Finneran

Diane:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

The Taughmaconnell RC records start in 1842 and are on Roots Ireland (subscription site) and I could not find any baptismal records in Roscommon for a Finneran child with father Peter and mother with the surname McDonnell. I also did not see a Bridget Finneran with father Peter.

It is likely that they were baptized in another parish in Roscommon that does not have records back to 1848-1856.

There are three Feevagh townlands over in Dysart civil parish which is just to the northwest of Taghmaconnell. The RC parish would be Ballyforan/Dysart/Tisrara which ties to the fact that the 1865 marriage was in that parish. The baptismal records for Ballyforan start in 1850 http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0544  so if Thomas was born in 1856 his record should be there. You may want to scan the parish register. Another possibility is that he was actually born before July 1850 which would mean no record is available.  As I mentioned before there were no Roots records for Finneran children with father Peter and mother with a surname of McDonnell which tells me that all the children were born before 1850.

The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Dysart civil parish shows that Peter Finneran was still leasing land in Feevagh  http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/roscommon/dysart.htm

From Google Maps, it appears that the Feevagh townlands are about five kilometers southwest of Dysart. Looks like the roads will be narrow. The location is close to the River Suck near the Co. Galway border.

Have a great trip!

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you Roger. These Townlands and Parishes can be very confusing. I seem to have a lot of very elusive ancestors. I have searched many sights but haven't found anything that totally adds up. The only branch I have been able to get a handle on are my O'Sullivan Bere relatives on the Beara peninsula.My gr grandfather Curran might be from Annascaul, Co Kerry, but who knows. Both my maternal grandparents are Finnerans from Roscommon. The other branch of Finneran's I am not even sure where in Roscommon they are from. So the mystery continues and I shall keep digging. Thank you again for you kindness and help. 

My Best, :Diane

Hello Diane,

I live in Annascaul and know three Curran brothers.,Joe and Tom. They are in Kildubh townland. The third brother  mMchael is in Blennerville outside Tralee .Their mother was named Catherine . I met her just once before she died in 2006. Don't know if this helps but perhaps you could go from here to locate your grt grandfather's relations?

Best of Luck,Pat 

Thank you Pat. My Patrick Curran seems to be quite the mystery man. The only "solid" (as nothing is written in stone) documented information I have is that he was born in Ireland in 1839. When he married my gr grandmother here in Massachusetts, it was a 2nd marriage for both. We have all the facts on her 1st marriage, but nothing on his, so a lot of it is speculation. They married in 1884, had a son, Roger Francis in 1885 and then my gr grandfather, James Henry in 1886. By the time of the 1900 census he had disappeared. We have a couple of Patricks that died in that area within that time, but can't be sure. The family story was that he just left his family and disappeared. But the census lists her as a widow. But, we did find a Patrick b. 1837 in Annascaul with a father Patrick b. 1784 in Annascaul and a mother Mary ( I have both O'Neill and Connor as last names for Mary). And a brother John b. 1825 in Annascaul. All these pieces of the puzzle seem to fit, but there is no glue that holds them together.

I have been to Dingle and Annascaul before in August 2015 and we stopped in to the South Pole Inn and we will be back there next weekend. We are ataying in Dingle at Benner's Hotel, right up the street from Jas Curran Pub, which we surely will be visiting. And I know the Greenmount House in Dingle is run by Currens. So lots of avenues to explore, I'm sure there won't be enough time, which just means I'll have to come back.

Thank you again for your input Pat.

My Best, :Diane

One more thing, I would like to post this in the Annascaul area but I don't know what parish that would be. Can you help?

Thank you.

Diane:

Just got back from a mini-vacation. As you know, civil parishes and RC parishes rarely match with their boundaries. Annascaul corresponds to four different civil parishes in the area of Kerry leading out to the Dingle Peninsula: Kilgobban, Ballynacourty, Kilgobban and Killiney. So without knowing the townland, it could beany one of the four mentioned.

Roger

Hi Diane,

I would think Ballynacourty would be the civil parish. Hope your trip brings results. You must be in Dingle for the May Fest.(Feile na Bealtaine) enjoy.

Best,Pat

Hi Pat!

Any interest in being an IRO volunteer for that area of Kerry? We also need parish liaisons.

