Shea/Sullivan/Foley - Eskine, Sneem, Kenmare, Kerry

Hi Colleen

Thank you for your query and sharing your information. Do you have any information on the year/years that your family emigrated? Do you know much about their emigration? The reason why they left, who they may have travelled with?..etc..Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool, New York, etc.), this could be a good place to find more information. -And perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.

Ellis Island: http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp

Castlegarden: http://www.castlegarden.org/

US National Archives/Immigration info: http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/

When you say that you have searched the National Archive Records were they the Irish or US?

Finding an exact place of origin (e.g Parish, Townland) and a time period will help you find any existing church records. 

Here are some other websites that may be of help to you:

http://genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/kerry/index.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/   (This web site is useful when researching parish records among other things)

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

http://ifhf.rootsireland.ie/?gclid=CKLT_Pa4wrUCFYUf4Qod4EoAGg

We hope that information is useful to you Colleen. Let us know what sources you have used. Do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support

Thank you for the information and the web sites...I am currently using many of them, but there are some that are new to me, and I will check them out.

I did find my relatives in Ireland via the Ireland National Archives.  It has been very exciting!   The ancestors that I have found, who we were told were all friends/relatives back in Ireland, are all on the census records as living in Kerry, specifically, Eskine, Sneem, Kenmare in 1901 and 1911.  I have since located many baptismal and marriage records through FamilySearch.org that fit like a glove.  :)  Huge brick walls have been broken down for me with the more recent digitization of Irish records!

My dilemma now is that the families I have found, Shea/O'Shea, Foley, Sullivan/O'Sullivan (also McGovern and Regan) have so many records in which the names intertwine as witnesses and sponsors, etc., that it is quite a grand web of Irish folks to sort out and untangle.  With only two census years to work with, it's a bit difficult to place family members together.  This is why I was reaching out...in hopes of someone with advice on how to do this, or even someone researching the same family, who might know who belongs to whome among all of these Sheas, Foleys, and Sullivans, and then to find out how the McGoverns and Regans are connected.

I continue to work on it.  I almost think that printing all of the records and spreading them across the floor, trying to match families, might be the place to begin! LOL (in an era of digital everything! Ironic)

I feel confident that given the records I mentioned, coupled with ship manifests, census, marriage records, etc. from the US, I could come to Ireland now and visit the location my ancestors came from.  However, I would be going not knowing who all of them are, because these are huge families, and it is obvious that I haven't been able to match up and place all of the people who belong in the tree yet.  This is my goal, before I start planning my visit. :)

Thanks again for anything else you might offer.

Colleen 

Thank you for the information and the web sites...I am currently using many of them, but there are some that are new to me, and I will check them out.

I did find my relatives in Ireland via the Ireland National Archives.  It has been very exciting!   The ancestors that I have found, who we were told were all friends/relatives back in Ireland, are all on the census records as living in Kerry, specifically, Eskine, Sneem, Kenmare in 1901 and 1911.  I have since located many baptismal and marriage records through FamilySearch.org that fit like a glove.  :)  Huge brick walls have been broken down for me with the more recent digitization of Irish records!

My dilemma now is that the families I have found, Shea/O'Shea, Foley, Sullivan/O'Sullivan (also McGovern and Regan) have so many records in which the names intertwine as witnesses and sponsors, etc., that it is quite a grand web of Irish folks to sort out and untangle.  With only two census years to work with, it's a bit difficult to place family members together.  This is why I was reaching out...in hopes of someone with advice on how to do this, or even someone researching the same family, who might know who belongs to whome among all of these Sheas, Foleys, and Sullivans, and then to find out how the McGoverns and Regans are connected.

I continue to work on it.  I almost think that printing all of the records and spreading them across the floor, trying to match families, might be the place to begin! LOL (in an era of digital everything! Ironic)

I feel confident that given the records I mentioned, coupled with ship manifests, census, marriage records, etc. from the US, I could come to Ireland now and visit the location my ancestors came from.  However, I would be going not knowing who all of them are, because these are huge families, and it is obvious that I haven't been able to match up and place all of the people who belong in the tree yet.  This is my goal, before I start planning my visit. :)

Thanks again for anything else you might offer.

Colleen 

Dear Colleen. I can understand perfectly that feeling of being overwhelmed when you have so much information and don't know where to start!

Your most important piece of information is that Eskine is a townland in the old Civil Parish area of Kilcrohane

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/kilcrohane.html 

To simplify your search and ensure accuracy down the road I suggest you make a timeline starting with yourself as follows

Colleen 19??

Siblings if any

Parents

birthdate and place

married 19??

place

Father's parents names

married ??

place

and so on

Let me know then who left Ireland  (in your direct line) and then I can begin a more local search. I have discovered that locals differentiated the families by for example calling one branch of the O'Sullivan's, O'Sullivan-Mountain. So keep a lookout for anyone who had a nickname as this could help us find YOUR branch of the family.

I can't wait to hear back from you. I have a good feeling about this one.

Martine

Hi! I just started searching, and came across your post. My Grandfather was Jeremiah Foley Jr. He was born in 1904 in Sneem, and lived in Kenmare when he emigrated to America in 1926. His destination was listed as New York, and the Ellis Island records showed his father living in Tahilla, Co Kerry. He listed an aunt, Mrs. McGovern, of Great Neck, Long Island, NY, as the person he would be staying with. He married Rose Groeller around 1939 in New York City. They had 4 children, Rosemarie, Jeremiah, Jean, and Linda, the youngest (my Mother). Linda was born in 1946. Rosemarie in 1940. Jean may been 1944. Jerry is in there somewhere! Rosemarie had one daughter, Diane, in 1967. Jerry has none. Jean has one daughter, Kimberly, born 1972. Linda has a daughter Lisa (me) born 1967, and a son, Daniel born 1977. Her married name is Johnson. Rosemarie is Gardiner, And Jean is Stintsman. Kimberly is married, Is now Wurtzbacher. Has a daughter,Jenna, who is around 13.

Jeremiah Foley Sr. b.1869 and Katharine "Katie" (Sullivan) Foley b.1875, had 11 children
Timothy b.1901
Patrick b.1902
Hannah b.1903
Jeremiah b.1904
John (Jack) b.1905
Michael.1906
Catherine b.1907
Bridget b.1908
Annie & Daniel, both listed as being age one in the 1911census. Unknown if they were twins or just really close births.
Mary,b.1911
Jack, Jeremiah, and Patrick were all living in New York City in the 40's and early 50's. Sadly, my family did not stay close,and that is where my personal knowledge ends.

Hi Lisa,

We are, no doubt, related. :)  Mrs. McGovern of Great Neck, NY is my great grandmother...my father's grandmother on his mother's side.  Bridget Marie Foley married Thomas McGovern and they lived in Great Neck, NY.  Her daughter, Mary Ellen McGovern, a twin, and one of three children, married my grandfather. I believe I have a census record of your grandfather coming to the US with "Mrs. McGovern" listed as his destination relative.  The Bridget in your list above is her. :) I have a photo or two I can share with you. :)

Let me know what information may be helpful to you.  I believe I have Jeremiah's family in my records, but I ran into a problem with my tree a year or so back and started it over again.  Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to finish putting everything in.  

Feel free to email me directly at Colleen.GenRes@gmail.com

Glad to meet you, Lisa.

Colleen