Thanks for the additional information.
I have his obituary details from the Limerick Leader in 1927 and I've seen the details of his grave on Find A Grave (I think that's where I saw the newspaper clipping from Butte), and I've found his death certificate from Family Search. What I've been trying to pinpoint is his arrival in the US in 1900 as census records suggest he arrived at that time, although saying that, he wouldn't be the first person to an incorrect year for arrival in the US (I've seen two or three different years stated by some other relations in census records). I found an entry for him in the passenger search for Ellis Island but I think it was the same as the 1919 arrival in New York that I had already found on Family Search. I also have his arrival in the US in 1914 (Family Search) and his return to Ireland in 1914 and 1919 (Ancestry.co.uk). Curiously, I've also found a record for a brief trip from Seattle to Victoria in British Columbia in 1906.
@MaryTV, thanks for finding the naturalisation record, could you possibly attach a .jpg or .pdf of this document to the forum? Regarding the Barry family from the census, yes they're my ancestors. There are so many small townlands between Kilfinane, Kilmallock and Emly but my maternal family are all from around that area; Martinstown, Darranstown, Glenlara (Glenlary), Bulgaden, Ardpatrick, Ballinvreena, Grange, Kilmurry. The Edmond Barry and Mary née O'Dea were my great-great-grandparents, their daughter Mary married Michael Leahy of Balline, Bulgaden and they were the parents of my maternal grandfather John Leahy. Strangely, the Michael Leahy who I've been researching adopted his mother's maiden name as a second name, so he appears in many records as Michael O'D (or O'Dea) Barry. He seems to be the only one that did this, perhaps it was to differentiate himself from another Michael Barry!
@Carolyn, thank you for the offer. I'm really looking for some records of his arrival in the US in 1900 and perhaps his return following a trip back to Ireland in 1925, plus his naturalisation in Butte, Montana. I have had some access to newspaper archives for Ireland but as multiple subscriptions get quite expensive I haven't ventured to explore any US news archives, so it would be interesting to see if there was any other obituaries for him in Montana when he died. It's interesting that you also have a connection to Butte. I remember coming across a story from a Butte newspaper online a few years ago (can't seem to find it now) where it mentioned how Fr Michael Barry had something of a dispute with another priest in Butte who was the parish priest for a different church there. Apparently there was some rivalry between them regarding the types of parishioners they administered to, one church serving what were referred to as 'lace curtain' Catholics, i.e. the better off, and the other serving the miners of Butte, but I can't remember which priest was in which church. I also believe one priest punched the other at a gathering due to some perceived insult, so it seems to have been quite an interesting life in Butte. :D
I find it quite strange that this Michael Barry managed to return to Ireland so frequently as most relations who emigrated didn't typically come back. It suggests to me that he (or his family) was of some means.
I'm attaching the following files that I have;
- 1875-Birth Register (he appears to have been born in the townland of Cloghast which is adjacent to Glenlara and according to the 1901 census there is also another Barry family living there so they are likely related, possibly a brother of Michael Barry's grandfather Edmond)
- 1927-Death Certificate (Butte, Montana)
- US-Canada Migration Records (Vermont) (This is where he appears to have made a trip to Victoria in British Columbia in 1906. This record gives the 'Servia' as his ship of arrival in 1900 to New York. It states 'Selvia' on the record itself but I can't find any evidence of a ship named 'Selvia' so I can only assume it was misheard when written.)
- Morton Allan Directory of Passenger Ships (this is a page from a European passenger ship directory which shows that the 'Servia' was a ship with the Cunard Line.)
- 1918-Draft Registration (His draft registration for World War I but I cannot find any evidence of him having actually served at any point.)