The Maher Family

Hello Colleen,

I'm trying to find your ancestors but I need a little more info.

Were any of their children born in Ireland? and if so what were the names?  any idea what part of the country they came from?  Have you asked any elder family members for any clues?

I have a number of possibilities but I need to refind the search with other information .ie. children born in Ireland, catholic or protestant? urban dwellers or farming stock? 

Can you get me this info if possible?

Thanks,

Anne Dennehy

Colleen,

Just looked at ellisisland records and I only found one record for thomas Maher that fits the date of your Thomas.

It says he is from Whitefields, Ireland and going to an aunt Mrs Kate O Brien of 924 West End Avenue New York?? Ring any bells?

I can't find an exact match for Catherine with the dates you supplied.  but I'll keep on looking .

Look forward to hearing from you.

anne

Hi Colleen,

I've been working on your Maher - Carroll question.

I checked the census records and it looks like Catherine was younger than Thomas; in 1925 she was 24 (born 1901)& he 30 (1895). In 1930 she was 28 he 36.

Her year of arrival was 1921 (she had been in the countyr 4 years on 1925 census)

I can't find a marriage record for them in Ireland or USA but tend to think it was USA as she was only 20 when she arrived and if they married in Ireland before Thomas left she would have been 15.

There is a Christine Carroll who is the closer match than all the Catherine Carrolls in the migration search on ancestry. I'm wondering if it could be a transcription error.

She was 21 and arrived 5th March 1921.

There are so many Mahers and Carrolls that without a county it is impossible to narrow it down.

Any other info you might have - names of Thomas's siblings and the names of Thomas & Catherine's other children might help.

Col

Thank you all for your interest!

First of all, I made a mistake in my first message- I accidently switched my great-grandparents' birth years- Catherine is about 1893, and Thomas is about 1892- my bad! Either way, those are just approximations, although my dad is pretty solidly set on Thomas being born in 1892, I think. Another detail I forgot to include was that Thomas' middle name was Joseph.

None of the children were born in Ireland- they were all born from 1925 on. Their names (from eldest to youngest) are Ann P Maher (~1925), James D Maher (1927), Thomas Maher Jr (~1930), John Maher (~1932), and Elinor Maher (~1935).

My grandfather (James D) is Catholic, so I would assume my great-grandparents were, as well. I asked my dad, and found out the following:

• They were actually married here, in New York (my bad, again, sorry).
• Catherine came from Waterford.
• Thomas came from Tipperary.

He's also pretty sure they were from farming families. He doesn't know about coming to over to live with an aunt, though.

My great-aunt, Ann P, would be of greatest use with this kind of information, however, she resides in Virginia with her children, while I live in New York.

Thanks again!

Hi Colleen,

Thanks for the extra info.

I'm pretty sure Thomas Maher arrived on the Cedric in New York on 5th Aug 1917 aged 25 born 1892.

(The record is on ancestry).

Unfortunately on rootsireland.ie there are 6 records for Thomas Maher baptised /born in Kilkenny 1893 + - 1 year - 4 in 1893 and 2 in 1892. I suspect they may be repetitions but it is a pay site so would cost to find out.

I'm sticking to Catherine Carroll's birth year as 1901 because of the census record - she was aged 24 in 1925 so born 1901 + - 1. There is one record on rootsireland.ie for Catherine Carroll born 1901 in Waterford which is promising. (There are 4 in 1892 + - 1 year).

I couldn't find her arrival or their marriage though so maybe Anne will have more luck.

It would be good to check with Ann P.

Col

Hello Colleen,

As there seems to be some discrepancy regarding Catherine's birth date, I searched the Ellis Island records from years 1896 +- 10 years.

I found only one record that could possibly fit the timeframe.

Catherine Carroll arrived Ellis Island 1921 on board the ship Baltic.  She was aged 19.

Going to stay with her sister Mrs J Bracket, 302 West 152nd Street, New York.

I'm wondering if we are all assuming that they knew each other while in Ireland??  Is it just possible that they met each other in New York?  People tended to hang around with others from their geographic region.

This Catherine is from Carrick on Suir, which straddles the river Suir.  So some records are recorded under Co. Tipperary and the rest are recorded under Co. Waterford.

Is she a contender????

Anne

The internet is a funny place! I have a lot of info that could really help you! This is because I am 99.9% sure I am your cousin. Is Patrick your father? I'm Thomas P. Maher's son Thomas G. My father and I got back from Ireland about two months ago. I have a lot of information through Ancestry if you would like to see it. Do you have an email? It would be a lot easier to send info! Hope you and your family are well.

tgmaher19@gmail.com

Thomas

Ok, first off- change that 99.9 to a 100! You ARE my cousin! That's just so crazy that we happened to find each other on here! I only just saw your comment now, while I'm sitting at my kitchen table with my dad going through some old pictures Uncle Jimmy gave us today to help me with a theology project- some of which your dad's in! So, yes, Patrick is my father.

I have a tree on Ancestry (I've had it for quite a few years, actually...), too, but I'm afraid it's not too big because the information in our family about our family is pretty widespread.

Uncle Jimmy had just told my dad that you and your dad had gone to Ireland- lucky!

It would be incredible to find out what you know about our family, and I could email you these pictures Uncle Jimmy gave me, too.

I'll shoot you an email tonight- we have an aweful lot of catching up to do.

Colleen