Family tree

Any information on when Bridget and Roger were married or when they were born? They may go back before available records.

Roger McDonnell

Attached Files

Hello,

In your first message to Ireland Reaching Out dated 13 August 2023, you referenced that your Harrison and Garvey ancestors were from Ballyhaunis in County Mayo. Ballyhaunis may not have been the actual town of residence for your Harrison and Garvey ancestors, but the postal address. They and their descendants may have lived in a town near Ballyhaunis.

This may actually have been the case for at least one of the children of Roger Harrison and Bridget Garvey, as I found that a Roger Harrison and a Bridget Conway had six children in the area, in the nearby Catholic Parish of Aghamore, which was also in the Civil Parish of Aghamore.

This information comes from the Find My Past (FMP) website baptism transcriptions for six children of Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway. The baptisms show that Roger and Bridget had twins, as well as triplets, and another child born after the triplets.

Below are the names of the children, their years of baptism and the Catholic Parish in which they were baptized:

Bridget and Catherine Harrison, 5 October 1868, Aghamore
Ellen, Maggie, and Mary Harrison, 4 June 1873, Aghamore
Rose Harrison, November 1875, Aghamore
----

The father of these children, Roger Harrison, could have been the son of Roger Harrison and Bridget Garvey, not only because of his name, but because of his family’s close proximity to Ballyhaunis, as you’ll see in a bit from a map of the area.

Copies of the original Harrison baptism records are available for fee at the National Library of Ireland website. All are attached to this reply.

The importance of looking at the baptism records is that some of the godparents of the children, may have been Roger and Bridget Conway’s siblings.

By the way, do you have twins or triplets in your family?

THE BAPTISMS OF BRIDGET AND CATHERINE HARRISON

The Aghamore Catholic baptism records span both the left and right hand pages of the register. The left page of the register for October 5th, 1868, shows that Bridget and Catherine’s father was Roger and their mother “Bgt” Conway.

The right page of the register shows the village they were living in at the time of the baptism was Raith. Bridget’s godfather was Own Brennan. Her godmother looks like Mary Morley.

Catherine’s godfather is also Owen Brennan, but her godmother was Bgt. Laverty. The name of the priest who baptized the twins looks like the Rev. P. Greally, C.C. The initials C.C. stand for Catholic Curate.

THE BAPTISMS OF ELLEN, MAGGIE, AND MARY HARRISON

The 4 June 1873 baptisms for Ellen, Maggie, and Mary Harrison show that they and their parent’s residence was Raith.

Ellen’s godparents were Owen and Mary Conway; Maggie’s godparents were Michl Murphy and Bgt Murray; and Mary’s godparents were John Murphy and Bgt. Kelly. Not shown in the attachment, because I’ve cropped the baptism register, is the name of the priest who baptized the children. His name was the Rev. John Keaveny.

THE BAPTISM OF ROSE HARRISON

The FMP baptism transcription just gave the month and year of Rose’s baptism, but a copy of the original baptism record shows she was baptized on 30 November 1875. The right-hand page of the baptism register shows that Rose and her parents were living in Raith. Rose’s godparents are Patrick Finn and Anne Harrison. Anne Harrison may have been Roger Harrison’s sister, and the daughter of Roger Harrison and Bridget Garvey. Or, it’ also possible Anne Harrison was Roger’s sister-in-law. The priest who baptized Rose was the Rev. M. Heany, C.C.

The six baptism records show the Harrison family were living in “Raith.” There is a Raith, County Mayo, but in this instance the family actually lived in the townland that went by the alternate spelling of Rath, which is much closer to Ballyhaunis and the Aghamore Catholic Parish Church, called St. Joseph’s. A Google Map shows that St. Joseph’s Church in Aghamore is 1.6 miles south of Rath by the shortest modern-day route: https://tinyurl.com/3wkpehea

Here is a Google Street View of St. Joseph’s Church: https://tinyurl.com/2dcdvs9e

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website shows that St. Joseph’s Church was built in 1832, and places the church in Killeen, Aghamore. See more information and a slide presentation: https://tinyurl.com/4hzhzfhv

There isn’t a Google Street View of Rath, but there is Street View of the road leading to Rath: https://tinyurl.com/ynfzpk6j

This next map shows that Ballyhaunis is 7.3 miles south of Rath, traveling through Aghamore and past St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, along the L1913 and N83 roads: https://tinyurl.com/22bvyxj8

This link takes you to a Google Map showing the aforementioned townland of Raith, County Mayo, over 70 miles northwest of Ballyhaunis, Rath, and St Joseph’s Catholic Church in: https://tinyurl.com/578743sy

I next looked for but didn’t find the Aghamore Catholic Parish marriage for Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway at the FMP website. I also looked for their marriage in other County Mayo Catholic parishes but without success.

