Timothy Shea and Bridget Sullivan

Mary Jo,

The church records tab of marriages on the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie has John's father as Tom Shea, not Timothy. Hanora's father is Michael Sullivan. If John was 28 years old, then his birth date is closer to 1846-1847.  There is a record on that same site for a John Shea born 1 Dec 1846 to Thomas Shea and Nora Murphy of Caherciveen. No town land is listed. 

Hello Carolyn,

Thank you for your help. I read the record, from the Civil Records tab, as Tim, not Tom since the second letter in the name looked more like the i in Michael than the o in Toon. Looking at the Church Records tab the information seems to have been changed. In 2011 the record read that Timothy was John's father, now it reads that Tom is John's father. I'm attaching a copy of the record that was from 2011. 

But what about Timothy Shea and Bridget Sullivan? Any information about them?

Mary Jo

Hi Mary Jo,

Yes, I agree that in the civil record, the name looks like Tim, and not Tom. I have no idea why or how the church record was updated to show Tom Shea.

Unfortunately, church records for Cahirciveen births begin in 1845, and in 1863 for marriages, so it is difficult to piece the parts together. I do not know anything about

Timothy Shea and Bridget Sullivan. Griffiths's valuation (1852) shows Timothy, James, and Michael Shea in the town land of Toon. 

The Irish given name Tadhg (pronounced "taig") was anglicized in various ways, including as Thomas, Timothy and Thaddeus/Thady, without there necessarily being any consistency as to how it was done, since it was often at the whim of the priest or official making the record.  One of my ancestors was given all of those names in various records in the early- to mid-19th century, and he probably didn't pay any attention to it, since he was Irish-speaking.  This was the case with many Irish given names, and people sometimes switched to a different anglicized form later on, especially if they emigrated.  So, a woman named Sorcha might have been called Sarah at times back in Ireland, but might have switched to using Sally when she got to America.