Flynn family KIltullagh

Hi Paul,

Re Flynn family of Roscommon.

I'm trying to find the birthplace of my great-grandmother, Bridget Kelly, who was born in 1841 somewhere in Roscommon with parents Thomas Kelly and Ann(e) Flynn.

Bridget married Jeremiah Sheehy in 1862 in Melbourne, Australia and died in 1916 in Melbourne.

There are about 33 Catholic parishes in Roscommon and I'm gradually searching through the parish records for her baptism on the National Library of Ireland website but not all parish records go back to 1841 and others are indistinct.

Does anyone know this family or can tell me how I might find Bridget?

Thanks,
    Clynt Sheehy

Paul:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I could not find any marriage record for a Michael Flynn married to a Gormley and I looked for all of Ireland in case they were married across the border in Galway. The Kiltullagh records start in 1839 so likely they were married in an adjoining parish which does not have reocrds back to the 1840 era. Finding Michael and Mary's births would also be problematic because you don't know the parents names and if you possibly find a record, you would not know if it was the correct record.

I will e-mail a colleague in Ireland who is very familiar with Kiltullagh parish in case he can add any additional information.

Roger McDonnell

Clynt:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I did a search on Roots Ireland from 1836-1846 for a Bridget Kelly with a father Thomas and mother with surname Flynn and got no record. In fact, I could not find any children to those parents in that time period. Unfortunately, it appears your Bridget was baptized in a parish that does not have reocrds back to the 1841 period.

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger,

Thank you very much for taking the time to search for information about Michael Flynn and Mary Gormley, I appreciate your help. It sounds like it will be difficult for me to get any further with this but if your colleague in Ireland comes up with any ideas, I'd be grateful if you could pass them on to me.

Paul Flynn

Hi Clynt,

If I stumble across anything regarding Ann(e) Flynn, Thomas Kelly or your great grandmother Brigit Kelly while I'm serching for information about the Flynns in my family, I will post it on here.

Good luck!

Paul Flynn

As the church records start in 1840 there is no wat of finding out earlier information except for those who were owners of land. Their records are held in the registry of Deeds which go back to 1708. There are records for the main branch of the O'Flynn/Flynn branch in Kiltullagh. There were direct descendants of:-

Fiaghra O'Flynn of Ballinlough Castle. His line went down through

Columbus(1640-1770),

Edmond (1670-1747),

Collumb (1700-1780),

Edmond (1740-1820) m Helena Kelly,

Kelloch (1770-1850) m Anne Bligh,

Edward (1803- c.1850) m. Marcella Dowling,

Edward (1833-1903) m Catherine Raftery,

Edward ->USA (1875-      ), Edward USA & Frank -> Irl., 

There is still some final squeaking to be done to tighten up on some of the earlier dates.

Re the query raised on the Flynn family of Deryvung, The following record may be connected:

18/07/1846 Townland Cloonfineen, Bridget baptised top Bernard Flynn & Edward Jordan, Note a Margaret Jordan was a sponsor to the baptism of Michael in 1846. This is speculation from only looking at the records. A field trip to the locality of Derryvung may reveal more but it would be pure speculation to expect further information from the records. I have also checked the Records of inscriptions from the local graveyards.

If any Flyn/O'Flynn from Kiltullagh parish has tested with Family Tree DNA I would be interested to know. At the time of Composition of Connaught there were various members of the O'Flynn sept with holdings of land throughout the parish. As the Flynn name is still quiet common in the parish it is highly possible they were connected.

Thanks Roger and Paul.

Clynt

Hi Martin,

Thank you for checking and posting the information about Flynns from Deryvung.

Paul Flynn

Hello Paul

Just found you on Roots Ireland (postings from October 2015) and thought I might be able to help with your search, although you might  by now have found the information that you are seeking.  My name is Ann and I am a great granddaughter of Bernard Flynn, son of Michael Flynn and Mary Gormley (my grandmother was Margaret Jane Flynn).  This means that you and I are cousins of some sort Paul - I am never good at working out different generations of cousins!

For the past six years I have been visiting Roscommon with my husband (we are off again this coming Thursday for 2 weeks) and have been fortunate to find the exact spot where gg grandfather Michael Flynn's cottage was and to meet a third cousin whose grandfather (Michael) was my grandmother's first cousin - she now owns the land together with her grandfather's cottage just down the lane. 

On our first visit we called in to the genealogy centre in Strokestown and commissioned some research which resulted in the baptism and marriage details for Michael and Mary's children (6 sons, 2 daughters) their marriages  and their children.  Unfortunately no record of their own marriage exists and my letter to the parish priest at Ballinlough asking about the possibility of looking at the Church records on our next visit went unanswered.  I also searched for a marriage in Galway or Mayo, both borders being very close to Derryvung, but without success.  It is highly unlikely that they would have travelled any distance from Derryvung and they were most probably married at Granlahan Church where all the baptisms of their children took place. Although we are sure that most, if not all of the family members must be buried in the churchyard at Granlahan, there are no headstones other than the rough uninscribed pieces of rock that poorer families used to mark graves back then.

