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Martin Kelly family of Rusheen

SligoDrumcolumb (Sligo)

Searching for information regarding the Martin KELLEY family of Rusheen, Co Sligo. Martin was born sometime in the late 1700's and married Margaret GRAY/GREY.  Martin and Margaret's children (all born in Rusheen) were:  Anna b 1815, Patrick b 1817, Margaret b 1819, Martin b 1821, Elenor b 1825, James b 1827, Catherine b 1830 and Mary, unknown birth.

Most of the children of this family emigrated to Emmett, St. Clair Co, Michigan where they resided and died.  Eleanor Kelley was my 2nd great grandmother. She married Thomas DONAHUE in Emmett in 1854. She died in 1899 in Kenokee Township, Emmett, St. Clair Co, Michigan.

Margaret Kelley b 1819 married Patrick Somers (also of Rusheen?) and emigrated to Haverhill, Massachusettes. She died there in 1911.

When James Kelley died in 1907, he was an 77 year old bachelor and in his will he left money to many of his nieces and hephews. This will allowed the family to be traced back to Riverstown.

Thank you for any information that you may be able to add.

Patti Hacht

Leonard, MIchigan

USA

phachtIrelandXO Volunteer

5 replies

Hi Patti,

Unfortunately, there are no baptismal records for that early date for that area. These are Roman Catholic records. Do you know what religion they were?

There is an archive in the National Archives (UK) called the 'Reproductive Looan Funds records, Templehouse loan association.' (1822-48). These records might be worth looking into. The catalogue number is: T/91.

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

IrelandXO member

I was born in Riverstown in 1954 and moved to the USA in 2000., My dad Stephen Taheny  born 1920 was the oldest continous living resident of Riverstown and  died April 2012 , He was the local historian for years abd dealt with anyone who arrived there looking for family roots. I have some of his knowlwdge and may be able to help you a little.

I remember a Martin Kelly of  Rusheen who was the local postmam( Mailman) and cycled on his bike delivering the  local mail in the late 1950's early 1960,   He was unmarried  liked his pint of Guiness daiily and is dead over 40 years now I guess.  There is a  buriel ground in Ballinakill so he is probaly burried there  You may be able to get some more information from  the local Postmistress Iris Barlow (Postmaster in US tems)_ who has been in that position for many years and suceeded her mother and father who were the previous postmasters.so she should  have over 100 years of postal  area knowledge

Riverstown is a small village of 400 people with a larger sparcely populated rural agricultural  hinertland 

 

Iris Barlow , Riverstown Post Office, Riverstown Co Sligo Ireland 

 

Barlow Frank & IrisPost Offices telephone (353-71)9165101

 

 

here is the 1901 census information with Martin"s  name together with other family members listed   and in a follow up 1911 census

 

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SurnameForenameTownland/StreetDEDCountyAgeSexKellyMartinRusheenBallynakillSligo12M       

 

Residents of a house 5 in Rusheen (Ballynakill, Sligo)Show all informationSurnameForenameAgeSexRelation to headReligionKellyJames55MaleHead of FamilyRoman CatholicKellyMaggie47FemaleWifeRoman CatholicKellyKatie16FemaleDaughterRoman CatholicKellyEddie14MaleSonRoman CatholicKellyMartin12MaleSonRoman CatholicKellyJohn9MaleSonRoman CatholicKellyJames6MaleSonRoman Catholic

 

 

I hope thsi is helpful for you 

 

 

Michael Taheny

IrelandXO member

Michael Taheny,

Thank you for your reply. Martin seems a bit of an "unusual" Irish name, especially compared to Michael, Patrick,etc. My Martin was born in the 1700's, but the name could certainly have been used in later generations, as seems to be the practice in Ireland.

I will contact the postmistress to see if I can discover anything further. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to send me all of this info.

Patti

phachtIrelandXO Volunteer
I am looking for GG granddad John Kelly from Co Sligo. From baptism records in Riverstown I have found two children named John Kelly bapt, 1814. One John was bapt, on the 13 May 1814 and his dad was called Martin Kelly: the second child was bapt. 23 June 1814 and his dad was Patrick Kelly. I think Patrick Kelly is potentially my GGG granddad, as my G granddad was called also Patrick. I am assuming both the babies were born from somewhere around the parish of Riverstown. My John Kelly was recommended by a Justice of Peace (JP) Martin Dillon Manning based in Heapston House to join the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), He joined July 1838 aged 24 so he must have grown up in the area, and was a labourer, prior to joining, He was moved out of Co Sligo and was married to a Co. Donegal lady in 17 July 1848. I have a death cert for the lady who I believe to be my GG gran Sarah Kelly nee Quigley who dies in Co Donegal and her death cert tells me she was the widow of a policeman. T The above information is from the RIC records, and G granddad's Patricks marriage and death certificate, The dates match up, my as G granddad born 1853, but I have no birth, marriage, or death cert for John Kelly. I would be grateful for any comments /suggestions, I have been searching for John Kelly since the 1980's. My mother knew her G granddad John Kelly was a policeman. I have traced my Co Donegal relative and have robust proof, now I need to find my Co. Sligo family. Regards EIlean
eileandonan@ho…

Hi, I have just joined this site and came across your post.  In searching the Catholic parish records for information on John Kelly, born 1814, I found 2 possible sets of parents (there being 2 John Kellys baptised in 1814 in Tawnagh).  One of those couples was Martin Kelly and Catherine Foley married in 1812.  I was interested in them as one of the witnesses was Maria Conlan who was the other possible mother.  This led me to think that Martin may be related to Patrick (the other father) who I believe to be the father of the John I'm interested in.  Further searching of the records showed that all future children of Martin Kelly were born to Margaret Grey so my thought is that these families are connected in some way.  John Kelly is my brick wall and I have struggled for years to find any concrete proof that he is my husband's ancestor.  I would be very interested in any information you could share about the nieces and nephews of James Kelly mentioned in his will that you wrote about as this might help in establishing if there is any connection between our Kellys.  John Kelly we believe to be the father of Patrick Kelly my husband's 2nd GGrandfather.  Patrick's sons were named Hugh, James and Martin.

efal1

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