Hello from Australia,My family name is Downes. My 2nd great grandfather was Myles Downes baptised 25 Feb 1805 in Coole ( son of Patrick Downes & Catherine Winton).His wife was Bridget Martin -baptised 18 Oct 1812 in Taghmon ( daughter of James Martin & Ellen Boyhan -married 11 Dec 1811).Myles Downes & Bridget Martin were married 12 Sept 1829 Multyfarnham.
All their children were born in the Multyfarnham area as they were all baptised on the following dates. These are the ones that I have baptism records for so there may be more children than what I have listed
Myles Downes-( Miles) 25 Jan1830 – 1909 died in Australia
Anne Downes -9 March1832 – ?
John Downes -16 May 1834 – 1913- died Australia
Bridget Downes -20 June 1836 – ?
Michael Downes-4 Sept 1838 – before 1849 (as a 2nd Michael was baptised 1849)
James Downes -4 Feb 1841 – 1898- died in Australia
Patrick Downes -2 May 1843 – died after 1930 in America
Michael Downes - 10 June 1849 – America unknown details
The story goes that 3 brothers came to Australia & 2 brothers went to America , Massachussetts.
The 3 brothers came out to Australia together on the Ocean Empress in 1863 were Myles, John & James . Leaving Skariff, Co Clare( or Templecaren, Donegal) and finally departing Liverpool on the 16th Oct 1863.
They were sponsored by Francis Marlborough on the 20th May 1863. They were supposedly living in Tullamore, Co Queens at the time of the sponsorship and the person of reference is J P Byrne Esq, Tullamore, Queens.
Ship records have
-Myles Downes( son of Myles & Bridget Downes,living Ballinagall, Westmeath) & his wife Elizabeth (daughter of John & Mary Cavendish,Dublin-both deceased).
-John & James Downes ( sons of Myles & Bridget Downes, Mullingar, Westmeath)
They were Roman Catholics who could read & write.
* just a note.....the original sponsorship also had a Kate R Downes on the sponsorship list but she did not depart on this ship and I can't find any records for her arriving around that time. Possibly another relative/sister ? Her birth year was c.1836.
John Downes ( b.1834)who came to Australia is my great grandfather.
He had previously worked on the farm of Captain Joseph Ferguson of Mullingar as he had a reference from him.
Myles Downes( b1830) enlisted in the Irish Constabulary in 1853. He married in Dublin on 28 Nov 1861, St Michan, RC Church Dublin. He was living at Glan Cullen , parents Milesii Downes & Brigittae.
I don't know a lot about the 2 brothers who went to the USA but I'm assuming they went together sometime between 1857 and 1867. Perhaps all the boys left Ireland around the same time. I have only found records for Patrick & his family in the USA.
We will be visiting Westmeath towards the end of August this year and we are hoping to be able to find out where our ancestors lived.
cheers,
Kate
Sunday 31st Mar 2013, 05:57AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Kate,
Thank you for your message and for sharing this information on the Ireland Reaching Out message board. You have obviously done a lot of work on your family history!
Have you looked for Downes in the Tithe Applotment Books? These are land records compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland (the main Protestant church, and the church established by the state until its disestablishment in 1871). There is a manuscript book for almost every parish, giving the names of occupiers, the amount of land held, and the sums to be paid in tithes. I did a quick search and found one record for Downes in Multyfarnham in 1826. The townland is Lismalady:
I wonder if this could be someone in the same family? Here is a link to Google Maps showing where Lismalady is:
https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=lismalady&hl=en&hnear=Lismalady,+County+Westmeath&t=h&z=15
This may be a possible lead for when you visit in August.
I am delighted to hear that you are planning on visiting. Unfortunately we do not have a volunteer in the area at this time but we are getting new volunteers every week so perhaps if you contact us closer to the time of your visit we may have someone in place who might be able to advise or assist you during your stay.
In the meantime, we have recently added a new link to the top of our page for people who are visiting in 2013. It takes you to a short web form. We would really appreciate it if you could take a moment to complete it. Thank you!
I hope you have a lovely visit in August!
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Thursday 16th May 2013, 03:36PM