Agnes and James Flaherty

My Agnes Flaherty, widow of James, was in Louisville, KY in 1864 with her young daughter, Agnes, called Bridget, born about 1853 in Ireland.  I suspect Bridget may have been born as early as 1846 in Co. Galway.  The family did not immigrate to the US until about 1853 and cannot be found on any passenger list.  The Flahertys should be on Griffith's but there are so manyJames and Bridget Flahertys it is impossible to claim them.  One clue might be that Agnes, born 1826, ran a boarding house in Louisville. Maybe landlording or property rental was the familiy's occupation in Galway and that is why it appears that a Bridget and James Flaherty own so much property in Galway according to Griffith's..  They may have leased these properties to others. 

There was a Bridget Flaherty baptised at St. Nicholas in 1846. The religion of St Nicholas is confusing to me. In the US, the Flahertys were Catholic. Can anyone tell me the religion St Nicholas represents ?

Agnes Bridget, born abt 1846-1853, had an Auntie Margaret Crane whose maiden name was Marie Flaherty. She spoke French, Gaelic, and English. Since she spoke Gaelic, she had to have lived in Ireland for enough years to learn the language and probably learned French at a Catholic school.  According to one book I read, by 1850, the only place in Ireland that Gaelic was spoken was in the Claddagh.  And looking at the map, there was a school for girls run by French nuns not too far away.

There was a John Flaherty in Louisville who was of age to be a younger brother of Agnes, born about 1835.  He worked on the river. He as a baptismal sponser to a child of Agnes Bridget in 1874.

There were two other Flaherty families in 1850 Cincinnati. They both ran large boarding houses.

Unfortunately ,Agnes died in 1870.  Apparently she was so alone that her 17 year old widowed daughter with a four year old child had no relatives to turn to. So Agnes Bridget put her child in care and went to work as a chambermaid at a hotel.

I have no idea what Agnes' maiden name might have been but there were so many Flahertys that it would not be unusual for a Flaherty to have married a Flaherty. Agnes Bridget is the only known child of Agnes. I have found no other family ties between Agnes and any other Flaherty in Louisville which seems strange since there were so many of them.

The most important girl's names are Margaret, Agnes, Ella, and Bridget.  The most important boy's names were William,Andrew, John, Patrick.  Agnes Bridget never named a son "James" in honor of her father. So there must have been a big problem there.

Any help in identifying this family in Co.Galway would be appreciated. I think the family must have had enough money or good enough occupation to survive the famine as Agnes seems to have not imigrated until 1853.

Sue Martinson