Hello Ann! Nice to meet a second cousin. I am eager to find out more about our mutual connections and any information you have on hand
I recall your grandmother's name as Kitty but I am not sure if I actually met her before she left Chicago(I am age 65). She was listed as "Mrs. JM Wilson" on my grandmother Margaret's immigration record at Ellis Island (see below). Grandma left Ballyhaunis in 1910 to first stay with Kitty and her husband in Chicago. Grandma married her Greek husband, Constantinos Kourtis, in Chicago in 1916 and lived here, my native Chicago, until her death in 1959. They had 7 children, and my mother Elaine is the sixth; the last three are living in the Chicago area, all in their late 80s.
I toured Ireland in September/October with my brother Tim, the youngest of my three brothers. We rented a car and drove from Dublin to Ballyhaunis on October 8 where we met Teresa McGarry, owner of McGarry's Womenswear located at 1 Main Streeet( phone 094 963 0084). It's the nicest store in town. Unfortunately, she had no direct knowledge of family ties but took my business card and said her brother who was away might be of help. I never heard from him. We were told ahead of our trip by the local church to contact Martin Fitzmaurice, a local man who supposedly knows the family history quite well but he did not reply to an email, although I am unsure if I had the right address for him.
Ballyhaunis is a quaint yet poor town that seems to be struggling to survive. We visited two local cemeteries that are loaded with graves of McGarrys and Fitzmaurices but there are no direct links to be found. I suspect our ancestors were simply too poor to afford headstones and there is no record of their graves. I checked online at www.graveyards.com in both Mayo or adjacent Roscommon where Michael probably farmed as a tenant but have found no trace of ancestors.
Nearby Knock is hanging on, thanks to the shrine there; we stayed just one night, at the Knock Hotel that is nice enough and will undergo renovations soon.
Here is some information that may be of interest. If any of this conflicts with your information, please let me know:
Descendants of Michael Patrick Fitzmaurice
About the Fitzmaurice name:
Maurice de Prendergast was a Cambro-Norman knight who accompanied Richard "Strongbow" de Clare, Earl of Pembroke to Ireland in 1169, participating in the Anglo-Norman conquest, beginning with the Siege of Wexford. :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Wexford_(1169)
He was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1145 and died in 1205 at Kilmainham, near Dublin. He had two sons, Philip and Gerald. His younger son, Gerald de Prendergast, was the founder of the Prendergast descendants in County Mayo. It was his descendants who took the name FitzMaurice. In this case, Fitzmaurice, son of Maurice, can be said to refer to sons, or descendants of Maurice de Prendergast. [thepeerage.com Burke's Peerage,Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes., Charles Mosley, editor,Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003,volume 2, page 1603].
Maurice de Prendergast and his son Phillip are credited with building the original castle at Enniscorthy, 13 miles north of Wexford starting in 1202. The Castle pays tribute to them with an exhibit. The Prendergasts and Fitzmaurices have been living in County Mayo for centuries, especially in the Ballyhaunis area.
Generation No. 1
1. MICHAEL PATRICK FITZMAURICE was born about 1800 in Ireland, and died about 1882 near Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. He married MARY FREELY or FREELEY who was born about 1810; death records show a Mary Fitzmaurice of Claremorris, County Mayo born in 1812 and died in 1864, age 52, and another Mary Fitzmaurice of Claremorris, County Mayo born in 1808 and died in 1888, age 80. As of 2016, nothing is known about their ancestors.
According to johncfitzmaurice.blogspot.com:
Michael Patrick Fitzmaurice was born about 1800 and made his home in Loughglinn, a village ten miles east of Ballyhaunis (and located in County Roscommon). He married Mary Freely and they had nine children: Cecelia 1826, Kathleen 1828, Kitty 1830, Margaret 1834, Timothy 1836, Peter 1838, Michael 1845, John Charles (my grandfather) 1849. Michael Patrick Fitzmaurice was a Justice of the Peace under British appointment. One evening, while walking home from a county fair, he was stoned to death by a Mr. Hanon, a man on whom he had passed an unfavorable verdict in 1882.
Children of MICHAEL FITZMAURICE and MARY FREELEY are:
i. CECELIA FITZMAURICE1, b. 1826; m. ? GILMORE
ii. KATHLEEN FITZMAURICE1, b. 1828; m. ? MCCALLION
iii. KITTY FITZMAURICE1, b. 1830
iv. MARGARET FITZMAURICE1, b. 1834.
v. TIMOTHY FITZMAURICE1, b. 1836 m. CATHERINE FITZMAURICE?
vi. PETER FITZMAURICE, b. 1838. d. 23 January, 1923 at Ballyhaunis
vii. MICHAEL FITZMAURICE1, 1845 m. ANNE LYONS? HONORIA DYER?
viii. JOHN CHARLES FITZMAURICE1, b. 1849 d. before 1920. m. MARY WALDRON d. after 1920.
ix. BRIDGET FITZMAURICE1, b.
The Great Famine was one of the defining moments of Irish history. It marked a watershed in the history of the country causing a change so complete in the Irish social and political circumstances that the fabric of the people’s sensibilities would never be the same again. No longer could the Irish people trust the land to provide constant sustenance. No longer could they rely on what security of tenure that the landlords allowed them, and most importantly they learned that their English political masters cared little for their plight.
