Have recently discovered my paternal great grandfather James Foley was born in Killalla 1846. Unable to find any information prior to that date. His father James was a farmer - and the whole family left Ireland in the famine. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Hi,
Foley seems to be fairly uncommon in Mayo.
Looking at the Tithes: http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=foley&firstname=&county=Mayo&parish=&townland=&search=Search - the is a Foley in Kilmoremoy, the parish between Killala and Ballina. The tithes were taken from 1826-1838 (or so).
Here's Foley's on Griffiths, the first one is from Kilmoremoy parish, which is very close to Killala. Griffiths valuation is from around 1850:
You may also want to search parish records here;
http://www.irishhereandthere.com
Thank you so much.
I am exploring every avenue possible but with limited information - not uncommon I know.
It is only from the 1911 U.K. census that Killalla was named as the birthplace of my great grandfather - born 1846.
His marriage certificate names his father as James too - but he is not named on any U.K. Census. His mother, Mary is named and also siblings - Michael, Mary and others I have not had time to investigate.
I know Foley is more a Munster name and I had concentrated my search there until I found Killalla named.
My mother in law ( a Cavan girl ) used to joke that the only Foleys she knew were Mayo sheep stealers. She may well have been right all along. My father in law was a Roscommon boy so he was well acquainted with Mayo people.
Thank you for the links. I will explore.
You might want to look here for more information on the Foley surname.
http://www.libraryireland.com/names/searchirishnames/indexer/search.php?zoom_query=foley