Re: Researching Family of Andrew Donnellan and Mary Connole
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:14 pm
Hi Phil
I think the Kerry’s advice about doing as much research as possible at your own end is very good advice. As you’ve probably noticed, there are very few records for the people who lived in the early 19th century in Ireland. Very often it is through the Australian death records that we discover the names of our ancestors here. The death records for my great grandaunts and great granduncle (siblings of my great grandfather), who left Co. Clare for Australia between 1852 and 1862, give their parents names and address, and other useful information. The same amount of information would not have been given if they’d died here – for instance their mother’s name would have been omitted. On this page (see Sat Jun 06 above) you mention that you believe that Michael Donnellan, a brother of Andrew, arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia in July 1866, aboard the Ernestine. His wife Mary McNamara and their children were with him. Have you found a record of his death? That might give his parents’ names and, if so, then you will have the names of Andrew’s parents too. You mention that a Thomas Donnellan, who intended to go to Australia, died before he could go, but his wife, Bridget, and their children went and arrived in Port Adelaide in October 1853 aboard the Neptune. I know that Bridget’s death record will give her parent’s names and not those of Thomas, but if there’s an address for her parents, that might be helpful to your research. Maybe you have done all that stuff already.
Phil, In your next posting you ask about a cross-over site that would help you with your Kenny ancestors in Co. Galway, but I don’t think there is any equivalent, in any county in Ireland, of the Research Support that is provided in the Genealogy page of clarelibrary.ie.
I hope you will find the parents of Andrew, Michael, Thomas etc., but I honestly don’t think you will find them in the Irish records. Marriages that took place after 1864 were registered and those records* give the father of both the bride and the groom. But I suspect that all of the siblings of Andrew were already married by 1864. Marriages that took place before 1864 were recorded in parish registers (many of which have not survived), but the priest did not give the names of the parents of the bride and groom. In my own case, I know the names of my great grandparents, but I don’t know the names of all my great great grandparents, and that’s life in Ireland! Once you go back to 1800, or thereabouts, you are travelling into the mists of time.
*www.irishgenealogy.ie (for Kilmaley records, look under Ennis civil registration district).
Sheila
I think the Kerry’s advice about doing as much research as possible at your own end is very good advice. As you’ve probably noticed, there are very few records for the people who lived in the early 19th century in Ireland. Very often it is through the Australian death records that we discover the names of our ancestors here. The death records for my great grandaunts and great granduncle (siblings of my great grandfather), who left Co. Clare for Australia between 1852 and 1862, give their parents names and address, and other useful information. The same amount of information would not have been given if they’d died here – for instance their mother’s name would have been omitted. On this page (see Sat Jun 06 above) you mention that you believe that Michael Donnellan, a brother of Andrew, arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia in July 1866, aboard the Ernestine. His wife Mary McNamara and their children were with him. Have you found a record of his death? That might give his parents’ names and, if so, then you will have the names of Andrew’s parents too. You mention that a Thomas Donnellan, who intended to go to Australia, died before he could go, but his wife, Bridget, and their children went and arrived in Port Adelaide in October 1853 aboard the Neptune. I know that Bridget’s death record will give her parent’s names and not those of Thomas, but if there’s an address for her parents, that might be helpful to your research. Maybe you have done all that stuff already.
Phil, In your next posting you ask about a cross-over site that would help you with your Kenny ancestors in Co. Galway, but I don’t think there is any equivalent, in any county in Ireland, of the Research Support that is provided in the Genealogy page of clarelibrary.ie.
I hope you will find the parents of Andrew, Michael, Thomas etc., but I honestly don’t think you will find them in the Irish records. Marriages that took place after 1864 were registered and those records* give the father of both the bride and the groom. But I suspect that all of the siblings of Andrew were already married by 1864. Marriages that took place before 1864 were recorded in parish registers (many of which have not survived), but the priest did not give the names of the parents of the bride and groom. In my own case, I know the names of my great grandparents, but I don’t know the names of all my great great grandparents, and that’s life in Ireland! Once you go back to 1800, or thereabouts, you are travelling into the mists of time.
*www.irishgenealogy.ie (for Kilmaley records, look under Ennis civil registration district).
Sheila