Mayo was one of the counties that suffered most, losing one third of its population through death and emigration. In 1841 the population of Mayo was 388,847, and by 1851 it had fallen to 274,830; the number of homes in the county had fallen from 70,542 to 49,073 in the same period.
Generation No. 2
2. PETER FITZMAURICE (MICHAEL1) was born 1838 in Ballyhaunis and died 23 January, 1923 in Ballyhaunis, according to Dr. Michael F. Waldron’s diary, “Brief Personal Notes on Parochial and Other Passing Events” as well as the Registry of Births and Deaths in Claremorris/Ballyhaunis that listed “senility” as his cause of death. He married MARGARET McGARRY, daughter of LORETTA FREELY or FREELEY and ? McGARRY. She was born about 1850, according to the 1901 Census, and died 14 May, 1942 at Scregg, near Ballyhaunis, according to Waldron’s diary. However, the Registry of Births and Deaths in Claremorris/Ballyhaunis shows her to be 98 years-old at the time of her death in Scregg due to “senility” with a neighbor Nora Fitzmaurice present at her death. Thus, she would have been born in 1844, not 1850.
The Irish Census of 1901 and the Irish Census of 1910 both document the presence of Peter and family in Ballyhaunis. The latter census shows Peter (age 73) residing at 3 Knox Street with his wife Margaret (age 65) and two children, Delia (age 20, aka Bridget) and Anne (age 14). Google Maps shows the two-story rowhouses still standing there in 2016 and both Tim and Dan Kuhn visited there in October, 2016. According to the 1901 Irish Census, his occupation was shopkeeper.
Children of PETER FITZMAURICE and MARGARET McGARRY are:
- PETER FITZMAURICE2, b. 14 January 1871, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo; Arrived at Ellis Island 9 March, 1892 aboard Teutonic, age 22. He apparently travelled with a cousin, Thomas M. Fitzmaurice, age 23, who is listed as an American citizen and last place of resident as Ballyhaunis; both listed as laborers.
ii. JAMES FITZMAURICE, b. 6 April 1872, Forthill, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; d.? b.? Ballyhaunis Cem. at dtr. Delia Waldron’s site. Lot 64, C.
iii. MARY (MARIE) FITZMAURICE, b. 12 June 1874 in the village of Clagnagh, east of Ballyhaunis. m.? RYAN; d. 1966 in Chicago.
iv. ELLEN (NELLIE) FITZMAURICE, b. 25 December 1876 in the village of Clagnagh, east of Ballyhaunis; father listed as farmer. m. ? McGRENERA; d. 17 September, 1936 in Chicago.
v. ANDREW FITZMAURICE, b. 4 Dec 1878 Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; d. ? possibly July 1933 Ballyhaunis Cem. Plot 141, C. Possibly married to Catherine who is buried next to him, died age 106 in April 1988. Residence: Cloonfad
vi. CECELIA (SISSY) FITZMAURICE, b. 8 January 1881, Ballyhaunis; m. PATRICK BROWNE of Ballinrobe (their daughter Catherine b. 16 July, 1912)
vii. JOHN FITZMAURICE, b. 1882, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; died in 1891 at age 9.
viii. CATHERINE (KITTY) FITZMAURICE, b. 23 May 1884 m. JAMES M. (FRANK) WILSON. Arrived at Ellis Island ? and lived in Chicago until relocating to New Jersey. She later was widowed and remarried ? GAUCH and d. August 1976, New Jersey.
ix. HONORIA (NORA) FITZMAURICE, b. 22 February 1889, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; Arrived at Ellis Island 17 April, 1901; d. 1976; m. EDWARD MADIGAN
x. BRIDGET (DELIA) FITZMAURICE, b. 4 January 1891, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; d. 1918 in the flu epidemic; never married.
xi. MARGARET MARY FITZMAURICE, b. 7 July, 1893, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; d. 25 April, 1959, Chicago. Arrived at Ellis Island 30 October, 1910,
xii. ANNE (ANNIE) b. 27 November 1896, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland; d.?
It is certain that Peter, Marie, Kitty, Nora, and Margaret came to the USA, according to immigration records found at www.libertyellisfoundation.org. It appears that they were often accompanied by cousins and others from Ballyhaunis, according to the manifests of the arriving ships. It is certain that these young women came to Chicago. It is believed that all the rest of the siblings came to the USA except John who died at age 9 and Cecelia who married Patrick Browne of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. Everyone else’s immigration records and ultimate whereabouts are unknown.
Generation No. 3
3. MARGARET MARY FITZMAURICE (PETER2, MICHAEL1) was born July 7, 1893 in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland, and died April 25, 1959 in Chicago, IL. She is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, IL. She married CONSTANTINE KOURTIS February 5, 1916 in Chicago, IL, son of EUSTRATIOS KOURTIS and DAPHNE PANAYIOTOPOULOS. He was born December 20, 1893 in Kifissia, Greece, and died November 9, 1949 in Chicago, IL. He too is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, IL.