I checked with the National Library of Ireland to see how far back in time the Aghamore Catholic marriages are available, and found they are available from 22 December 1864 to 28 January 1881. Aghamore Catholic baptisms are available from 2 June 1864 to 26 December 1880.

See the Aghamore Catholic Parish registers availability as well as a map of the Catholic parish and surrounding Catholic parishes at the National Library of Ireland website:
Aghamore, Tuam - Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI

What this also means is that if Roger Harrison Sr. and Bridget Garvey were married in Aghamore, there would not be a Catholic marriage record for them, nor baptism records for their children.

In his reply of 15 August 2023 Roger McDonnell had noted that the marriage of Roger Harrison and Bridget Garvey may have taken place before records are available for their parish. This would be the case in this instance.

I next looked for the civil marriage record for Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway at the free irishgenealogy.ie website but didn’t find it.

This is unfortunate, as the civil registration marriage record would have recorded the names of Roger and Bridget’s fathers.

Civil registration marriages for Catholics are available from the year 1864, as are birth records at the irishgenealogy.ie website. To date however, full civil registration death records are only available from 1871 at the irishgenealogy.ie website. Before 1871 only death indexes are available back to 1864, but death indexes give very little information about the person who died.

THE BIRTH RECORDS

I found the civil registration birth records for the Harrison twins, the triplets, and for Rose at the irishgenealogy.ie website. I also looked for birth records of Harrison children born before Bridget and Catherine Harrison in 1868.

There is a gap between the births of Bridget and Catherine Harrison in 1868 and the births of Ellen, Maggie, and Mary Harrison in 1873, and so I also looked for Harrison births in this gap time period.

BIRTH OF JOHN HARRISON

John Harrison was born in Raith on the “Fourth of July 1865.” His father Roger, of Raith, is employed as a “Farmer.” John’s mother is Bridget Harrison, formerly Conway. Bridget reported the birth to the registrar, whose name appears to be J. Jamison. He recorded John’s birth in the Swinford Registration District on 31 August 1865. John’s birth is number 93 in the register, which you can access after following the prompts at the irishgenealogy.ie website: https://tinyurl.com/yc7mf32s

BIRTHS OF BRIDGET AND CATHERINE HARRISON

The twins were born in Raith on 7 December 1868. Their father Roger is a “Farmer” living in Raith. Their mother is Bridget Harrison, formerly Conway. The deputy registrar, John Tully, recorded the births in the Swinford Registration District on 28 December 1868. The births of Bridget and Catherine are the last two in the register at numbers 9 and 10: https://tinyurl.com/m2n94d6n

BIRTH OF OWEN HARRISON

Owen Harrison was born on 3 January 1871 in Raith. His father Roger is a “Farmer” from Raith. His mother is Bridget Harrison, formerly Conway. His mother Bridget from Raith reported the birth to the registrar, John Considine, who recorded Owen’s birth in the Swinford Registration District on 16 February 1871. The birth is number 496 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/yku4b7jr

BIRTHS OF MARGARET, MARY, AND ELLEN HARRISON

The triplets were born in “Reath” on 4 June 1873. Roger and Bridget Conway Harrison were the parents. The person who reported the births to the registrar was Mary Finn, of Reath. She may have been the midwife who helped to deliver the babies, or she may have been a relative. The registrar, John Jamison, recorded the birth in the Swinford Registration District on 5 June 1873. The birth records are numbers 1, 2, and 3 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/56j62tka

I didn’t find the births of any more Harrison children after 1873.

But sadly, I did find that all three triplets died soon after they were born.

DEATHS OF THE HARRISON TRIPLETS

Margaret died on 9 June 1873 in Reath. Mary and Ellen both died in Reath on 10 June 1873. The cause of death for all three was “Debility,” which means no one really knows what the children died from. The person who was present at their deaths and who reported the deaths to the registrar was Mary Finn, of Reath. She was also present at their births. The registrar, John Jamison, recorded the deaths in the Swinford Registration District on 30 June 1873. The deaths are numbers 447, 448, and 449 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/54ta67xk

DEATH OF OWEN JOHN HARRISON

Owen’s parents are not recorded in his death record, but there is information in the death record that show he was likely the son of Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway. Owen died in Reath on 1 October 1890 at the age of 20. Earlier you saw that he was born in Reath. His date of birth was 3 January 1871. His age in the death record is off by three months, as he would have 19 years and 9 months old when he died. A person’s age in Irish death records, as in census records, may not always be accurate.

