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Looking for Some Help With Research

Mayo

Hi,

I was just hoping for some help with my genealogical research. I am looking for any guidance, info, tips, resources, et cetera.

Right now, I am looking for more record for my 3x Great-Grandfather, Anthony Barrett. I have been looking for the record and found two maybe three possibilities. I want to make sure that it is the correct record and they are my correct ancestors. Anthony married Mary Gallagher. He was born around 1845 as the census lists.

The possibility that I saw as potentially being the likely baptism record for him was one from December 1844? The location on the baptismal record was Ballysakeery, County Mayo. This is where Anthony and his family lived. In County Mayo, there is some confusion however. There was another baptismal record that suggested that Anthony’s father was Owen and his mother was Ann. This baptism took place in backs and Owen’s address was listed as Rathbane. This record was done out in a printed style as opposed to it being a copy of a page. I had assumed this was the correct record as that is what it linked on my Ancestry tree. I think someone else had that on their tree but now I’m unsure if that was correct as I’ve also noticed other details potentially being wrong for other ancestors in my tree from what other people had added that doesn’t seem to be correct. I’m wondering if this is also common.

The date for the baptism record where Owen and Ann or Anthony’s parents was also around the right time which made me think that it could be correct however I think the address on the record that Thomas Barrett and Bridget Hughes as his parents has the same location as the address that I think some of Anthony’s children were Buena later on potentially may be where he lived during a census or two. That is what has made me think that that could be likely the correct record. The only thing as well that put me off and confused me was that they didn’t seem to be any children of Anthony’s named after either father whether it was Owen or Thomas and there was no daughter called Ann but one called Bridget.

Maybe some tips on how I can tell and feel confident in the records I find would be helpful as I find this is a big challenge for me because I want to make sure that I am getting the right ancestors are not going into the wrong branches.

Thank you very much for any help and I very much appreciate it!

SwiftTiger100

2 replies

Luke,

First off, I would not trust the information that others have on their Ancestry trees without any primary source records to prove their contentions. My own experience with my great grandmother - another Margaret Gallagher from Mayo....I accepted her parents and siblings for a few years off the Ancestry trees until I found the correct records that made much more sense. I answered your question about the marriage record for Anthony and Mary on 16 Apr - still not located, but that would obviously give you their father's names. I looked on Roots Ireland (paid site), but did not locate the Dec 1844 birth record for Anthony that you mention....baptism records for Ballysokerry/Cooneal began in 1844, so it is quite likely that Anthony was born before that, so there is no church record. Finding an Anthony Barrett in the RC parish of Backs (that town land is Rathbaun btw) does not really prove anything as there were four other Anthony Barretts born between 1839 and 1845 in the RC parish of Backs - I just put in a rough time frame there.

In my reply on the 16th, I mentioned the births of Anthony and Mary's children...is that the family you are researching? If so, I'd say that Anthony was from the RC parish of Ballysokerry/Cooneal as folks back then did not move around from one place to another especially given that Anthony was a farmer. He was most likely born prior to 1844. The Irish naming conventions sometimes are at play, but not 100% of the time. So, if those are his children, then his father would have been Michael, and his mother Margaret.

Regards,

Carolyn

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