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Walshes

MayoCrossmolina (Mayo)

Hi, I need help preparing a roots tour in Ireland. My paternal grandmother was Helen Marie Welch, daughter of Michael Welch in this census record for Rutland Vermont (the newborn Michael.) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6SG7-RLS?mode=g&i=17&wc=95 This family left County Mayo at some point after the birth of Edward in 1847 and before 1850. I can't find an immigration record; there are none for Canada/Vermont crossings before 1895. I have attached a photo of a gravestone on which the patriarch, Edward Welch, is said to be born in Crossmolina. Best efforts suggest that the wife of my great grandfather Mathias (Matthew in America) was Catherine McAndrew c. 1830 in Ireland. The wife of my great grand uncle Michael Welch likely was Mary Ruane c 1825 in Ireland. I think I found a record of Michael and Mary's marriage, also attached.

Rutland in that era had a strong economy based on marble and slate quarries. Matthew and Catherine moved west to Wisconsin at some point 1860-65. He died en route or soon after arrival. His widow left Wisconsin for Iowa, where Anna, the eldest daughter, b. 1846 in Ireland, was already living. Michael stayed, and married Honora McDermott whose parents journeyed from County Sligo through Rutland to Wisconsin in 1866. My grandmother was their firstborn in 1876. In 1898, she married Jes Madsen (Jees Mason in America) who emigrated to Wisconsin from Denmark in 1873 as a boy.

Any help is greatly appreciated, principally to identify the townland if it is not Crossmolina proper. Would records exist of Edward's and Ann's parents in the 1700s? Is it possible to find the houses they left in the late 1840s? To identify distant cousins?

Thanks and regards

Todd Mason

toddmason@cent…

7 replies

Todd:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

From the marriage record, it appears the townland was Creevy which is seven kilometers southwest of Crossmolina. Here is the 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Crossmolina parish and you can see there are many Walsh records including three in Creevy.  http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/crossmolina.htm

You won't find records for Edward and Ann's parents. Crossmolina RC records start in 1831. http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0745

You won't find houses from the 1840s.  The 1901 censu for Creevy showed two Walsh families Not sure of their connection to your family.  http://census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Deel/Creevy/

You can check the online Irish phone book to see if there are any Walsh records in Creevy http://www.eirphonebook.ie/# Make sure you use the Residential Tab. There are 414 Walsh records in Mayo.

You may also want to consider autosomal DNA testing.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks for your help, Roger. Can you answer a few questions about life in Creevy in the 1840s that might bound my search? The Walshes in  Rutland, VT, were living three generations to a house. Would they live together or close in Creevy? Would they be tenants or owners? If tenants, did they have any rights to the land? Could one of the Walshes in the 1901 census still be occupying the land Edward and Ann left?  In how large a social circle would Matthias and Michael find wives? In the 1840s, would there have been hamlets/stores/pubs/chapels closer to Creevy than Crossmolina?

Thanks again for your help.

Todd

toddmason@cent…

Todd:

In the 1840s they would have been tenants. They could have been in one house or multiple houses close together particularly if a father gave land to his sons when they married. Tenants had very few rights which eventually lead to the Land League activities and Captain Boycott.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_Land_League   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Boycott

You will eventually be able to track leased land from the Griffiths to families in the 1901 census when the Revision books are digitized and placed online. Right now the books are only available at the Valuation office in Dublin. Essentially the books allow you to track plots of land as lease holders died or left. http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/revision-books.html

In the 1840s most RC marriages would have involved couples who lived fairly close maybe with 10 kilometers. 

I will get back to you on your last question.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks again, Roger.

It's pretty clear that my ancestors arrived in the US on a famine ship. They found the opposite here. The Homestead Act of 1862 explained the appeal of Wisconsin, which was then on America's frontier. Stake out 160 acres of land, pay a small filing fee, live on it for five years and it was yours.

Todd

toddmason@cent…

Todd:

Go to this link. http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html    You should be able to see fairly detailed maps from around 1837 in the Crossmolina area which will help to answer your questions about other chapels/stores etc. between Creevy and Crossmolina.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi, I wanted to send note to Todd Mason in re: his post.  I can not get a for sure link to my family. While reading your post Todd I see so many surnames I have been following.  I have my dna at Ancestry & found a dna link to a gal with Michael Welch, wife I recall was Mary or Margaret moved west from NY. Another dna match has a Rachel Jane McDermott, Rutland VT to ? Canada then back to VT she was hard to follow as she married "Bolles", "Stewart" and maybe 1 more I cant recall.

. My 2nd gr grandfather was Charles(Edward/or Ralph) Mason b- abt 1836 Ireland married Ellen Griffin b- abt 1835 Ireland.I suspect his father was John Mason as thier first born son was John Mason b- 1854 NY US. Then I have another dna match from Canada, they are more distant ,"Wm Torr b- 1830,married Margt. Mason b- 1833 Eng.. I most recently found a possible brother of my 2nd gr grandmother Ellen (Griffin) Mason in Steuben co NY. John Griffin b-abt 1838 Ireland ,s/p was Margaret Ryan. Surnames I am following with possible connection are H Baxter, W. Cavannaugh, James McMahon, John Murphy, John Ryan, James Kelly . They were all pallbearer 1902 death of Frank Dixon, brother of my grandmother Cora (Dixon) Clark. I hope this is helpful. Dotty R

MasonGriffin

Just came across this. Sorry. I'm not sure I can be much help. My Welches emigrated in the late 1840s from Crossmolina Co Mayo through Canada to Rutland, VT. Michael moved as a boy from Rutland to south central Wisconsin in the early 1860s as did many other Irish families. Dane Co Wisconsin has a Rutland township. Nor technically am I a Mason. My grandfather, Jes Madsen, emigrated from Denmark to Wisconsin the 1870s. The name was pronounced Mahson so, eager to assimilate, he changed his name to what his new neighbors thought he was trying to say --Jees Mason.

Dunno if you have found them but the helpful people at rootsweb.com~vermontgenweb sent me a lead to Ireland chiseled in stone, namely a gravestone image listing my Walshes' birth in Crossmolina. It's esier to start here rather than in Ireland. Walsh is the fourth most common surname in Ireland and every other boy of the era was Michael. The other was Patrick.

toddmason@cent…

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