Efforts to trace Mary Gormley's birth have so far not been very successful, but we think we have narrowed it down to the most likely possibility - the only problem is lack of evidence to confirm that we have the right person, which of course might have been found in a marriage record.  Very frustrating!

I also have some information about Bernard's wife, Margaret Byron, not Byrne, and her family if that would be of interest.  Her father came from Prescot, which is not far from where I live, and her mother from County Kilkenny.

I hope this information is of interest/help - it is good to know that there are more of the Ballinlough Flynns out there!   If you have not yet found more information I would be happy to pass on what I have.

Regards,

Ann

Hello Ann,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my post with all that information, much of which I did not know. You seem to have had a great deal more success than me in tracking down information about our ancestors in Derryvung and it's great that you've actually been able to visit the place yourself and to meet a relative who currently lives there. I've only managed to find information online about Bernard (born 1853) and Michael (born 1846) and I have copies of the church registers showing their baptisms. I would love to know more about their 4 brothers and two sisters.

It would be lovely if we could share some information, though I suspect that you will already have much of the information I have as most of it relates to the Flynn family after Bernard had moved to Widnes and started a family.

As far as I can tell from the information I have, your grandmother, Margaret Jane Flynn, was my great grandfather's sister. His name was Michael Henry Flynn and he was born in 1878, a year before your grandmother. That means that my grandfather (also called Bernard) and your mother or father must have been cousins, doesn't it?   Incidentally, do you have a copy of the 1875 marriage certificate for Bernard Flynn and Margaret Byron? If not, I could send you a copy. I would be interested to know any more information you have about Margaret's family.

I have gleaned most of the information I have from census records and from information I found in Widnes library. I've been living in Spain for many years, but I visit Widnes a few times a year and try to do a bit more research every time I visit. I'm keen to visit the Derryvung area at some point, so any relevant information you could offer would be much appreciated.

Would it be helpful if I gave you my email address so that we could get in contact and email /compare information? If so, let me know on here and I'll add it to me next post.

Have fun and fruitful trip to the Derryvung area from Thursday.

Thanks again

Paul

Hello Paul,

It is so good to find another member of the family who is actually interested in our past (and present!), hopefully we will be able to help each other quite a bit as it looks as though we each have different information.  You are right about your grandfather and my mother (Miriam Yarwood) being cousins.  I expect you have found MIchael Henry's grave in Widnes cemetery - I have often thought of leaving a note there asking any relatives to get in touch, but thought better of it, it seemed intrusive somehow.  I was sure there must be FLynns or other relatives still living in the area and now you pop up in Spain! 

 I think it would be really good if we communicate by personal e-mail as I could then attach files and scan copies of certificates for you.  Thank you, I do have a copy of Bernard and Margaret's marriage certificate.  Do you use Ancestry?  If so I would be more than happy for you to have access to my tree, which is sadly in need of updating.  I have files full of information about all four branches of my family tree, all a real mess, waiting to be sorted and added to the tree.

I am sorry that I must keep this brief Paul, as you can imagine I am up to my ears in packing etc but I wanted you to know that I had received your message before leaving:  I will be in touch when we return. 

Regards,

Ann

Hello again Ann,

I hope you arrived safely in Roscommon and are enjoying your stay there.

I have quite a lot of information about the Flynn family in Widnes, but I had no idea that there was still a grave for Michael Henry in Widnes cemetery!  My father will be really pleased to hear this as he often talks about visiting his grandfather (MH) and grandmother when he was a child. He would love to be able to visit their grave.  

Are you in touch with any other members of the Flynn family? There must be a lot of us given that Bernard (Michael Henry's father) had 12 children. I have visited one of the houses where Bernard, Margaret & their children lived in Widnes, according to the census records. I expect you have too, but if not, then I have a picture I could send to you.

I normally use Findmypast rather than Ancestry. However, if I'm not mistaken, I think I have an old account on Ancestry which is currently inactive. Obviously, you would also be welcome to share my tree on Findmypast. We can look into all of this once we've established email contact. Meanwhile, have fun in Ireland.

Regards

Paul

Hi,  I am new to this website, finding it by accident, by getting frustrated with a search of Marie Flynn my gg grandmother married in Cloonfineen, Ballinlough! The first google search that came up after exhausting myheritage, cenus, myancestry, national archives etc. There you guys were at the top of the search, talking about Cloonfineen! such a small world. Im new to search this side of my family and any help would be great! I cant seem to find anything on Maria. If we are talking about the same Family of Flynns i would be delighted to chat with you all. 

KIndest Regards, 

Michelle

Hello,

I appear to be six years late with this one - Martin’s reply above gives a marriage between Edmond (1740-1820) and Helena Kelly.

Would anyone know of Redmond, Helena’s father; his parentage or where he came from.  John O’Donovan wrote that the family were ‘reputed to be of old standing’.

Have been seeking him for a long time.

Pete