Michael & Alice McNamara from Clare
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Michael & Alice McNamara from Clare
Hey everyone, I just found this forum and didn't see anything while browsing through it. I'm not sure if anyone can help or knows where I can find this information but my g-g-g-great grandpa Michael (b. 1834) and his wife came from Clare to America in 1852. The ended up settled in Delaware, Ohio and that's where they lived out their lives. Now i was wondering if there's a way to find out how they got here, where exactly in Clare they came from, and that sort of thing. I understand that McNamara is a very common name from that area so I realize this might be a shot in the dark but any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Pat
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smcarberry
- Posts: 1282
- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:31 pm
- Location: USA
Re: Michael & Alice McNamara from Clare
Before an entire two weeks passes since your posting and in view of the lack of response by someone more knowledgeable, there are some comments that I can make on directions to take to reach your goal of confirming an exact Clare locality for your Michael McNamara. Please be aware that West Clare is not my own family's area nor is Ohio, and I am very aware of the universe of McNamara emigrants, who may or may not have been listed in a record surviving to this date or perhaps misspelled and thus not retrievable with key word searches.
Your posting is clear about the listed particulars of your ancestors. Let me add a bit to that, since I researched your research in old online postings. You know that Clare is the county because Michael's gravestone says so. You have been looking for his death notice or death record in 1884, which you realize may or may not be in Delaware County. You know from his wife Alice's death record that her parents were Timothy Downey and Ellen Leonard, and you think that perhaps Limerick is their county. You have been looking at other McNamara families in Delaware County or other McNamara and Downey families in the U.S. which share the same forenames as those in Michael and Alice's family. This family had children in this order (no big gaps), starting in 1862 in Ohio: Thomas, Michael, John, Patrick, Ellen, Margaret, Mathew, Alice, Mary, James, Martin, and Catherine b. 1883. You have Michael's naturalization paper(s) with an apparent notation that he arrived in 1852 but as of now you do not have information on his early years in the U.S.
Here are my observations:
1. Without any record or newspaper article which refers to Michael's siblings, your continuing to look for family clusters in the early years after immigration is a good direction, as is your filling the family chart with information from descendants as you trace them around the U.S. The chances are good that Michael was not the only one in his birth family to emigrate; remember to check Australia as well, although those voyages left from England.
2. The Castle Garden database has several prospects for Michael in/about 1852 if he arrived in NYC (Boston, Philadelphia, and Maryland are also possible). Although located in a wonderful state for farming, Michael was never a farmer. His birth year is also in question, as various years in the 1830s have been listed for him. You do not know whether he was married in Ireland and thus likely (although not necessarily) arrived with Alice. Two Michael McNamara passengers age 20 arrived on ships from Limerick in 1851: one without a specified occupation on May 16th and another listed as a laborer on July 15th, each one without other McNamara passengers.
3. You likely have seen that only one McNamara (John) was present in Delaware County in 1860, whereas in 1870 the county also had your Michael (engaged in RR work) and also a Thomas McNamara (likewise engaged in RR work) age 68 and wife Ellen age 60, both born Ireland. The Castle Garden database has a mechanic age 50, Thomas McNamara, who left Limerick for NYC, arriving 14 Jun 1852, accompanied by several family members, none of whom are named Ellen or Michael.
4. I recommend leaving open Clare as a possible origin for Alice's parents, in view of these records:
Tithe Applotment (1826)
Downey, Timothy Curragh-Querin and Cloncarran, Moyarta
1828 eviction from land at Kilmacrehy, Corcomroe
McNamara, John Michael, Esq. and 6 others [research can be done to determine the other names]
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... rnames.htm
Griffiths Valuation, 1855
Downey,Timothy Dough: Lehinch Town: Third Lane, Kilmacrehy, Ennistimon
also in Dough: Thomas and Michael McNamara
Leonard, John Knockaskeheen, Kilmoon, Ennistimon
5. You may want to order from a Mormon Family History Center the parish records that include Dough, to see what baptisms and marriage might point to this being your McNamara and/or Downey parish. Cemetery records are online in part, but without a central index or search engine.