Roger

Hi all, I'm back with more info and lots more ancestors. My husand and I will be back in Ireland in March and we will be going to the Taughmaconnell/Ballinasloe area and hope to spend a few days there.  I still have my gr grandfather Thomas with his parents Peter and Catherine (nee McDonnell). I now have an inscription on a stone in the Old Church and Graveyard for them along with a brother Patrick. I will attach a picture. I have now discovered that Peter's parents were Patrick Finneran amd Mary Kilmartin (I believe) and Catherine's parents Michaelis McDonnell and Bridget Hargaden. Catherine being from Drum. Peter may have been from there also. That is my grandmothers side. My grandfather, also a Finneran has ancestors from Moore Parish. Now this is where it gets confusing My grandfather's grandfather (My 2x gr gr) was born in Ireland and I think it was that area, because he married Mary Saul (but believe it to be Salts in Ireland) A baptism record was found for Mary Salts with parents Thomas Salts and Margaret Lucas and a sister Bridget with same parents. That matches my info except Saul/Salts.  Now, this is so confuing, but Mary sister Bridget married Thomas Grinham and her sister Margaret married Patrick Grinham who are my gr uncles on my gr grandmother's side. My gr grandmother Alice O'Brien's mother was Bridget Grinham, Patrick and Thomas' sister. Bridget's parents were Daniel Grinham ahd Honora (Hannah) Donlan and Honora was from Cloonbeggane, Moore Parish. Now all these families lived in the same apartment building in Roxbury (which is part of Boston), so I believe they all are from that area even though I don't have an exact location. Does anyone know of any of these families? Or suggest places, areas we can explore while we are there? Any information would be a help. It won't upload the copy of the gravestone. I'll see if I can copy & paste.

Thank you,

Diane Curran Richard

Hi Diane (Curran Richard).   Can you let me know your Ancestry Details, membership name etc so I can see re DNA matches.   Thank You.  MARY

Hi Mary, I have a tree on Ancestry Curran Family tree and my user name is dineray999. Gedmatch # A629706

Let me know if you need anything else.

:Diane

I have uploaded the inscription on the headstone in the Old Church & Graveyard in Taughmaconnell. Does anyone know how far this might be from Ballinasloe?

Thank you everyone.

Also, I now think even though they were buried in Taughmaconnell, I think that they may have been from Feevagh, Dysart. I have been studing my Ordnance Survey maps to try to get a feel for where areas are located and approximately how far away they are from each other.

Hi

I have been trying to find the parents of my GGGrandmother Bridget Finneran. According to my late Mother, her family were from Killeglan.

She married Patrick Galvin (b approx 1813) and they lived in Cloonkeen, Taughmaconnell.

Bridget was born approx 1815 and died in 1895. She had a brother Patrick but I'm not sure where he lived. There may be more siblings but it's difficult to pinpoint who they are. There are Finnerans in Rockland and Coolfree which are closely located to Killeglan and Cloonkeen but Feevagh is also nearby. There are rumours that she was related to the Finnerans that owned Patsy Jacks pub and adjoining mill which is now sadly shut down and currently for sale.

Her eldest son was my GGrandfather John Galvin who married Annie Murry from Drum. I am also interested in finding out about his siblings. He definitely had a sister, Bridget who died aged one year. He may also have had a brother, Martin.

Unfortunately the records for Taughmaconnell are based at St Ronans. They are sparse to say the least as there are 20 years worth of pages missing from the middle of the register. Clonfert diocese are unable to say why. This could be due to poor photocopying or possibly damage to the records from 1843 to 1862. Cannot contact the Parish priest, Fr Sean Neylon as recommended by the Bishop and I live in London so am stuck at the moment with the mystery as to whether they exist.

If there is anyone that lives locally that could pop in and take a look that would be wonderful. Not knowing is tampering with my blood pressure!

Thank you, 

Trish

Trish Cole, thank goodness you have said the same as me. This page for years has been telling everyone that there are records available from 1842 in Taughmaconnell. That is simply not true and it led me on a wild goose chase for my ancestor who was born in 1844. There arent any records available for the years 1843-1862ish and i too am wondering where they are 

Have you had any luck yet?

Best wishes 

Sam

Hi Sam

Sorry, I've only just noticed your message.

My cousin has been trying to look at the original record books but hasn't been successful due to the pandemic/St Ronans being closed.

All approaches to the Parish Priest, Fr Sean Neylon have gone unanswered which seems strange as he's also on the Taughmaconnell Board delaing with issues of ancestry, heritage and records. I've actually been trying for a few years to get this issue resolved. It needs someone to physically go to St Ronans to check.

Perhaps there's someone out there willing to do so?

Are you also looking for Finneran or Galvin records?

All the best and let me know how you get on.

Trish Galvin Marks 

Hi Trish, 

no worries, there's a lot going on. Yes I am looking for Finnerans and Galvins too. I have done the DNA test and have 17 matches descended from the same finneran man in the late 1700s. I'm also closely aligned with the Galvins somehow. I am of the cravens in Taughmaconnell. My x2 great grandfather Matthew craven moved to England in the 1860s. He was born in 1845, his father was Martin craven of Taughmaconnell. No 100% on his mum but I suspect with the amount of DNA matches I have that she may have been a finneran. If I could find the missing baptism records then I will be able to find out more about Matthew as it's his year that is missing. I know the priest during the time of the missing records was Patrick galvin. Have you done the DNA test? If so, do you have any Craven matches? 
 

might be easier to contact via email. I do intend to check st ronans out, so we can keep in touch. 
 

My email sam1craven@googlemail.com

best wishes 

sam

Sorry meant to say he was born in 1844