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My GGGrandmother, Jane DONOVAN born ~1819, married Thomas BORTHISTLE ~ 1839. On her death certificate of 1876 in NSW Australia, her parents were recorded as Jeremiah Donovan and Mary SLY, birthplace Wexford. The Borthistle family were protestant, so I am assuming that Jane and her parents were also protestant.

I have found Burial Jeremiah Donovan1831 Ferns Old Graveyard, Co. Wexford.

(http://www.from-ireland.net/ferns-old-graveyard-records-wexford/) and it seems possible that he was Jane's father.

It has been intriguing to find reference to the murders of some Sly family members in the massacre at Vinegar Hill in 1798.

John, William a stroekeeper , William a farmer and Edward Sly. They may have been related to my Sly ancestors.

I would really appreciate any local insight into the Sly family of that period.

 

With thanks

Margaret

 

 

Margvk

Friday 5th Jun 2020, 02:17AM

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  • Did Jane and Thomas marry in Ireland, or possibly have any children that might have been baptised here ?

    The surname Borthistle (Borthisell) shows up in the area in the 1820s, e.g. in Kilpipie civil parish  which is split between counties Wicklow and Wexford.

    If so a search for details of these might be a good place to start to narrow down which part of County Wexford these events took place in - i.e. which town or parish.Currently there is only very patchy coverage of Church of Ireland and other ‘Protestant’ registers for County Wexford on websites so online research is very limited - combined with that is the issue of lost records, so knowing the parish or at least a narrow area where 'your' Donovan, Sly or Borthistle families lived is important.

    Pay-website RootsIreland has some partial transcripts for two parishes in the county and there are no major collections of Church of Ireland or other ‘Protestant’ vital records on FindMyPast or Ancestry. FindMyPast does have some secondary record collections - e.g. Marriage License Bond Indexes, extracts from old registers etc.

    The Representative Church Body Library (South County Dublin) hold most of the historic Church of Ireland records and they are currently running The Anglican Record Project - this is a major project to digitize the old registers so will take some time, but already includes two parishes covering parts of county Wexford… worth keeping an eye on progress of this to see if Sly records show up…

    Edit - previous related topic for reference : Borthistle family from Ferns,townland of Effernogue
      note the Borthistle / Donovan marriage mentioned in this topic was in the Diocese of Ossory, which covers parishes in Counties Kilkenny and Laois (formerly Queen's county) , so to the west of county Wexford. Marriages generally took place in the bride's parish, so might suggest that this Donovan family originated, or at least lived, in Kilkenny or Laois..

    Shane Wilson, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Friday 5th Jun 2020, 10:00AM

  • Hello, and thank you so much for your prompt reply. The Borthistle post which you mentioned was one of mine but I have not made much progress with searching that line. I have not found any reference to the marriage of Thomas Borthistle and Jane Donovan nor the baptism/birth records of their 8 chidlren in Wexford. However, Thomas' parents, George Borthistle and Esther Chapman were married in 1801 as follows: " marriage licence bond Thomas Borthistle and Jane Donovan 1839 diocese of Ossory" on FindMyPast.

    Your tip that marriages generally took place in the bride's parish, gives me more clues to follow.

    Regards

    Margaret

    Margvk

    Saturday 6th Jun 2020, 05:21AM

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