Greencastle

Hi everyone.  My grandparents on my mother's side both came from Greencastle, County Down.  My grandfather, Hugh Quinn (1868-1937) immigrated to the USA in 1883 and his family remained in the Lawrence, Massachusetts area.  My grandmother, Ellen Clarke (1862-1949) immigrated with two of her sisters in 1889 and she made her way to San Francisco.  Hugh eventually left his family in Massachusetts and came to California circa 1890 and it was in San Francisco that they married and raised their family.

I have been able to locate my grandmother's family in Greencastle in the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census records and their surnames are Sloan, and McGivern and Clarke.  I also have a photo taken circa 1900 of Greencastle village that proudly hung in the Quinn home in San Francisco.  It's difficult to sort out who was who in Greencastle because it's a relatively small area and apparently most of the families there intermarried.  The Clarke name may not have always been "Clarke".  According to genealogist Edward MacLysaght a Catholic family in that general area might have been O'Clery or O'Cleirigh hundreds of years ago but may have adopted a more English sounding surname.   I would like to see if I have any living relatives in the area who might be able to add more to my family history and I would love to talk with anyone from the area who can tell me more about it's history.

Best Wishes,

-Phil Michelson