Cawley in Doocastle, Mayo
Dear Reachers!,
My goal with this post is to try and trace relatives of the Cawley family; below I provide as much information as I can to try and help with that.
Summary- I am hoping to find living relatives or people with knowledge of John Cawley (1840-1911) and Mary Cawley (nee Gallagher) (1850-1922) and their 8 children (at least 7 being daughters) born between (1872 and 1890) and living in Doocastle, Mayo (at least some of them up until the 1930’s).
It is not as easy to summarise as that of course and if you have the curiosity, kindness and energy you might read on to find out what I do know, might know and have possibly found which might help trigger something for someone, who could fill in my current canyon of unknown and help reach my goal! Thank you for reading.
If you do find yourself diving in then it would be wonderful if you might look at my recent post - Gallagher in Doocastle. This is because the Cawley's are linked by a marriage to the Gallagher's and there might also be information on that post which helps here - thank you.
The Gallagher's appear to come from Doocastle which is located in County Mayo, very close to the border with County Sligo. The Cawley's as far as I can tell are also from Doocastle or possibly somewhere just on the other side of the county border in Sligo! My apologies for lots of detail, I see it as part of the fun, mystery and puzzling, but we all have different angles and opinions on that. I do hope by telling you as much as I know, it might provide something that connects to you and/or your knowledge, the more crumbs the better is the idea!
I am lucky enough to have some original letters written by my great x3 grandfather Thomas Gallagher (1835-1930). He was born in Doocastle and after moving to London for a great part of his life, he returned to Doocastle sometime between 1904 -1911 and saw out the rest of his life in Doocastle Cottage.
Doocastle is in the County of Mayo but is part of Kilturra Parish, some of which is in Mayo but the majority in Sligo (as I understand it). In religious terms I understand that the Roman Catholic Church that would have been used by Doocastle inhabitants was in Buninaden (or other similar spellings), which was just over the border in Sligo. My thoughts are that the Gallagher’s and Cawley’s in the period I am looking at all lived in Doocastle but that is not 100% certain!
You will find Thomas Gallagher and a son (Peter), in the 1911 Census, along with his niece Bridget Cawley (whom according to the census was born about 1874 in Mayo). Bridget took care of him until his death in 1930 and wrote to his son in London to advise of his death.
Bridget was the daughter of John Cawley and Mary Cawley (nee Gallagher). Mary was a younger sister of Thomas Gallagher.
I do not have birth records for Mary but I have found her in the 1911 census and believe the age given of 67 is either correct or reasonably accurate. I know from very strong evidence that Thomas her brother was born in 1835-1837 and she also had a younger brother John (born 1853 [he went to London in 1871 and never returned to Ireland]).
The Census of 1911 gives us two very useful facts - which is that Mary and John Cawley had been married 38 years and that they had 8 children, all of whom were still alive. 2 daughters are showing living with them Lydia and Margaret (Lydia is a bit of an issue ! more of that later).
I have attached the 1911 and 1901 census and the page which gives details on their location (Doocastle).
The 1901 Census is also a good fit. Again, the ages are not quite perfect but the details make sense and this shows 3 children Anne, Lizzie and Maggie. Great that Anne is on here and that Lizzie (born Eliza has turned up) but where is the Lydia who is in the 1911 census? My thought is that Lydia in the 1911 census is Lizzie/Eliza? What do you think?
Based on this information I am confident I have tracked down the marriage of John Cawley and Mary Gallagher in 1872, which I have also attached. I believe this to be the correct marriage based on the things I can verify. They are both resident in Doocastle and Mary's father is given as John a landholder (something that also appears on the marriage certificates of her brothers Thomas and John and also on a document that was created by Thomas's employers in 1889). I assume William Gallagher (her witness) may be either an uncle or brother (but I don't have any information on that). The marriage date of 1872 also ties up with them being married 38 years in the 1911 census.
One small issue is her age is given as 22, meaning a birth of 1850 and yet in the 1911 census her age is given as 67 which would give a birth year of around 1844. John Cawley's birth date also varies a little (3 years) but as you will see later when he dies that gap gets smaller again.
What Mary's correct age is though is relevant when it comes to trying to find her death.... which I will get onto later.
Just one point here. I have said the Cawley’s may be in Sligo and this marriage is in Sligo. However, I don’t think Doocastle had a Roman Catholic Church and so marriages would have been needed to be conducted in the church in Bunnanden, just over the border. If this is so it means the Cawley’s were more likely to have come from and lived in Doocastle, Mayo. Any thoughts on that are welcomed!
-------------------------------------
Armed with the marriage certificate and the 1901 and 1911 census I then tried to find 8 Cawley births!
Before beginning I also had the following useful information to keep in mind:
One of these children must be Bridget - the niece in the 1911 census, whose birth is dated 1874 (given the date of her parent's marriage she will probably be the first or second born). Bridget is often mentioned in the original letters I have, written by Thomas Gallagher from Doocastle Cottage.
The letters mention two other Cawley children - Ellen and Ann - so I was also keeping a look out of those names...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was very fortunate to find these births:
Mary Cawley – 12 December 1874 **
Anne Cawley – 30 November 1876 *
Anne Cawley – 23 December 1876
Agnes Cawley – 20 February 1879
Catherine Cawley – 10 September 1881
Ellen Cawley – 27 January 1883
Eliza Cawley – 30 December 1886
Margaret Cawley - 6 December 1888
All of these births are in the district of Lowpark, Union of Swin(e)ford. John is given as the father and always described as a farmer. Mary is named as his wife and always formerly Gallagher and all of them in Doocastle and the gaps between very ‘realistic’- so that looks good!
Of course, there are a few issues…
We only have 7 children but the 1911 census says there were 8
* Why is Anne Cawley recorded twice ? Is this an error that can happen?
** Where is Bridget Cawley (the niece whom according to the 1911 census was born in 1874)
*** Where is Lydia Cawley (whom appears in the 1911 census , and according to it was born in 1886? As I said up above maybe Lydia is Eliza/Lizzie?
Could it be possible that Mary the first born is the Bridget in the 1911 census with Thomas and Peter Gallagher? Would that be a realistic name change – It seems unlikely to me but then the dates and ages would fit. An alternative could be that she is a twin of Mary but then why can we not find her birth details?
IF Mary and Bridget are separate people we would have 8 children. If they are the same person we would have 7 children and wondering where the 8th is. There may have been time for a birth before Mary or after Margaret (depending on the age of Mary the mother), but not a lot of space between births between 1874-1888. We also have the tantalising fact in the 1911 census that 8 children were born and all alive in 1911.
I attach all the birth documents.
I did have a look for an Anne Cawley marriage between 1901 and 1911 but could not find one where John Cawley is named as the father. Both Anne Cawley and Ellen Cawley appear in the 1911 census returns for Doocastle but the information given proves them NOT to be 'my' Cawley's.
If you got this far , thank you and well done!
Finding some marriages would be the key it seems, rather than assuming all the girls remained spinsters and died as Cawley's. Saying that, Bridget Cawley was 56 when Thomas Gallagher died in 1930 so it is probable she may have died in Doocastle as a spinster.
I will post again (shortly and far shorter) on the death of Mary Cawley but this is enough for now I am sure you will agree!
If anyone has any queries, questions or thoughts, do please let me know. I probably know no more than I have put here but I can always get out the letters again!