Dear Friends,
I am writing from Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) and am fortunate to have come across this web site which was recently in a local newspaper.
Essentially, I am trying to both locate and confirm some geneological information about my Grandfather (Thomas Fitzgerald). I did some research and discovered that he was born on July 12th, 1880 in Castlegregoy (Maharees), County Kerry. Oddly enough, I cannot find any reference to a "Castlegregory" Parish in Kerry. Maybe it is/was under a different name. Tom eventually moved to Galway City where my Dad (Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald) was born. I am also interested in determining whether or not Tom Fitz had siblings who moved to The States (specifically Philadelphia). We had heard that this was the case. Note as well that Tom married Sarah Smyth(e) - my grandmother - and they eventually setlled in Salthill (Galway City)..
Any help would be greatly appreciated... esp. about the Fitzgeralds in that part of Kerry and the Fitzgeralds (and Smythe's) in Galway.
Peace, Chris (Fitzgerald)
Wednesday 26th Dec 2012, 07:37PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for your message.
Firstly to clarify, Castlegregory is a town, that is located in the parish of Killiny. Co. Kerry. Follow this link to the irishtimes website, where you can see a brief overview of the parish and its townlands:
You can also use the irishtimes website to get an overview of what Catholic records are available for the Killiny Parish. Perhaps if you can find a birth record for Thomas, you will be able to find the names of his parents. Follow this link:
For Church of Ireland Records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/
You could also do a search for the Fitzgeralds and Smyths in the 1901 and 1911 census records here:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
With regards to the Galway connection:
Do you have any other information on Tom's siblings that you could share? Do you know their names, dates of births, when they may have emigrated? perhaps if you had this information you could search for Tom's sibling in the US Immigration records. A good place to start searching for these is the US National Archives at the following link:
http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/passenger-arrival.html#film
Perhaps also, as the people you are researching lived in the 20th century, there may be people in the area that remember the name or the family/descendants of the family. Consequently it might be an idea to place a message in a local paper to see if you can make any connections? The two best papers will probably be the Connaught Tribune and The Galway Advertiser. Here are the links for them:
http://www.galwaynews.ie/connachttribune
http://www.advertiser.ie/galway
I hope that this information helps. Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Tuesday 12th Feb 2013, 04:44PM