Kathleen Towey

Hello Patti,

I found what I believe is the civil registration birth record for Kathleen Towey at the free irishgenealogy.ie website. Kathleen was born in a place called Lissoshena, County Sligo, on 18 March 1917. This is the date of birth you have for her.

The birth record shows her father is Pat Towey, a “Labourer” residing in Lissoshena. Her mother is Mary Towey, formerly Connor. Mary of Lissoshena, reported Kathleen’s birth to the assistant registrar, M.A. Boyle, who recorded the birth in the Boyle Registration District on 27 March 1917. Kathleen’s birth is number 382 in the register. You can access the birth register after following the prompts at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8nkaxy

I was not able to find a location called Lissoshena on older or newer maps of County Sligo. For example, I looked for this place on Ordnance Survey Maps; the IreAtlas Townland Data Base at https://thecore.com/seanruad/; as well as in an Irish agricultural land record called the Tithe Applotment Books and an Irish tax record known as Griffiths Valuation.

I also looked for Lissoshena in the 1901 and 1911 Irish census enumerations, as well as on modern Google Maps.

I did however find an account by a County Sligo school teacher writing about fairy forts in the area of the county where he lived. His account is not dated, but was printed by the www.duchas.ie website. The teacher’s name was Mícheál Ó Miadhaigh, of Knocknashammer, Co. Sligo. He writes that a farmer named Michael Gilleran owned a large farm at Gurtigara, and that on this farm were two forts, both called “Lissosheena.” See his account at the Duchas.ie link at: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4701765/4700833

The aforementioned IreAtlas Townland Data Base has the alternate spelling for Gurtigara as “Gortygara,” in the civil parish of Kilfree, County Sligo. See: https://tinyurl.com/5a34feda

A Google Map shows that Gortygara, County Sligo, is just to the east of the border with County Mayo: https://tinyurl.com/yckt9trj

A black and white Ordnance Survey Map of Gortygara from the 1837 to 1842 time period is attached to this reply. The map comes from the GeoHive website. If you look closely at this map you can see two ring forts. They each look like a crown of thorns. One fort is under the letter R, and the other under the letter Y. It’s possible the area around the two forts in Gortygara was known locally as Lissoshena, or Lissosheena.

Six years before Kathleen was born, her parents were recorded in the 1911 census of Ireland. The census comes from the National Archives of Ireland website. The census was taken on 2 April, and shows that 28 year old Patrick and 28 year old Mary Towy were the “Residents of a house 2 in Cloonmeen, East (Doocastle, Mayo).”

The census shows that Patrick was a “General Servant” who could read and write and speak Irish and English. No occupation is recorded for Mary, but she is shown to be able to read and write. The census also shows that as of 1911 Patrick and Mary had been married for 5 years and in that time had two children. Both children are in the household with them. The oldest child is 3 year old Mary Ann. The youngest child is Martin, but the census transcription from the National Archives of Ireland does not give his age, which is an indication he was under a year old.

Also in the household is 72 year old Patk (Patrick) Connor, who is shown to the “Uncle to Wife,” that is the uncle to Patrick’s wife Mary. Patrick Connor was employed as a “General Servant” who could not read and write but could speak Irish and English. He was not married. Everyone in the household was Roman Catholic and born in County Mayo.

You can access the 1911 census transcription of the Towey household from the National Archives of Ireland website at the following link:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Mayo/Doocastle/Cloonme…

Once the page downloads, make sure to click on “Show all information” to view the full census page.

You can also access a copy of the original 1911 census of the Towey household at: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003022151/

As you can see the copy of the original census shows that Martin Towey is 9 months old.

If you scroll down to the bottom right of the census page, you’ll see Pat Towey’s signature. To the left of his signature is the signature of the Enumerator, Constable Thomas Drury, who collected the census information from the Towey household.

At this point in the research I wondered how far Cloonmeen East in County Mayo, is from Gortygara in County Sligo. To find out I went back to Google Maps, which shows that Cloonmeen East, by the shortest modern day route is 6.1 miles southwest of Gortygara. See the map at: https://tinyurl.com/4xhv5xap

In the 6 year period from the 1911 census to the birth of Kathleen in 1917, the Towey family did not move very far from Cloonmeen East, County Mayo, to Gortygara/Lissosheena, County Sligo.