Owen’s occupation was “Farmer’s Son.” I couldn’t make out the full cause of death but it looks like he died of a disease called “Mesenteus,” which I believe is a disease of the small intestine.

The person who was present at his death and who reported the death to the registrar was Mary Finn. She also reported his birth to the registrar in 1871. The registrar, J. Conry, recorded Owen’s death in the Swinford Registration District on 8 October 1890. Owen’s death is number 135 in the register: https://tinyurl.com/5vtac9bt

THE 1911 CENSUS

Moving ahead in time I found Roger and Bridget Harrison in the 1911 census for Rath, County Mayo at the National Archives of Ireland website.

50 year old John Harrison is a farmer born in County Mayo. His wife is 45 year old Bridget. She would be the former Bridget Conway. Also in the household is John’s mother, 75 year old widow, Bridget. She, may be the former Bridget Garvey. If so, this means that John would be Roger Jr’s brother.

The census shows they are the “Residents of a house 22 in Rath (Kilkelly, Mayo).”

The census line for John’s wife Bridget shows that she and John had been married for 18 years and in that time period had three children, with the three children still living. They are in the household and include 17 year old Kate, 14 year old Michael, and 13 year old Mary. Everyone in the household was Roman Catholic and born in County Mayo. Only John and his wife Bridget were shown to be able to speak Irish and English. The census comes from the National Archives of Ireland website:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Mayo/Kilkelly/Rath/736…

After the census downloads make sure you check the box, “Show all information” to view the full census page.

For a copy of the original 1911 census of the Harrison household in Rath, go to the National Archives of Ireland link at: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003014171/

I next looked for the Harrison family in the 1901 census but did not originally find them. This is because the surname of the family is spelled “Harrisson,” rather than Harrison in the transcription of the census from the National Archives of Ireland website. But I did eventually locate the family.

The 1901 census shows that 35 year old farmer, John “Harrisson,” his 35 year old wife Bridget, three of their children, and a “Visitor,” 60 year old Bridget Harrisson, were the “Residents of a house 48 in Rath (Kilkelly, Mayo).”

60 year old Bridget, of course, would be John Harrison’s mother. Her occupation was recorded as, “Retired Farmer.” The three children in the household are 3 year old Michael, 8 year old Catherine, and 2 year old Mary. Everyone in the household was Roman Catholic and born in County Mayo. The census further shows that John and his wife Bridget could speak both Irish and English.

See the 1901 census transcription from the National Archives of Ireland at:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilkelly/Rath/159…

For a copy of the original 1901 census go to: census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001092072/

You can see that the age of a person doesn’t always add up between the 1901 and 1911 census enumerations. For example, in the 1901 census John Harrison is 35 years old, but in the 1911 census he is 50 years old.

I believe this is the John Harrison whose was born on July 4, 1864 and whose birth record you saw earlier. This means that in 1901 he would have been 37 years old, and in 1911, 47 years old.

The 1911 census shows that John and Bridget Harrison were married for 18 years. If this is accurate they would have been married in 1893, though in some cases the number of years married in the 1911 census can be off by a few years, and in some cases several years. I looked for the marriage over the span of years from 1888 to 1895.

The importance of finding the marriage record, in addition to learning what Bridget’s maiden name was, is that Irish civil registration marriage records traditionally provide the names of the fathers of the bride and groom, but unfortunately, not the first or maiden names of their mothers.

If the marriage record shows that John’s father is named Roger, then we will know this John Harrison would likely be the son of Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway.

I found the civil marriage record at the irishgenealogy.ie website showing that John “Harisson” and Bridget Kilkenny were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Aughamore on March 16, 1893. John was a “Bachelor,” and Bridget a “Spinster” at the time of marriage. Both were of “full age.” John’s occupation was “Farmer.” His place of residence at the time of marriage was “Raith,” which is also the townland of Rath. His father is Roger Harrison, a “Farmer.”

No occupation was recorded for Bridget Kilkenny. Her residence at the time of marriage was Filighter. Her father is John Kilkenny, a “Farmer.”

