Hello Roger and Jim,
I believe that my ancestor is Edward O'Hara's brother William O'Hara (born in Ballina 1849 - died in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA in 1916) . William married Mary Duffy (born in Crossmolina about 1850 and died in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA in 1930). William O'Hara and his wife Mary Duffy lived on Hill St. in Ballina with their children before they moved to the US in the mid- 1880's. Mary Duffy's parents were Joh Duffy and Margaret Holmes.
I believe that William O'Hara and Edward O'Hara's parents were William O'Hara (about 1818 - 1879) and his wife Mary Durkan.
1) I found a death record on RootsIreland for a William O'Hara on Oct. 25, 1879, age 61, living on Hill St. I am assuming this could be our ancestor, as his son William and family may have been living with him before they left for the USA. Roger, I would love to find the burial location for this William O'Hara, do you have any suggestions for this? I could not find a death record for Mary Durkan O'Hara.
2) I have had no luck finding the immigration records for William O'Hara Jr. and his wife Mary Duffy. Any suggestions of which port they may have departed from in Ireland in the mid 1880's? I realize this is like a needle in a haystack.
3) I would love to find out what happened to Edward and the other siblings of William O'Hara and Mary Duffy that stayed in Ireland. I will try to look for those.
Thank you again for all of your time volunteering. I am in Canada and it is not easy researching Irish history from here, but RootsIreland is a big help!
Alison