Very interesting particularly as my Flarety Burke families are from Galway as well as connects to Walsh and other surnames in this post. How interconnected we all are who are from Galway!
References
Stephen Curran was born in the Carna area of Connemara in early January 1862 or December 1861.
He was baptized in the Moyrus Catholic parish church in January 1862.
He arrived in Boston on 22 June 1880, having left Galway on the steamship SS Austrian with his family and over 30 other families adversely affected by the 1879-1880 famine. From there the Curran family traveled by train to their new homes near Graceville, Minnesota. They spent less than a year farming land made available to them by Bishop John Ireland and the Irish Catholic Colonization Association. After the experiment failed in the spring of 1881, due to weather and a lack of farming expertise, the family moved to St Paul, and then on to Tacoma, Washington, in around 1889.
Read more about Stephan Curran and the experience of the Curran family from Carna
Stephen Curran, met Hannah Foley, who worked in the laundry room at the Merchants Hotel, one of the largest and most prominent hotels in downtown St Paul. Hannah went by the name “Annie” as a young woman. Her place of birth, birth date and identity of her parents are not known at this time. She possibly immigrated from County Galway in the late 1870s and early 1880s. As was common during the time, she probably did not know exactly when she was born. United States federal decennial census returns on which her name was found until the time of her death in 1933 variously recorded her birth year as from 1856 to 1860. Stephen and Hannah married at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on 17 November 1885.
Stephen and Hannah had seven children. All worked as laborers in local Tacoma industries. The only child to leave the area, John, moved to the Oakland, California, area in the late 1920s. He tragically died in an industrial site accident on 19 April 1938. Hannah died 16 May 1933, in Tacoma. After her death, their daughter Katherine Curran Carlson and husband Elmer Carlson moved into the Curran home to care for Stephen and raise their two boys, Raymond and William. Stephen passed away on 11 July 1939. His obituary recognized the extensive length of his residence in his adopted hometown of Tacoma.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1862 | |
| Associated Building (s) | Carna Emigrants Centre | |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | Michael Curran | VIEW SOURCE |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Ann Flaherty Michael and Ann were married 2 December 1855 in Cill Chiaráin, Carna. | |
| Names of Siblings | Matthew 1860, Bridget 1863, Patrick 1866 | |
| Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) | Hannah Foley | |
| Place & Date of Marriage | Cathedral of Saint Paul on 17 November 1885. | |
| Names of Children | Mary Curran Zehnder 1886-1954 Agnes Curran Whitaker Larson 1888-1965 Bridget Curran Loska 1889-1963 John Curran 1891-1938 Michael Curran 1893-1950 Katherine Curran Carlson 1895-1969 James Curran 1898-1963 | |
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Comments
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Saundra campfield carr
Tuesday 14th May 2019 12:09PM -
I was so interested when I read the story of Stephen Curran last October as my own Galway ancestors also came from the Connemara region and whilst my great great grandfather Patrick O'Malley eventually settled in Letterdeskert, Carna, each of his 10 children were born in different townlands throughout the area. It is likely that Patrick travelled in order to find work. My great grandfather John O'Malley was the eldest of Patrick's children (6 of whom survived into adulthood) and because, according to his marriage certificate, he was born in 1862, I've been unable to trace a birth registration for him. Land Registry records lead me to believe that he was born in Tievgariff, Ballinakill.
"The Ordeal of a Connemara Famine Family" posted by Michael Carlson particularly caught my attention because the places he mentioned were areas familiar to me following several visits to the Carna area to trace my ancestors' history.
My great grandfather John O'Malley married Mary Cloherty in Kilkierran church in 1890. They settled in a house/shop in Ardmore which is about 2 miles from Carna. John and Mary had 4 children born between 1891 and 1897. My grandfather, also John, was born in Ardmore in September 1897 just 3 weeks after the death of his father. All the children were baptised in Kilkerrin church.
In 1909, when my grandfather was aged 11, his mother Mary Cloherty O'Malley died. My grandfather and his siblings eventually moved in with their uncle Michael O'Malley in Letterdeskert. Michael was the younger brother of my great great grandfather John and was the only sibling who had not emigrated to the USA, between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of those who emigrated were sponsored by their "aunt Mary Foley" nee Barrett in Pittsburgh.
My grandfather's sister Marie (Mary) emigrated to Pittsburgh in 1910. His two older brothers, Martin and Thomas, emigrated not many years later. For some unknown reason, my grandfather John got as far as Liverpool, but never crossed the Atlantic even though he had a ticket for the White Star Line.
I've recently found that I am a DNA match with some Currans, but have been unable to find the link.
Although all of my great grandfather's siblings were the children of Patrick O'Malley and Anne Barrett, the family story has always been that my great grandfather John was the son of Patrick O'Malley and Bridget Conry (could this be Conneely, Connery or even Curran?) Lack of records means that It is very unlikely that I will ever know for certain. I feel it is possible, therefore, that John's mother died and that his father Patrick remarried.
I have much more in depth information on my ancestors from the Moyrus/Carna/Kilkerrin areas, which I can share with anyone who might be interested.
Meanwhile, however, if anyone has any information that might help me to find a link to Curran, Conneely or Conry families, I would love to hear it.
Jo
Friday 8th January 2021 05:01PM
