Hughes and Traynor family left Grangegeeth/Rathkenny, Parish, Meath in 1827

Matthew(1771) and wife Bridget(Traynor) (1766) emigrated to upstate New York along the St Lawrence River in 1827-29. They originally lived in Kellystown Townland, Monknewtown Pariah, County Meath, and their eight+- children were all baptised at St Mary's church,Grangegeeth/Rathkenny- Michael 1796, James 1799, Patrick 1802 Judith 1805, John 1808, Margaret 1812, Julia 1815, Thomas 1817. Several of the children did not come to New York and I assume they stayed  and had their families in Meath. They moved to one on America first frontiers away from the populated areas and continued their Celtic language and traditions. They worked to built the first canel systems, the railroads, established towns, cleared the forest for farms, built their Catholic Churches and named their roads after their homeland.

They never forgot where they came from.  St Mary's church was the name of their church in Meath, so the first Catholic church in the area was named St Mary's and built near Irish Settlement Rd. When that church burned down in the 1860's they built new Catholic churches in their newly established villages and named them St Mary's. Today there are St Mary's Catholic churches in Potsdam, Canton and Waddington, New York all within 10 to 15 miles of each other. Some Irish families still live in the area and the roads are still Ireland Rd, Hughes Rd, Irish Rd, Irish settlement Rd etc and there are a many St Mary.s Cemeteries full of the catholics from County Meath. When Matthew Hughes died in 1853, he could not read or write, but he left $600 to the poor and destitute in his hometown in Kellytown.

Today the Hughes' are now spread out all over the US and the World and many want to know about their Irish family relatives and history. Does anyone have family members from the Meath area which might have Hughes or Traynor names in their past. Please contact me with your family histories and ideas. 

Bill Hughes, hughes.w@comcast.net  ..    .