My gg grandmother was Ellen Taaffe, said to be from county Sligo. I have little information on her, except for her obituary. It says she was born 25 December 1818 in County Sligo. She died 14 February in Hastings, Ontario Canada.
Between those dates she somehow met and married my gg grandfather, Robert Coulson, from County Monaghan in 1842, had their first two kids and emigrated to Canada in 1846.
I would love to fill in some blanks, which I find can be hard to do with the mothers in family trees. If you have any suggestions about how to find her place of birth and her parents, that would make a big difference to me on this Mother's Day!
Thank you, Robin Coulson Curry
Robin Coulson Curry
Monday 11th May 2020, 04:38PMMessage Board Replies
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Robin:
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!
I searched on the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not find her baptismal record, marriage record or baptismal records for her children.
Do you know her religious denomination? If she was RC, only six of the Co. Sligo RC parishes have records back to the early part of the 1800s. Only four Church of Ireland parishes have records back to that period.
You may want to add Ellen's story to our XO Chronicles site and possibly someone will see a connection https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 11th May 2020, 05:47PM -
Her two firstborn children were baptized in what is now Church of Ireland in Belfast. It was probably Anglican in the early 1840's. So I'm assuming she was not RC unless she converted to marry Robert Coulson.
Thank you and I will contribute her story, what I know of it.Robin Coulson Curry
Tuesday 12th May 2020, 03:48PM -
In case you're intersted, the surname Taaffe/Taa (in Irish, written as Tath) is of Welsh origin, and it means "son of David" (Taffy was once a common way to refer to Welsh people in the UK, especially in the military). According to MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland, the family came to Ireland in the 13th Century, and a branch settled in what is now Sligo and Louth (presumably, your branch of the family). They would still have been Catholic when settling in Ireland, but may have converted later.
kevin45sfl
Wednesday 13th May 2020, 06:36PM -
That could be it, Kevin! Not sure where to go with this now but history helps a lot. Interesting to learn about the "Taffy" connection too. It must have been a fairly common Welsh surname. I won't give up just yet.
Thank you, Kevin45sfl
Robin Coulson Curry
Thursday 14th May 2020, 04:14PM