Seeking Descendants of Farrelly families of Kilnagun townland, Lurgan (Virginia) Parish

Hi, I live near Kilnagun and will make queries.

http:/tIitheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004625695/004625695_00291.pdf

Hi, as promised I have been making enquiries in the area. I am puzzled by the Lovett name which doesn't seem to be a name in the locality. I attach the tithe applotments from 1825 for Kinagun. As tou can see Farrellys are there but no Lovetts.This doesn't necessarily mean that the Lovetts weren't there but would imply that they weren't farmers. Are you sure they were in Kilnagun? The remains of a Farrelly house have been pointed out to me but given that it's such a common surname in the area I need to establish if this is the house of your Farrelly family. If you give me an email address I will send a photo of the house.

Hi there

My great grandfather THOMAS FARRELLY came from Kilnagun. He married MARY ANN REILLY and their children were CATHERINE (KATE), JOHN, ANNE, MATTHEW (MATTHIAS), THOMAS (my grandfather) and MICHAEL. They moved to England and lived in St Helens, Lancashire.

However, I am unable to find any other of the family members of THOMAS FARRELLY and MARY ANN REILLY and no records so far.

I would be grateful for any help.

Regards

Maureen 

Hi Maureen,

Could you give me some dates to work from ? Farrelly is a very common surname in the immediate area.On the message above yours you will see I attached the Tithe Applotments from the 1820's and there are both Reilly and Farrelly there.

In Griffith's Valuation from around the 1850's you can see a Michael Farrelly farming in Kilnagun.

Griffiths Valuation Record Information 
TenantFamily Name 1FARRELLYForename 1MICHAELLandlordFamily Name 2SCOTTForename 2RICHARDLocationCountyCAVANBaronyCASTLERAHANUnionOLDCASTLEParishLURGANTownlandKILNAGUNPlace NameKILNAGUNPlace TypeTOWNLANDPublication DetailsPosition on Page
Printing Date1856Act15&16Sheet Number39,40,44Map Reference1

Did the whole family emigrate or just Thomas ?

If I know when they were in Kilnagun I will ask people living in the area if they know anything about the family. That said, a lot of the older folk who might have been able to help have passed on. Maybe there are Church records for the family ? Church records don't go back very far in most cases but you might just be lucky.

Looking forward to the next instalment.

So great to receive your reply! I have struggled for several years to find my Irish connection, and I only have a little information to go on. My great-grandfather was THOMAS FARRELLY from Kilnagun, Ireland. He married MARY ANNE REILLY from Ireland on 10 September 1875 at Lurgan RC Parish, their two witnesses were Hugh Brady & Anne Smith. They had a daughter ANNA FARRELLY on 6 July 1876. They also had three more children in Ireland, JOHN (born 1879, Lurgan RC Parish), MATTHIAS (born about 1877, Lurgan RC Parish) and CATHERINE FARRELLY (born in Cavan, about 1882 Lurgan RC Parish), before moving to THATTO HEATH, ST HELENS, ENGLAND where they had two more sons MICHAEL FARRELLY (born about 1886) and THOMAS FARRELLY (who was my grandfather, born about 1889). I have no information about the parents, brothers and sisters of THOMAS FARRELLY or MARY ANNE REILLY or whether they stayed in Ireland or emigrated. Warmest regards, Maureen.

Hi Maureen,

It should be possible to get back further than 1875. Church records for Lurgan go back into the 1700's but I didn't see Thomas's birth.Please bear with me . I will contact some local history buffs and see if they will take up the research. Will be in touch shortly.

Ps. If you have the marriage record for Thomas and Mary Anne does it not at least give the names of the fathers of the couple ? This could be a big help.

Have just called in to a Farrelly descendant from Kilnagun. She doesn't know anything of her family history but gave me contact details for her first cousin in Dublin who ,she said, did some family research a few years ago. Will phone him and see what he can offer.

Wow!  That's great thankyou SO much! I'm very excited now.

