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Still working on crossing the pond with ancestor, Margaret McCarty, born 1830, Ireland. Family story says she was born in Hickey, County Cork, and left because of the potatoe famine, but there is no town/city of Hickey in Cork.  Found two other Balleyhickey's, one in Tipperary, the other in Clare. 

Can't find her Catholic marriage record to a Prussian here in St Paul, Minnesota. Irish Gen Soc and MN Gen Soc also haven't found it and it may only say she was born in  "Ireland" because not all the marriage records in the St Paul Diocese listed the town/county, sometimes just "Ireland". 

Question: Does anyone know if there WAS a town called Hickey/Balleyhickey in Cork a long time ago, say the mid 1800's that no longer exists. Maybe it was swallowed up by a larger growing city or something.  If Margaret said she was from "Hickey" could people have misheard her and she was saying something similar.

I realize Hickey is also a common surname in Ireland and have looked into the possibility that Hickey could have been a maiden name but it seems at this point not to be the case.  She would have had to been born a Hickey, married a McCarty who later died, and she remarries in the new world to a Prussian named Christian John Abresch.  Possible, but the Catholic last rights show her name as McCarty, and the husband's 2nd marriage record in the church shows he was the widower of "Margaretha McCarty". 

Haven't found any siblings or parents living around her in the USA either. She seems to be living in a bubble.  I don't even know if she came to Canada first or the US. 

So what about the town of Hickey??? Could Hickey be something other than a town... 

Kathleen Merchant

Sunday 9th Nov 2014, 01:08AM

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  • Kathleen

    I started working on this issue and could not find any possibilities. I then did a Google search and found our exchange from September 2013.

    http://www.irelandxo.com/node/26587

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Sunday 9th Nov 2014, 02:50AM

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