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Hugh O'Malley/Melia

Mayo

Hello,

My 2nd Great Grandfather Hugh Maley (O'Malley/ Malia/Melia) married Mary Maley (nee) in Ormskirk England in 1856 aged 30 years. This is the first confirmed record that I have for him. He records his father as Thomas Maley a Labourer on the marriage certificate. Hugh died in Liverpool in 1896, reportedly aged 62 years, so had a birth date around 1826 -1834. All the English census records have him born in Ireland, but with no county or parish information.

The 1861 census has Hugh living in Ormskirk with his wife Mary and 2 children, Thomas and Mary. He is described as a boarder living with Martin Coffy, Martin's wife Hanora and their daughter Mary, along with Widow Malley aged 50 also described as a boarder.

Much of the evidence points to Hanora being Hugh's sister and Widow Malley being their mother Mary. 

There is a baptism on rootsireland.ie for Honour Maley 14 Apr 1833 address Lanmore at Aghagower RC Parish, parents John & Mary Maley, sponsors Edmond Maley & Bridget Halinan. The 1891 census has her birth as Co Mayo. Her marriage certificate in 1858 records her father as John Maley, Farmer.

Mary's death certificate in 1893 describes her as the widow of John Melia, Farmer. Mary is living with her son Thomas in Ormskirk prior to her death. Thomas identified his father as Thomas Melia a Labourer when he married in 1877; Thomas's wife Ann was the informant on her mother-in-law's death certificate, identifying Mary's husband as John. 

I haven't been able to identify any records for John Melia Farmer/ Thomas Maley Labourer, so am struggling to confirm that they are the same man, but the lives of Hugh, Thomas jnr, Hanora and Widow Mary seem to be closely linked in England.

Apologies for the preamble but I would love to be able to confirm more about my ancestors in Ireland. Based on many DNA matches with other O'Malley descendents, I believe that my family did originate from County Mayo.

I know that O'Malley is a very popular name in Mayo; can anyone please advise me on how to join the dots and take my research any further?

Many thanks,

Ann

 

annparry84@yahoo.com

4 replies

Hi Ann, there are at least 3 John Malley's in that parish and there are siblings to the Honor lady too, the only marriage that came up was to a Mary Glynn but a little late I think. Marriage records are supposed to commence there in 1821 and baptisms in 1828, As there is no Hugh it is impossible to sort which one, it is possible he was baptised some other name or was John Hugh and called Hugh to distinguish him from another family member also.

There is a Mayo DNA Matching private Facebook page which was very active but is quieter now but you might like to check it out, there are Gedmatch tools and name matching and you might find it useful, people on these pages tend to be more responsive as they have gone to the trouble of joining, they are well moderated in my experience, I am on the Mayo one and some others and have always found them polite and helpful if they can.

There is a  site here and you could look at the entries if you wish, only search by date, sometimes the baptisms are transcribed without the 2nd Christian name so you might get lucky but not an easy read. https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/1037 ;

Also you can get some free searches on this surname site but after that subscribe. https://www.johngrenham.com/ ; 482 Malleys in the 1850s in Mayo, families that is.

Your famous ancestor name sake striking an early blow for equality in case you have not heard of her. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O%27Malley

Lots more online about her too.

Good Luck

Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Pat,

Many thanks for the helpful tips. I hadn't considered looking on Facebook. 

I suppose the thing that I've struggled with most, is not knowing for certain where Hugh and his family were born. I'm guessing that I've found the baptism for the correct Hanora, but I don't like to assume things without additional evidence and I've been unable to find any.

I'll explore further with the links you've provided.

Thanks again,

Ann

annparry84@yahoo.com

Hello,

I am a direct descendant of Bridget O'Malley b 1847 in Kilmainemore Parish, Mayo, daughter of  Anthony O'Malley or Martin O'Malley born in Mayo, Ireland. She married Patrick Hallanan and died on 11 Oct 1925 in Sacramento, CA where I was born adn raised.  An obit says she came to Sacramento from St. Louis.They are found on the 1860 Census and 1870 Census for Chicago, IL. I have tracked some of her siblings and her parents in Mayo, IRE. For fun, I looked up JOHN O'Malley in my Ancestry.com family tree (public). I have a world subscription so it searches for English and Irish records. Some of the locations of my O'Malleys are Ballina, Mayo, Kilmainemore, Mayo. , Kilalla, Mayo, Louisburg, Mayo, etc. 

I have a John Malley age 30 born 1796 in Mayo who arrived 1826  in New York, NY on the ship "Lady Hunter" who came from Great Britain. He may be the brother of Anthony O'Malley (my line).This John O'Malley had a son b. ca1830.

Another John O'Malley Ireland, Civil Registrations Death Index, 1864-1958 (below)

John Malley estimated birth year 1895 date of Registration 1865 Death age 70 District Westport, Mayo.

 

 Anthony O'Malley b January 1835 died in Cleveland , Cuyahoga, OH. His father may be James O'Mally b 1795 married to Mary Hugh. I mention this because he had a son named John O'Malley b ca 1835. (possible brother or cousin of Anthony.)

Have you had your DNA tested?  I have and my sister and both sons, and my cousin Kathy, and her two children. We could see if we match in any way.

Sincerely, Karen Beagle, 

 

 

, 

Karen Kenealy

 

Hello Karen,

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to respond to my post. I quickly found your extensive tree on Ancestry and I would love to say that I was able to find a connection, but neither my sister nor I am a DNA match to you. Should you wish to search further, my Ancestry username is annparry84

The Mayo DNA matching Facebook page that Pat refers to in her response has been useful, as they use Gedmatch and I've identifed a number of distant cousins from the Westport/Louisburgh region of Mayo.

Thanks again,

Ann

 

 

annparry84@yahoo.com

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