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I am trying to determine if a Bridget Comfet Neville who died in 1884 in Ottawa, Canada is my great-great-grandmother.

Family lore says Bridget Conroy married Thomas Neville somewhere in County Limerick. At least 2 of their children were born there (Andrew about 1841 and Bridget about 1842). We believe they emigrated to Ottawa and know their children lived there.

I located a photo of the attached headstone from a Catholic cemetery in Ottawa, very near where Andrew and Bridget were known to have married. I am trying to determine if this is the gravesite of Bridget Conroy.

Over the years, I have uncovered several spellings of Bridget's last name - however, Comfet was totally new. It appears that Parish Recail was a variation of Rathkeale. Since the Limerick location matches family lore, I am exploring this woman and her previously deceased husband, Thomas Neville.  (Note: I was unable to locate any information about Thomas in Ottawa; this may indicate Bridget emigrated with her children after her husband died in Ireland or he may have died outside the Ottawa area.)

I will be in Ireland in June, traveling from Doolin to Dingle and thus near Rathkeale. Any suggestions as to a Catholic church/cemetery in the area that I should explore prior to and during my visit? 

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide.

Kathleen Foley

kathleen foley

Tuesday 29th Apr 2014, 07:11PM

Message Board Replies

  • Dear Kathleen

    Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out! Records for the RC Parish of Rathkeale begin in 1811. However there are some missing records in the series of baptisms between July 1823 and September 1831.

    I had a quick look and there are only 4 records listed on www.rootsireland.ie for a marriage between a Thomas Neville and a wife, first name Bridget in Limerick. The only pre-1860s one is to a wife named Bridget Cahill. Witnesses were Michael Nevill and John Meehan. Going on the Conroy/Comfey info you have, this is not the correct record. Does the name Meehan fit in any of your family history I wonder? 

    On that same site, there are 3 baptisms listed for children born to a father Thomas Neville and mother first name Bridget in 1834, 1842 and 1843. This is a subscription site, but as there are only 3 records to view it might be no harm to have a look. If they are not relevant at least you can disregard that avenue of investigation.

    There is a headstone in St. Mary's graveyard that lists a Thomas Neville and his parents. Unfortunately there are no dates so we cannot say if this is your Thomas. Below is a google map with a link and a photo of the headstone at the historic graves website. The graveyard is nearer to Croom than Rathkeale:

    http://historicgraves.com/saint-mary-s/li-mssm-094/grave

    Will you get back to me if you manage to find anything further and we will try to take it from there.

    Best wishes

    Clare Doyle

    Genealogy Support

    Wednesday 30th Apr 2014, 11:45AM

  • Clare,

    Thank you so much! I will check out the rootsweb.ie items although they could be things I posted myself 100 years ago (not quite, but it's been a while since I've been on that site).  I have no Meehan in my tree. I do, however, have at least 4 spellings for Thomas Neville's wife Bridget's last name. At least they all start with a "C". The marriage records of their 2 children from Ottawa records list Conroy but then I found the pictured headstone so that led me to the newest spelling.

    The headstone lead sounds interesting. I definitely will let you know if these tips lead to anything.

    Again, thank you for your quick and thorough response.

    Kathleen Foley

    kathleen foley

    Wednesday 30th Apr 2014, 05:55PM

  • Best of luck Kathleen

    Clare

    Genealogy Support

    Thursday 1st May 2014, 08:09AM

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