Looking for Fitzgeralds of Aylwardstown

Sue,

This is probably Richard Fitzgerald in 1901 & 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Kilkenny/Kilmakevoge/Aylwardstown/1457437/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Kilkenny/Kilmakevoge/Aylwardstown/533939/

He married Mary Walsh on 30.11.1911. His father’s name was John. See:

https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/

According to the 1911 census, Richard's parents had 11 children of whom 8 were still alive in 1911.

Dear Elwyn,  

Oh my goodness! How exciting. Thank you so much.

I will have a good look.

I started tracing my father's family in 2009. It was quite difficult because he was placed in care in 1950 and he didn't really tell me the truth about his childhood - mainly because it was too painful. However, I was given his file held at the London Met Achives and from that I was able to piece everything together.

The tracing agency I used to find my grandmother's birth certificate was unable to find a death certificate - so maybe my grandmother remarried after my father lost touch with her in 1958-1960.

He has/had a sister and my efforts to trace her have come to nothing and she might have remarried. I did meet her once and I do have a photograph. It is quite bizarre because I know things about her and my father that they would probably rather I didn't! But my father died in 1993 so nothing can upset him now.

If I do find any relatives I will be very sensitive to both my decease' relatives' memories and those of the living.

Best wishes,

Sue

Dear Elwyn,

I am sorry to bother you again.  I cannot find Richard Fitzgerald's marriage to Mary Walsh via the third link you kindly sent. Nothing is coming up for him in 1911 or for her. 

Can you advise me further, please?  Thank you,

Sue

Sue,

I found the marriage again without any difficulty. Be sure to search under civil records, not church ones. I notice that Richard was living in Glenmore at the time of his marriage so had presumably left home.

As far as searching for deaths is concerned, the on-line records only go up to 1965, so if your grandmother died after that then it won’t be on-line. You would need to ask GRO Roscommon to search for her death. Of course if she did remarry then it will be very difficult to trace unless you have her new surname.

A final thing to mention is that for privacy reasons it’s our policy not to give out information on people likely to be alive, so please bear that in mind. It’s ok to suggest ways of finding them but not to reveal any personal private information. So, for example, I can see that there is still a Fitzgerald household in Aylwardstown in the current phone book but can't put the contact details here. However you can find it easily enough if you search under Fitzgerald and Kilkenny. : https://www.eirphonebook.ie

Dear Elwyn,

Many thanks for your very detailed reply. Forgive me, I am new to this and didn't know that I could just put the link for my original post on the Kilmakevoge messageboard.

I will check for Richard again in the way you suggested.

I am very mindful that not everyone wants never-met relatives popping out of the woodwork and asking questions, or revealing information that they would rather not have! So, as I said earlier, I will be sensitive to those living, should I find any relatives.

Thank you again, I really appreciate your help.

Best wishes, 

Sue

Dear Elwyn,  

Found them! I was looking under church records, not civil.

Thank you again.  

Sue

Dear Elwyn,  

I am sorry to bother you again when you have already been so helpful.

Re the marriage certificate of 30.11.1911 of Richard Fitzgerald and Mary Walsh, to which you guided me in the civil records,  I am trying to decipher the place where she was from. I would never have worked out  Richard's address of 'Glenmore' from the script. (I am not criticising the writer's elegant hand, mine is appalling.)

I looks like Ashrabeg, or Cashrubeg, or Ashruby neither of which have appeared on any searches nor have any similar names popped up.

Could you also please tell me if there is a volunteer in Aylwardstown with whom I could communicate prior to planning a visit?

Many thanks,

Sue

Sue,

I think the townland is Coolroebeg. This looks to be Mary with her parents in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Kilkenny/Castlebanny/Coolroebeg/530349/

We do have some volunteers in Kilkenny and I have asked one to get in touch with you.

Dear Elwyn,

I would never have worked that out in a month of Sundays! Many thanks once again, and for the link.

I am surprised how old she and Richard were when they married - 31 and 30. I expect they had to run their family farms until the younger ones were strong enough to take over before they were able to move out.

Thank you also for passing my name on to a volunteer. I have spent quite a lot of time wading through other websites that were not particularly helpful over the years. Ireland Reaching Out has told me more in one week than I would have ever found on my own. I am very grateful. I am also looking forward to making a trip.

Best wishes,

Sue

Dear Elwyn,

I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. I hope 2017 is happy and healthy for you and yours.

I am now back in the zone regarding tracing my Irish family and am keen to make contcat with a volunteer in Aylwardstown. I would be greateful if you could pass on my details to the relevant people/person.

I have just found out that a friend I have known for 20 years has just been to Kilkenny to meet new members of her family. She always knew about them but has been moved to visit following the death of her mother. They are in Borris - not a million miles from Aywardstown. I have told her about this website and she will be joining. My friend's mother's maiden name was Meeny, or something that sounded like that.

I have been reading the fabulous stories on the recent Ireland XO weblinks. I love them - it doesn't matter that I don't know the people. I am a jounalist so other people's tales are far more interesting to me than my own!

I look forward to hearing back from someone at their convenience.

Kind regards,

Sue Campbell

Sue,

Aylwardstown is in Kilmakevogue parish. We don’t have anyone listed for that specific parish but there are 4 other IRO contacts in the county. I’ll get in touch with one of them.

Elwyn

Dear Elwyn,  

That is marvellous, many thanks. I look forward to hearing from one of them.

As an aside, you might be interested to know that an Irish fragrance range is popular in Destin, Florida, where my sister lives. Her friend has the local agency to sell Inis in her shop, which is on the coast. My sister sent me a sample and I bought some online. A  light and refreshing scent. Of coruse, all the Americans with Irish roots are rushing to buy it - and the myriad other items in the range!

Best wishes,

Sue