Maureen, I have been in contact with the Farrelly descendant but am not convinced that he is part of your tree. He sent me his tree which I will email to you if you give me your email address. Don't loose heart yet- I just got my summer holidays yesterday so will be freer to seek out local history buffs and see if they can help.

Yes my email address is maureen.s.baines@gmail.com I shall look out for your email.

Thank you so much for looking.  The last time in 2013 that I checked this site, there had been no response, so that must have been before May 2013!  Thanks to a fellow Irish researcher who sent me a note for our Irish Research Group here in Spokane, Washington, I decided to check back today.

Regarding the Lovett name.  There was only one other Lovett family in County Cavan @ the same time as my gr-gr-grandparents married. (Presumably @ 1843-44.  I am not concerned with them.  A county history book in Meeker County, Minnesota with an article probably written by his wife who survived him probably wrote or gave the info for the article. In it, it states that Michael Lovett was born in County Queens/ today Laois.  I suspect Michael came up to stay with the other Lovett family which was quite large.  Michael's age doesn't fit into the children of that family.  I also suspect that he was Church of England, not Catholic. As I could not find a marriage record for he and Bridget Farrelly, which should have been in the same records I used for their childrens' baptismal records.  Michae is buried in a Catholic Cemetery in Meeker County, Minnesota, USA, which may indicate I have a baptismal record to locate on hime.  I'm hoping I may be able to find either in Boston, NY, Ontario, Canada or Meeker County has a baptismal record for him.  I suspect he was Church of England as the other Lovett family was.  I've got a lot to prove, yet, as you can see.

I have not been able to find the names of Bridget Farrelly's parents and was hoping I might contact someone in the Kilnagun area that dates back to pre-1846.  Michael and Bridget Farrelly Lovett left around 1846-48.  I am also interested in knowing whether the second daughter, Ellen/Alice Lovett died in Ireland before their emigration to Boston or after leaving County Cavan. 

I see you are very busy answering other inquires along with mine, so I may wait a while to check back.  I know there are tons of Farrellys still in County Cavan, so my question may be like looking for the "needle in a haystack."  I hope to return to County Cavan in 2016 with my 4 brothers and 1 sister in tow to actually go to Kilnagun just to see what it looks like.  Our grandfather, Felix McGowan is one of the grandsons of their daughter, Catherine Lovett McGowan.  He was a middle child of 12. His mother died in 1891 and shortly after that time he set out on his own around the age of 15.  He ended up in a little town named, Poplar in Roosevelt County, Montana.  Where he fathered 12 children, only one not surviving birth. The youngest son, inherited Felix's farm which is now in the hands of his son', Felix McGowan. So the farm has been in the McGowan hands for 3 generations with two of the fourth generations now returning to help their father farm.  That farm will have the 100th anniversary of being in the same hands in 2017.  So, my 2016 trip will hopefully find the McGowans' birthplace to add to the Lovett-Farrely.  So, just a little info in case we don't meet again on this site.

Thank you, 

Dani Lee McGowan

dlmcg46@gmail.com

Hello ,

I have just come across this site and very glad about it.

I see from one of the posts that you have identified Michael Farrelly from Kilnagun. I believe this is my GGGgrandfather.

His son Martin was baptised in the parish of Lurgan township Kilnagun 22/8/1831.

They are not in Kilnagun on the tithe lists of 1825 but there is a Michael Farrelly and Anne Farrelly at 10 Togher township on the 1821 census. 

I am writing my Farrelly family history so would love any information about their lives during the 1830s and 40s.

Martin came to Australia but I am struggling to find records of his leaving Ireland and arriving in Victoria (Port Phillip)

Hope you can help.

Thank you 

Hi Lynne, the Michael Farrelly in my tree, was born in England in 1886, it was his parents, Thomas Farrelly and Mary Anne Farrelly (nee Reilly) who were born in Ireland. But so far I have been unable to get any further back than this.