Owen & Ann Farrell, Kerr Family

Hi Mary, if you have searched on Roots I will be unlikely to locate the missing records, while they are not complete they do have good records for Louth. I searched the civil record which commenced in 1864 for the deaths of Anne and Owen and there are a number of them, by looking at the age you can reason if they could be correct, however the site has still not managed to link the ledger entry for these earlier deaths so you can mail and ask for a small fee, however it is supposed to be done by year end but this promise is proving to be a movable feast. https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp 

There is a link here to a Louth site but no specific information http://jbhall.clahs.ie/ There is also a Louth Genealogy Facebook page, which is private but ask to join. 

I will check a subscription site for military records but not too hopeful, will return to this on Tuesday or Wednesday. William Kerr is difficult, it is a name found in all counties as Kerr or Carr, you do not indicate what year he may have been born etc if you have searched Roots Ireland already I am unlikely to find any more than you. There is a Kerr genealogy group on FB too, I have joined but I am not active on it, have Kerr / Carr myself but not in Louth. 

There is a book published in 1903 called History of Kilsaran Union of Parishes, includes Darver. It is on Google books somewhere for free, not sure what you would find in it but if you cannot find it, it is free online now to read I will send you the link, it is just not to hand currently. 

Sorry I can not offer better advice but the deaths if viewed may give an address or the person in attendance may be a relation etc, you might see a headstone recorded in the Louth Genealogical page and if so it should be possible to locate a grave inscription.

Good Luck,

Pat

Pat,

Thank you for your response and suggestions.  I have joined the facebook group and I downloaded the History of Kilsaran Union of Parishes.  

I don't have a confirmed date for the birth of William Kerr as the first record I found is his marriage to Mary Farrell in Washington DC in 1855 and it doesn't include ages or much information at all.  The first census I located for him, 1860, indicates he was born about 1834 which seems reasonable as that would make him about 20 when he married.  If I assume he was also born in County Louth, I have a baptismal record from RootsIreland for a William Kerr, baptised 13 My 1835 with parents William Kerr & Katherine Meath. The names of the sponsors, Patt Lamb & Bridget Durnin, are not ones that I have run into before. 

Family tradition is that William converted to the Catholic religion on his deathbed, here in the US.  If that is true, then the baptismal record isn't his.  I have contacted a church that was in the area at that time to see if the tradition is true.

My father believed that William's father or grandfather was born in Scotland, went to France and settled in Ireland.  Needless to say, my great grandfather is and will continue to be a challenge.

Mary Kerr Deming

Hi Mary, hope you get some joy on the FB group, and the book gives some information, Darver is the one parish that draws the queries in Louth, the mother of the William Kerr you found is probably Meade now, Meath is county her, adjoins Louth. The other two names are Louth, Durnin is almost always Louth and Lamb is found here too, think there was a query on it awhile ago. This may indicate they knew each other before arrival, if checking shipping records I would also check Carr as the person recording the name may have written Kerr, it is used as a rule of thumb but not to be reli,ed upon that Kerr is Progestant and Carr is RC but do not rely on it. 

If you are interested in history, assuming you are in the US, the major maker of "covered wagons" used to go west back in the day was born in Louth, in Drogheda, name of Murphy. I attach a local newspaper piece on it.

In 1852 in nearby Dunleer, in the townlands of Mosstown and Phillipstown, Sir Frederick Foster carried out a survey of his tenants with a view to sending some of them away as the holdings were not viable for all those renting, assisted passage was given to tenants and this is the entry for a Lambe, not.e a Pat Lambe aged 20 and money coming from the US. These Fosters were quiet famous, his brother Vere instigated education for the tenant woman to good effect, there has been pieces written about this initiative which is seen as ahead of its time.

Widow Lambe 61,Pat 20, Judith 22, Michel 15, Supported by labor & by money from America. That is all the entry says. 

About 1853 in Louth Griffiths Valuation was carried out, there are 21 Kerrs listed, including a William, some close to Darver, however I also see a William Carr in Darver and a Lamb family, this site has become a little erratic lately but was ok today. http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch 

It is a leap of faith to link these together, it shows families of those names were there and only head of house given and landlord plus maps with plot numbers.

Good Luck,

Pat