.6.1856

A cousin of my great grandmotherswent to Ireland in 1998 and went to the Parish to look at these records and then wrote them down for future generations.... I have since tried looking them up online and either can't find them or simply can't read the handwriting!

Anyway,

MARY Fitzgerald married Patrick O'Shaughnessy in London (I have no idea why they got married in London when they lived in Ireland - can't find any shipping records which suggests that they went there either) They both ended up in New Zealand.

Now they had the following children:

Mary - supossedly born in London, no record ever found of her birth or baptism. It's definitley not registered in Ireland along with her siblings. She moved to New Zealand.

JAMES (my 3x grat grandfather) no baptism record but was born 29.5.1869 apparently. He moved to New Zealand.

William bapt 11.1.1872 (I don't need help with him as he moved to America)

Thomas bapt 20.7.1874 (now he supossedly died as an infant, i have no idea where that information came from but I have since learnt that he moved to America too, and died in his 30's from TB)

Patrick bapt 10.3.1877 (moved to America)

Michael bapt 3.10.1880 died aged 7 years old on 22.5.1888

John bapt 18.10.1883 died aged 9 months on 15.7.1884

- Does anyone know why there is no birth dates on parish records? Why is there just baptism dates? surely not all babies were baptised on the day they were born....

- Is there an online database for a cemetery in Dromcolliher? Google isn't much help...i'd rather information from people who are familiar with the area or better yet from people who live there. I'd love to find out where Michael and John are buried.

In 1871 Patrick and Mary O'Shaughnessy were recorded as iving in London.....

- Now why would they move back and forth between London and Ireland? surely that would've been expensive....It looks like they lived in Dromcolliher then went to London to get married, gave birth that same year to Mary, went back to Ireland where James was born, went back to London where they were recorded as living, then went back to Ireland and gave birth to William a year later and as far as I know they stayed in Ireland (haven't found any records on Ancestry as there is too many and I don't know how to tell if they're the right Mary and Patrick) till after Michael died and then they must of left for New Zealand but I have no record for them travelling here, and no records for James either when he travelled here.

Sorry for the novel! I also have roots in Newcastle West as that's where Patricks family was from, his mother was a Dooley and his father was a Shanessy......

- Why would your surname be Shanessy but your sons name is O'Shaughnessy??? I have seen the last name recorded without the "O" , so, Shaughnessy, is that something to do with owning land? That's what i've been told but that could be a lie.

One day I hope to come to Dromcolliher and have a look around :) Thank you !

IrelandXO member

8 replies

Brooke:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Here is a link to the page on the Dromcollogher parish register which has the baptismal record for Mary. The baptismal register is set up (at least in 1841) to show the parents names followed by the name of the child and then a second line shows the names of the sponsors.  http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634937#page/80/mode/1up

Also, not sure how you show dates in New Zealand but 3.2.1841 is February 3rd 1841.

Here is a link to the full parish register up to the early 1880s http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634937#page/80/mode/1up

Most 19th century baptismal registers did not show the date of birth. Children were usually baptized within a few days after birth. Some parishes did include the date of birth in later years. I just looked up some of my wife's ancestors from 1858-1862 in a parish in Co. Clare and the date of birth is shown. Civil registration started in 1864.

I would do Internet searches for cemeteries in the area. I found this site which is part of the parish web site.

http://www.limerickdioceseheritage.org/Dromcollogher/gyDromcollogher.htm

Can't explain why Mary and Patrick went back and forth to England. May have been related to his occupation.

In the 19th century, the "O" was usually dropped but later generations added it back.

Let me know what questions you have.

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

 

 

Family search have available a wonderful list of shipping records for New Zealand.  I found on page 13 the following:

 

Mr. P O'Shaughnessy, Irish, Bootmaker  aged 55  and Mrs.M.O'Shaughnessy, Irish, aged 54, arrived Corinthic ex London, in Wellington 6th January 1904.  Could this be one of the records you are looking for?

Joan

 

 

Hickeyje@xtra.co.nz

Thank you both so much!

Castlemore, 

It is good to know how the bapism records are set out - I was having difficulty reading the writing as well - not sure why as my great grandma has the same handwriting! Thank you for the links., the cemetery one is perfect.

Dates in New Zealand are the same as in Ireland :) 

It is a shame that the birth dates aren't recorded ..... I couldn't find the baptism records for majority of the kids the other day but I will have another look this week :) 

I guess I may never know why Pat and Mary travelled back and forth, it's very odd. His occupation as Bootmaker could of been the cause. 

Do you have any idea why the "O" was dropped??

 

Joan,

Yes - that is the exact record that I am after! I have looked on Ancestry.co.uk and have not found any records at all for Pat and Mary coming to Nz or to London, same as for James, I have found no evidence but judging by his death printout he would of been around 15 when he arrived... I'm not sure why a 15 year old would travel to Nz presumably alone while his parents stayed in Ireland and followed him years later.

Pat was a bootmaker - maybe that profession took him to London for awhile.... James ended up being a bootmaker too :) do you live in Nz Joan?

IrelandXO member

Brooke:

In the 19th century, it was very common for the O to be dropped. The British did their best to stamp out Gaelic

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

From Familysearch again I found James O'Shaughnessy aged seventeen, from Limerick, arrived in Wellington February 26 1887 on ship "Arawa".  He was listed as a farm labourer.  He was probably an assisted immigrant as his fare was only sixteen pounds.   (If you are using Familysearch, you need to go to SEARCH then scroll down to the world map and click onto NZ that is the quickest way.)

Yes I live in Auckland.  One of husband's ancestors lived in  Limerick - named Johanna FitzGerald.

Joan

 

Hickeyje@xtra.co.nz

From Familysearch again I found James O'Shaughnessy aged seventeen, from Limerick, arrived in Wellington February 26 1887 on ship "Arawa".  He was listed as a farm labourer.  He was probably an assisted immigrant as his fare was only sixteen pounds.   (If you are using Familysearch, you need to go to SEARCH then scroll down to the world map and click onto NZ that is the quickest way.)

Yes I live in Auckland.  One of husband's ancestors lived in  Limerick - named Johanna FitzGerald.

Joan

 

Hickeyje@xtra.co.nz

Wow, Thank you so much. That us my 3x great grandfather. Family search seems better than Ancestry....I can't find shipping records etc because the names are so common. 

 

Thank you both so much for your help :)

IrelandXO member

On second thought - it may not be him. He died in 1949 aged 80 and his death printout says he was in Nz for 65 years meaning he would of arrived here in 1884. Being born in 1869 he would of been 15 when he arived in Nz... unless he lied about his age or his details on his death printout are wrong... The marriage dates and ages don't add up when I compare his and his wifes printouts.

IrelandXO member

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