Thornton's of Tourmakeady

Eric:

Finding records for that area of Mayo is difficult. I assume your ancestors were Roman Catholic.The RC parish for the area is Partry/Tourmakeady, however, baptismal records start in 1860 and marriages start in 1847. I did search on the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not find a marriage record for Anthony and Winifred.

I looked at the 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Ballyovery civil parish and there were five Thornton records and four were in the townland of Gortfree so there is a good possibility that Anthony came from that townland. https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/ballyovey.htm  There were a couple Lynch records plus the Baronet for the area was Robert Lynch-Blosse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch-Blosse_baronets

I also checked all Thornton civil marriages from 1864-1900 in the Ballinrobe district and did not find a marriage for Mary, Matilda or Winifred.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Roger thank you for your reply, I know that Winifred Lynch was from Galway and Anthony's parents were called Michael and Sarah and looking at the death certificate i think Sarah's maiden name was Welsh but it's very hard to make out.

I will look at the links you have given me. I also believe that they could of been cousins to a Bridget Thornton that married a James Dolan. Bridget's parents and siblings also moved to Stirling but she stayed behind.

Eric

Hi Eric,

You mention Bridget Thornton that marries James Dolan i'll give you a quick run down of what I know, I know it's not exactly the line you are looking for but I would be related to Bridget that you mention.

Martin Thornton B 1810 Ballyhene / D 1850 in Gorteenmore Tourmakeady Marries Maria Quinn B1810 Gorteenmore / D 1870 Raploch Stirlingshire. Martin and Maria had 8 Children that I know of, one of their children was Bridget Thornton that you mention and another one of their Daughters was a lady called Catherine 'Kitty' Thornton B1850 Gorteenmore and Died 1895 in Raploch.  Martin Thornton 1810 Died of Cholera during the famine, and Maria Quinn (Thornton) was evicted from their land which is when she took passage to Scotland, family folklore said that she walked from Gorteenmore to Derry with 5 of her children. 

Now Catherine 'Kitty' Thornton (Bridgets Sister) Marries Michael O'Malley B1850 Mayo D1898 Raploch and they had 17 Children, 1 of their Daughters Elizabeth O'Malley B1892 Raploch Died 1927 Drimoggy Tourmakeady, was sent back to Tourmakeady to reclaim the 'Thornton' land / Farm, but she was unable to do so.

Elizabeth O'Malley married a man called John Staunton B1884 Drimcoggy D 1966 Drimcoggy Tourmakeady, and they had 3 Daughters, Elizabeth unfortunately died not long after the birth of their youngest child, but their Eldest Daughter was a lady called Bridget Mary Staunton B1921 D2002 Bridget Mary Staunton was my Grandmother. 

If you have any dates for your Anthony Thornton I will have a dig about gladly, hope this is of some help, 

My Mum actually still lives in Gorteenmore in Tourmakeady !! 

Kind Regards

Michelle

Michelle, thank you for this family connection. It looks like my 4th x great grandparents were Michael and Mary Thornton (no dates sorry) but they had three children Mary (born 1816 died 1876 in Lanarkshire), Michael and Anthony (born about 1802 Co Mayo and died 1881 Raploch, Stirling my 3x great grandfather). Anthony had four children that I know of Anthony (my 2x great grandfather), Thomas, Mary and Winifred. Anthony married Mary Grierson  and had 10 children one of which was Matthew my great grandfather who had 8 children one was my grandfather Matthew who bucked the trend and only had 2 boys Matthew and Wallace. Sadly Matthew (my uncle) didn't have any children. My father Wallace had two myself and my sister. I believe that two of my grandfather's brothers also went back to Ireland to help reclaim the family land but as you said that was unsuccessful. 

I have a family tree on ancestry.uk which you are free to use if you wish.

Any information you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Eric.