Dolan Ancestors

Hello, RCW.

Have you found  the John Dolan-Ann Kelley marriage on the civil registration site Irish Genealogy.ie? Ann's father's name & occupation should be there. Where did they marry? Do you have an approximate year of birth for Ann?

Civil registration of births began 1864 so if John was born then or later he should have been registered but not all babies were.

Hi Maggie May - thank you for reaching out.  I have been on irishgenealogy.ie, ancestery.com, familysearch.com but no luck on finding any info on John or Ann, even Thomas and Mary Dolan his parents.  John and Ann immigrated to Boston, Massachuetts in 1886 and started their family there.  Their grave marker lists John b. 1863 d. 1927 and Ann b. 1865 d. 1930.  Ann's last name has been recorded as Kelly and Kelley on various documents and records.  It notes a father, Patrick, no known occupation and no mention of a mother at all.  US census records showed various ages and year of birth from 1863-1866.  John and Ann had a noteworthy son, Francis "Frank" Dolan, SJ b. 1893 who was a well known Jesuit priest and had been President of Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA.  The family notes him taking a couple of trips to Ireland to visit relatives John's parents were Thomas Dolan b. abt 1837 d. ____, Mary Kenney/Kenny b. 1838 d. ____, they  had 7 children: John, Bridget b. 1865, Creagh, Roscommon; Patrick b. 1870, Moore, Ballinasloe, Kilcashel; Margaret b. 1971, Creagh, Roscommon; Anne b. 1873, Kilcashel, Roscommon; James b. 1875 b. 1872, Ballinasloe, Co Galway; Elisabeth b. 1877 , Moore, Ballinasloe.  Many of these sibliongs also migrated to Boston, Massachusetts.  Thomas' parents were Timothy Dolan and Mary Donnelly, they had 3 sons: Frances b. 1836, Thomas b. 1837, Michael b. 1838 (Michael married Catherine Kelly and had 12+ children).   

Looking at a map of Roscommon, I see based on births/christenings, it appears the family lived in the southern area of Roscommon with Creag being a little northeast. Maybe you can enlighten me on locations and populations.  I looked at common Roscommon familes and saw Kenny's, Dolan, Kelly's.  I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and I recall her talking about relatives in Roscommon.  I have a cousin doing genealogy as well, she paid a genealogist about 5 years ago to research the Dolans.  She came up with a Thomas b. abt 1833 and Mary Kenney b. abt 1843-44 with 8 children: John, Charles b. 1866, Mary b. 1870 (US), Peter b. 1871 (US), Ellen b. 1874 (US), Patrick J b. 1875 (US), Ann b. 1878 (US) and Rose b. 1883 (US).  Their origin was uncertain ? Dublin, ? Cork.  As I did research this family somehow felt wrong.  I was always coming up with info on the Roscommon Dolans.  I had my DNA done through ancestr.com and it linked me to a cousin from the Roscommon Dolan line.  For right now I am floowing that link.

Any information you can share or head me in the right direction, I'd appreciate.  

Sincerely,

Regina Cronin Walsh

Hi Maggie May - in follow-up, the information I provided about John's parents and siblings [Thomas Dolan b. abt 1837 d. ____, Mary Kenney/Kenny b. 1838 d. ____, they  had 7 children: John, Bridget b. 1865, Creagh, Roscommon; Patrick b. 1870, Moore, Ballinasloe, Kilcashel; Margaret b. 1971, Creagh, Roscommon; Anne b. 1873, Kilcashel, Roscommon; James b. 1875 b. 1872, Ballinasloe, Co Galway; Elisabeth b. 1877 , Moore, Ballinasloe.  Many of these sibliongs also migrated to Boston, Massachusetts.  Thomas' parents were Timothy Dolan and Mary Donnelly, they had 3 sons: Frances b. 1836, Thomas b. 1837, Michael b. 1838 (Michael married Catherine Kelly and had 12+ children).] is incorrect, we had it confirmed this week thru DNA testing we are not related. So disappointing.  Not certain where this leaves me. John's parents were Thomas and Mary Kenny/Kenney.  I do recall my grandmother talking about relatives from Roscommon.  I know where all the other relatives are from, from other lines in my grandparents families and none are from Roscommon. I am still going to lean toward Roscommon.  Any recommendations on searching would be greatly appreciated.    I have re-researched using ancestry.com and familysearch.org --> no luck.  John Dolan is a very popular name!

Sincerely,

Regina