I couldn’t access a Google Street View of Gortygara, but was able to for Cloonmeen East. See the Google Street View at: https://tinyurl.com/522hvuh3

The 1911 census shows that Patrick and Mary had been married for 5 years, which brings their year of marriage to 1906. But if their anniversary fell after April 3 they would have actually be married for 6 years, or in 1905.

I went back to the irishgenealogy.ie website to look for their marriage record but didn’t find it. I looked for their marriage in County Mayo, County Sligo, as well as in County Roscommon.

I had better success locating the civil registration birth records for Patrick and Mary’s children, Mary Towey and Martin Towey. You may already have their birth records, but if not, see the following:

Mary Ann Towey was born in Cloonmeen C, County Mayo, on 15 September 1907. I believe Cloonmeen C stands for Cloonmeen, Cloontia. See the Google Map: https://tinyurl.com/yckmyrz8

Mary’s father is Pat Towey, a farmer living in Cloonmeen C. Her mother is Mary Towy, formerly Connor. Pat Towey reported the birth to the interim registrar, whose name appears to be A.F. Mulligan. He recorded the birth in the Swinford Registration District on 26 October 1907. Mary Ann’s birth record is number 158 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/2y22ebpv

Martin Towey was born in Cloonmeen, Cloontia, on 9 August 1910. His father is Pat Towey, a farmer living in Cloonteen, Cloontia. His mother is Mary Towey, formerly Connor. Martin’s father Pat reported the birth to the assistant registrar, A.F. Mulligan, who recorded the birth in the Swinford Registration District on 3 September 1910. Martin’s birth is number 402 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/mt2k69s4

I believe the registrar noted a more specific location for Cloonmeen by inserting Cloonmeen, Cloontia, as there is a Cloonemeen East and a Cloonmeen West in County Mayo. As you can see at the following Google Map, Cloonteen East is closest to Cloontia, than Cloonteen West is: https://tinyurl.com/5n9anpwt

Thus, the Towey family had lived in Cloonmeen East rather than Cloonmeen West when Mary and Martin were born. The 1911 census also confirms the family were living in Cloonmeen East.

Patti, like you I had looked for a marriage record, death record, and immigration record for Kathleen Towey but could not identify her in any records, except her birth record. The additional search for her included Ireland, England, the U.S. etc.

It was interesting to read your comment that her siblings had looked for her right up until their deaths in 1972 and 1982, but did not find her. Kathleen could have lived well into the 20th century and even into the early years of the 21st century. In 2007 she would have been 90 years old if she had lived that long.

If you ever do find out what happened to Kathleen, please send details about where she had gone to after she left home, and what had happened to her.

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Dave:  My apologies I thought I had responded to this.  I do appreciate the information.  I haven't found Kathleen and am still looking.  I have since found a photo of who I presume is her - it is marked w/ Kathleen Toohey on the back of it (my grandmother - Mary Anne changed her spelling to Toohey when she immigrated to the U.S., presumably to conform with her Uncles and Aunt whom she was joining here.  No idea why they changed the spelling on immigration - another brick wall there.)  The photo I have of Kathleen has Jerome stamped on the back  and the Jerome studios appear to be in London.  Nothing else on the back.  And I'm not sure how I have this photo, assume it was with my grandmother's things after she died, or Uncle Martin's wife sent it to me after his death.  Picking up where I left off - there are two people that I've tracked that are around the same age - Kathleen Towey Clarke and Kathleen Towey Hart both in England and am working on that.  So far my father, brothers and I and of course my children and grandchildren appear to be the only descendants of Patrick Towey and Mary Connor.  I've tested on ancestry and 23 and me and uploaded to all of the other sites.  Plenty of matches on that side but none close enough to be have shared great grandparents.  I will definitely let you know if I find her.  Appreciate everything that you researched for me.  Again, I apologize as I believed that I had responded to this.  Patti