The priest who married John and Bridget was Patrick I. Madden. The witnesses to the marriage were John Higgins and Kate Kilkenny. Bridget signed the marriage register with “her mark,” meaning she could not write. You can access a copy of the original civil registration marriage record for John and Bridget, after going through the prompts at: https://tinyurl.com/5n8ce7ck

Earlier you saw that the Catholic Church in Aghamore, south of Rath, is St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

Bridget’s residence of Filighter may have been a local spelling of the townland. The IreAtlas Townland Data Base spells the name of this place as, “Falleighter,” which was in the Civil Parish of Aghamore:
IreAtlas Townland Search Form (thecore.com)

A Google Map shows that Falleighter is just north of Rath and 4.6 miles north of St. Joseph’s Church in Aghamore, traveling by Rath: Rath, County Mayo, Ireland to Falleighter, County Mayo, Ireland - Google Maps

This Google Street View is just west of Falleighter: https://tinyurl.com/45wr2fse

The 1901 and 1911 Irish census returns show that John Harrison’s mother Bridget was a widow. Knowing this I looked for Bridget Harrison’s death record at the irishgenealogy.ie website.

Irish civil registration death records were recorded by the government beginning in 1864, but the irishgenealogy.ie website has to date only recorded copies of original death records from the year 1871, but are available online to the year 1972.

Before 1871 only death indexes are available at irishgenealogy.ie, but the indexes give very little information about the person, except for their age at death and the district where the death was recorded.

I did not find a death record for a Bridget Harrison who died in Rath. She may have died elsewhere, perhaps in a hospital, or a County Home.

I also looked for but could not identify a death record for Bridget’s husband, Roger Harrison, Jr.

MARRIAGE OF TWIN, BRIDGET HARRISON

Bridget Harrison and John O’Grady were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Aghamore on April 7, 1897. At the time of marriage Bridget was living in Raith. She didn’t have an occupation. Her father is Roger Harrison, a “Famer.”

Bridget and John Grady were of “full age” when they married, which means they were 21 years old or older. John’s occupation was “Farmer.” His residence at the time of marriage was Culmore. His father is Edward O’Grady, also a “Farmer.”

The priest who married Bridget and John was P. Keaveney, C.C. One of the witnesses to the marriage was Patrick Grady. The first name of the second witness looks like it could be Lucy. Her last name is Walsh. You can access the marriage record from the irishgenealogy.ie website at: https://tinyurl.com/4apvymnd

The marriage of Bridget Harrison and John O’Grady in 1897 would have taken place in St. Joseph’s Church in Aghamore, which is the same church where John Harrison and Bridget Kilkenny were married in 1893, as noted earlier.

I next wanted to see if I could find the marriage record for Bridget’s twin sister, Catherine, at the irishgenealogy.ie website. I didn’t find a marriage record for Catherine, or for Bridget and Catherine’s younger sister Rose. If you recall Rose was born in 1875.

MICHAEL J. HARRISON

At the ancestry.com subscription database I found the death record of a Michael J. Harrison, son of Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway. Michael died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 27, 1940 at the age of 73. At the time of death Michael was married to Mary Bowen, and had been living at 229 Righter Street. The cause of death was “Chronic Myocarditis,” and “Artero Sclerosis,” with a contributary cause of “Edema of lungs.”

The informant who reported the death was Joseph Tyrell, also of 225 Righter Street in Philadelphia.

Because of the handwriting in the death certificate, I could not make of the cemetery where Michael was buried. The death certificate is attached to this reply.

The Find A Grave website shows that Michael is buried in the Westminster Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: Michael J Harrison (1864-1940) - Find a Grave Memorial

The 1940 U.S. census shows that Joseph Tyrell was Michael Harrison’s 32 year old nephew. Joseph was born in Pennsylvania. The census taker came by the Harrison household at 229 Righter Street on April 11, 1940, seven months before Michael died in November of that year.

The 1940 census further shows that Michael is 76 years old and born in Ireland. His wife Mary was also 76 and born in Ireland. The census is attached to this reply. The Michael Harrison household begins on line 57 of the census.

Finding the death record for Michael Harrison shows that Roger Harrison and Bridget Conway had a least 9 children. These children are:

John Harrison, July 4, 1864
Michael Harrison, circa 1867
Twins, Bridget and Catherine Harrison, 5 October 1868
Owen Harrison, 3 January 1871
Triplets, Ellen, Maggie, and Mary Harrison, 4 June 1873
Rose Harrison, November 1875.
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There is the possibility that Roger and Bridget Harrison had more than the 9 children noted above.

Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

Find My Past (FMP)
National Library of Ireland
Google Maps
Google Street Views
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland
Ireland Reaching Out Volunteer Roger McDonnell's reply of 15 August 2023
irishgenealogy.ie
National Archives of Ireland
IreAtlas Townland Database
Ancestry.com
Find A Grave

Hi David, thank you for sending  me all the information on my great great grandparent Bridget and Roger Harrison, and on Roger and Bridget Harrison (nee Conway). Also on my great grandparents Bridget and John OGrady

You're welcome and many thanks for your reply.

Dave