6. While your direct ancestor was not a farmer, John as the first McNamara in Delaware County was and thus his biography may appear in a local history book. If you have not already contacted the genealogical or historical society for this county, an inquiry as to what their collection may contain for McNamara is highly recommended. Often some wonderful volunteer has produced an index of all family names for which there are items preserved by such a society, and perhaps that could be consulted via a telephone call. I hope you have already consulted the gen. collection of the Cincinnatti public library and of the county-seat city of Delaware County; a catalog of those may be online by now. The most fruitful research would be in newspapers of 1852-1885 to catch any mention of activities or the death/probate of your Michael and the elderly Thomas. I would suppose you can retrace your steps used in finding naturalization and gravestone records for Michael, to see if any exist for the elderly Thomas.
I wish you well with that. I hope I have not mentioned too much material that you have already consulted. Please report back if another lead crops up.
Sharon Carberry
Georgia
Your posting is clear about the listed particulars of your ancestors. Let me add a bit to that, since I researched your research in old online postings. You know that Clare is the county because Michael's gravestone says so. You have been looking for his death notice or death record in 1884, which you realize may or may not be in Delaware County. You know from his wife Alice's death record that her parents were Timothy Downey and Ellen Leonard, and you think that perhaps Limerick is their county. You have been looking at other McNamara families in Delaware County or other McNamara and Downey families in the U.S. which share the same forenames as those in Michael and Alice's family. This family had children in this order (no big gaps), starting in 1862 in Ohio: Thomas, Michael, John, Patrick, Ellen, Margaret, Mathew, Alice, Mary, James, Martin, and Catherine b. 1883. You have Michael's naturalization paper(s) with an apparent notation that he arrived in 1852 but as of now you do not have information on his early years in the U.S.
Here are my observations:
1. Without any record or newspaper article which refers to Michael's siblings, your continuing to look for family clusters in the early years after immigration is a good direction, as is your filling the family chart with information from descendants as you trace them around the U.S. The chances are good that Michael was not the only one in his birth family to emigrate; remember to check Australia as well, although those voyages left from England.
2. The Castle Garden database has several prospects for Michael in/about 1852 if he arrived in NYC (Boston, Philadelphia, and Maryland are also possible). Although located in a wonderful state for farming, Michael was never a farmer. His birth year is also in question, as various years in the 1830s have been listed for him. You do not know whether he was married in Ireland and thus likely (although not necessarily) arrived with Alice. Two Michael McNamara passengers age 20 arrived on ships from Limerick in 1851: one without a specified occupation on May 16th and another listed as a laborer on July 15th, each one without other McNamara passengers.
3. You likely have seen that only one McNamara (John) was present in Delaware County in 1860, whereas in 1870 the county also had your Michael (engaged in RR work) and also a Thomas McNamara (likewise engaged in RR work) age 68 and wife Ellen age 60, both born Ireland. The Castle Garden database has a mechanic age 50, Thomas McNamara, who left Limerick for NYC, arriving 14 Jun 1852, accompanied by several family members, none of whom are named Ellen or Michael.
4. I recommend leaving open Clare as a possible origin for Alice's parents, in view of these records:
Tithe Applotment (1826)
Downey, Timothy Curragh-Querin and Cloncarran, Moyarta
1828 eviction from land at Kilmacrehy, Corcomroe
McNamara, John Michael, Esq. and 6 others [research can be done to determine the other names]
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... rnames.htm
Griffiths Valuation, 1855
Downey,Timothy Dough: Lehinch Town: Third Lane, Kilmacrehy, Ennistimon
also in Dough: Thomas and Michael McNamara
Leonard, John Knockaskeheen, Kilmoon, Ennistimon
5. You may want to order from a Mormon Family History Center the parish records that include Dough, to see what baptisms and marriage might point to this being your McNamara and/or Downey parish. Cemetery records are online in part, but without a central index or search engine.
6. While your direct ancestor was not a farmer, John as the first McNamara in Delaware County was and thus his biography may appear in a local history book. If you have not already contacted the genealogical or historical society for this county, an inquiry as to what their collection may contain for McNamara is highly recommended. Often some wonderful volunteer has produced an index of all family names for which there are items preserved by such a society, and perhaps that could be consulted via a telephone call. I hope you have already consulted the gen. collection of the Cincinnatti public library and of the county-seat city of Delaware County; a catalog of those may be online by now. The most fruitful research would be in newspapers of 1852-1885 to catch any mention of activities or the death/probate of your Michael and the elderly Thomas. I would suppose you can retrace your steps used in finding naturalization and gravestone records for Michael, to see if any exist for the elderly Thomas.
I wish you well with that. I hope I have not mentioned too much material that you have already consulted. Please report back if another lead crops up.
Sharon Carberry
Georgia