Cassin Family of Shanderry, Offerlane, Laois

Dear Pat

Apologies for the long delay in replying.

As you say, Michael and Margaret were married c.1794 on the 19-May-1793 to be exact, in the parish of Castletown, Co. Laois. Unfortunately neither of their parents' names are recorded on their marriage certificate so this is probably as far as we can go with their history (unless there is a Canadian death record or grave info that records something new). Witnesses to the marriages were Garret Kavanagh and Mary Kelly. 

You can see the original here:

http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000635319#page/293/mode/1up

I looked for baptisms for children of this couple but there were none listed in Loais or anywhere in Ireland. I also checked for baptisms for any Michael Cassin in and around the time prior to 1770 (assuming he was at least 20 when he married) but there are no Michael Cassin records prior to 1810.

RC baptisms for Castletown begin in 1772 so he must have been born prior to this and therefore baptised before that time making him older than 20 when he married.

I checked how many Cassin listings there were for children baptised in Laois and there are 165 matches in all but only one that takes placed in or around 1770 (the period around which Michael was probably born). This record dated 01-Aug-1769 is for the parish of Rosenallis and records the baptism of a Hyam Cassin. Sponsors names are Michael Moare and Jane Thomson so I feel this is a different family. 

You can see where the parishes are on this map link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/townlands/index.cfm?fuseaction…

Let me know what you think. The NLI facility to see the digitised copy of the original is a great resource

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Hi Clare,

Thanks for your help - I see that you also are the same person who helped with one of my Kilkenny families, how kind of you - I know all this is very time consuming.

I agree - I am probably at a deadend as far as finding the parents of Michael Cassin or Margaret Kelly - unless it is through DNA testing.  I have had autosomal testing but have no male family members who would qualify as Cassin Y-DNA testers.  If there are any out there, please contact me and I will be happy to share the cost if you are a Cassin from the area where my ancestors lived in Laois. 

I tediously went through the baptismal records on NLI and I was actually rewarded in finding several of Michael and Margaret's children's baptisms between 1794 and 1818, when they immigrated to Canada.  It appears that they were living in the Shanderry area according to these baptisms.  So to me, that was a big find.

Again, Clare, thank you so much for your time and help.

Pat

Hi Pat,

I saw your post on the Cassin Family of Offerlane Parish and wanted to pass along the Cassin name in my family. In Castletown on Feb 22, 1803 Mary Cassin married my 3x great granfather Michael (Mick) Dunn. I believe that they lived in the Townland of Tinnakill. Mary would be about the right age to be related to your Patrick. I was in Tinnakill in September and found some more recent grave headstones for a Cassin family in the cemetery by the remains of St. Kevin's RC Church. I don't have any names for Mary's parents.

My contact info is p51jim@sbcglobal.net

Best wishes,

Jim Dunn

Thanks Jim

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support

Thanks, Jim.  I strongly suspect there is a connection there between our Cassins.  My "Mary", daughter of Patrick left Ireland in 1817 with her family - she was born in the early 1800s and married in Canada to a Denis Hogan in Valcartier, Quebec.  However, I found a Denis Cassin from that area that may have been Patrick's brother or cousin, etc.  Maybe your Mary was the daughter of Denis or another sibling of Patrick. At some point, I would like to make a spreadsheet of all the Cassins in the area from the Church records and see if they can be connected - but that's a project I haven't gotten to. 

Again, thanks for the response.  Your can contact me at source104@gmail.com anytime.

Happy Holidays to you.

Pat