Leahy Family

Hi Jo, this is a tricky one as I can find no Leahy in Bruff in Griffiths Valuation circa 1852, lots of William Leahy in Limerick, I was hoping to find the townland where they lived and then assume they died post 1864 when civil registration was introduced, Bruff is in the registration district of Kilmallock and I see a number of William Leahy and Ellen Leahy died there from 1864 to 1900, by ruling out those who ied young etc you can narrow it down, I located one William but he died in the Workhouse so only that address and also no one present at death other than the Workhouse administrator but from that date you can search for an Ellen Leahy as he was a widower and possibly you could identify her if William was the person present at death, this of course presumes she died at home etc as if ill may have been with a relative etc, it is about your only shot if you cannot find it. The site is free but sign in, use the civil tab as the church records are not there for Limerick. See https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ Currently death certificate entries are only visible from about 1880 though but it is not expensive to email for one, they were all due online before end of 2019 but it has been a movable feast for awhile now. Be sure to ask for a copy of the entry and not a cert as a cert is €20 and only needed for legal use.

There is a book on entries to the Limerick Workhouse as I was shown a copy but no idea how to get it, you could also check if there is a Limerick genealogy Facebook page as that appears to be common for various counties, private and well moderated or at least the ones I am on are, apply to join, some only do DNA but there are more of the paper trail type.

I also find the Local History page of the library in the area can be helpful. Bruff civil parish has not a lot of Townlands but the religious parish might be slightly bigger. You can see them here https://www.townlands.ie/limerick/bruff1/ the library is here https://www.limerick.ie/discover/explore/historical-resources/limerick-archives/archive-collections

Regards

Pat

Hi Jo,

I think I may just possibly be able to help a little bit.

My great great grandfather Daniel Leahy was born in Bruff in about 1800, joined the army in 1823, married Mary Hyland in Dublin in 1828 and was posted (as a guard!) to a convict ship the Lord Melville in 1830.  He arrived in Sydney in 1930 and his wife Mary and son John (born Chatham 1830 - my great grandfather) either travelled with him or joined him in Sydney. Daniel and Mary's second child Mary Elizabeth was born in 1833 and baptised (as a Roman Catholic) on 14 July 1833.  Daniel was travelling with his regiment to Bombay in April 1836 when he died at sea of cholera.  His widow Mary and children arrived in Bombay and she shortly afterwards married an Ebenezer Aexander.  Mary died herself in 1838 aged 25., and the children were brought up by Ebeneer Alexander and his second wife in India.

According to letters written by Mary Elizabeth Leahy in 1894 and 1896 and by my grandfather William Henry Gladstone Leahy in 1934, my ancestor Daniel Leahy had 2 brothers one named John who went to America leaving his family, and one named William (who presumably stayed in Ireland) who left a widow and 2 children Daniel and Mary (possibly your great grandfather and his sister).  One 1894 letter says that this Dan was sent [by my great grandfather John] to "Medical College in Bombay India, but after a few years he left  and became a station master.  He left that and went to Brazil and was an assistant master in a Roman Catholic Boys School.  He left that and came back again  to Bombay 3 or 4 years ago  [ie about 1890}, and said he had left his mother and sister [Mary??] in Brazil.  His sister was an assistant in a Milliner's shop".  Does any of this tie up with anything you know?  

My Daniel Leahy also had a sister Mary who married an Edward Collins who was a Liuutenant in the army in Bombay. Edward and Mary Collins left India (some time after 1838) but both died of cholera on the voyage back home. They had 5 daughters and a son Michael.  One of the daughters Helena (born in Australia in 1833) married a Rev Charles T Mayo in England in 1859 and had 4 children.  Another daughter Catherine/Kate married a John Villiers Tuthill in Limerick Ireland in 1852 and they later emigrated to Ontario, Canada with their 6 children in about 1860, 2 more being born later in Ontario.  I have been in communication with a couple of Tuthill descendants who are also DNA matches with me on Ancestry.

It also appears from Googling "Leahy Bruff,Limerick" that there was a Patrick Leahy 1796 - c1853) on geni.com as born in Bruff, husband of Alicia Leo.  Possibly a relation???

Regards

Roland Lawrence