Share This:

Please, can anyone help me find our origins?  In spite of decades of (computer) searching, I have not been able to verify where in Ireland John and Ellen McMahon Curtis and toddler son Patrick, originated before their ca. 1850 emigration to New York. Monaghan, Dublin, and the southeast coast were all possibilities as well as Cork and the Clare area.  I tried but the task was too huge to find touchstones.  Then finally my brother's Ydna results came to us just recently.  And we carry a Dalcassian haplogroup.  We are under L226 and are labeled DC63.  We're elated even though that particular branch of the tree is sparsely populated and our mutations are all private.  Just ours alone.  But at least it's clear that whether our known ancestors still remained there in the nineteenth century before emigration or not, Clare is clearly our original homeland.  But how we got a name associated with the Normans, and the history of the family there over the centuries remain mysteries.  I have found an Ensigne Matthew Curtis in the 1659 Census as Tituladoe of townlands just slightly north and west of the Shannon near original O'Brien lands.  And in Griffiths, the Curtises in Clare reside north in Killinaboy with a few about ten miles away in Kilfenora.  I have no way to establish a connection with us and I may never, but I've also gotten to the point where, even if i can't, I am incredibly interested in the history of Curtis in Clare.  Was Matthew progenitor?  What was the role and history of the the Curtis family locally.  Are there any members of the family still alive?  And where did John meet Ellen, the daughter  of Patrick (I'm assuming) and Ellen McMahon, the 75 year old woman who was with the family in the 1860 U.S.Federal Census along with a young John Corbett who was perhaps Ellen's nephew(?).  So many pieces.  No cohesion.  I would be grateful for any information you have that could shed any light on this.  Appreciation from a rapidly aging crone.  Jude Curtis Levine

Jude

Wednesday 18th January 2017, 03:02AM
Killinaboy (Clare)
Clare

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Jude

    Irish genealogy is a frustrating pursuit!!

    I couldn't find any of John, Ellen & Patrick I'm afraid on www.rootsireland.ie/

    However, interestingly the Curtises & McMahons were still marrying in the 1880's in Ennis:

    Name:Elizabeth CurtisDate of Birth:
    Date of Baptism:04-Apr-1873Address:Lysaghts LaneParish/District:ENNISGender:FemaleCountyCo. Clare
    Denomination:Roman Catholic
    Father:Patrick CurtisMother:Susan McMahonOccupation:
    Sponsor 1 /
    Informant 1:John KennedySponsor 2 /
    Informant 2:Mary Noonan

    Name:Anne CurtisDate of Birth:
    Date of Baptism:19-May-1875Address:McInerneys LaneParish/District:ENNISGender:FemaleCountyCo. Clare
    Denomination:Roman Catholic
    Father:Patrick CurtisMother:Susan McMahonOccupation:
    Sponsor 1 /
    Informant 1:Thomas CurtisSponsor 2 /
    Informant 2:Susan O Leary

    Name:Christopher CurtisDate of Birth:
    Date of Baptism:17-Dec-1877Address:MillstreetParish/District:ENNISGender:MaleCountyCo. Clare
    Denomination:Roman Catholic
    Father:Patrick CurtisMother:Susan McMahonOccupation:
    Sponsor 1 /
    Informant 1:Joseph KennedySponsor 2 /
    Informant 2:Mary Noonan

    No Curtises in Clare in the Irish phone book I'm afraid.

    Col

    ColCaff, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Wednesday 18th January 2017, 04:21AM

  • Jude- The Curtis family came from Wexford to Clare. Contact  PJ Curtis,The Old Forge, Kilnaboy,County Clare. Heis  historian and internationally known author

    Liam Irwin

    Wednesday 18th January 2017, 10:23PM

  • Col: Thanks so much.  I couldn't find them in rootsireland either, but of course I think they left before the parish registers were complete, no?  Anyway, Elizabeth, Anne, and Susan were also first generation names of John and Ellen's children but even I've learned that every family shared the saint's names in that period.  So thanks for try.  Jude

    Jude

    Friday 20th January 2017, 12:27AM

  • Liam:  Thank you so much for the contact.  I emailed PJ immediately and he got right back to me.  He's lovely and will try to put me in contact with an unofficial family historian from New Zealand.  And he welcomed me to the Curtis clan.  Don't know if we authentically belong to that Norman identified line, but it felt so lovely to feel family saying welcome.  So I appreciate.  Jude

    Jude

    Friday 20th January 2017, 12:29AM
Join