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Roche/Breen/Neil of Wexford

WexfordFerns (Wexford)

Joseph Roche was born to Stephen Roche and Eleanor Breen on May 6 1811 in Taghmon Parish, New Ross, County Wexford. Joseph had a twin sister, Anastatia and a younger sister Catherine, born in 1812. Joseph married Mary Neil at the Church of St Martin in Ballycullane on Sept 18, 1841. Four children were born in Ireland: Nicholas, Johannah, Anastatia and John. Nicholas and Johannah immigrated to the USwith their parents in 1850. Anastatia and John were left behind with Grandparents. They came to the US in 1865.

Questions:

  • What happened to Joseph's sisters Anastatia and Catherine?
  • Were there other children born to Stephen and Eleanor Roche?
  • Are there descendants living today?
  • Who wereMary Neil's parents? (Mary and Joseph were 1st cousins)

Joseph and Mary were pioneer settlers in the new community of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and hundreds of descendants still live in the area today. My husband and Ihave a trip to Ireland planned for May 2017 and would love to visit any family or landmarks associated with our history.

IrelandXO member

5 replies

Brenda:

Welcome to ireland Reaching Out!

Co. Wexford is a difficult county for checking RC records because only about 25% of the parishes are on Roots Ireland. Taghmon is included but Ballycullane is not. Below are links to the parish registers for both parishes. The Taghmon register starts in 1801 and Ballycullane starts in 1827. Taghmon also has a lof of death info. 

http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0609   http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0573

I will try to give yous ome answers on your questions. Not sure what happened to the two sisters. There were no marriages in Taghmon parish for their names. Roots had no other children for Stephen and Eleanor other than the three you mentioned. Roche and Breen are very common surnames in Wexford so it would be very difficult to determine if there are connections. I would look into autosomal DNA testing and you may match individuals who are 4th and 5th cousins living either in the USA, Canada, Australia and possibly Ireland. O'Neil (and all the variant names) is a very common surname in Wexford and when I checked Roots Ireland there were many Mary O'Neill (and variants) baptismal records. No way to see if your ancestor is included.

The Griffiths Valuation was conducted in Wexford around 1853 and there is a Stephen Roche listed in Taghmon civil parish in a townland called Durra Big  http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/wexford/taghmon.htm  Possibly this is your ancestor.

Questions?

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Roger. That's helpful. We've had DNA testing done through Ancestry.com so I'll delve into that a little bit more. Maybe we can find a match.

IrelandXO member

Hello,

I'm descended from Catherine Roach b1845, in County Wexford, daughter of John Roach (b abt 1824 Co Wexford) and Mary Ennis (b abt 1820 Rathangan in the dioceses of Ferns).  I wondered if you had these in your tree.  I have done DNA testing through Ancestry if you want to compare.

Thank you,

 

IrelandXO member

Lesley, I do not have your John and Mary in my tree. But we have done DNA and would love to see if there is a connection. Email me at Brenda.Roach@gmail.com

IrelandXO member

Do you know if Eleanor Breen had a sister named Elizabeth Breen born 1795 whose parents were Mary and John Breen?

jkpietila@sbcg…

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