Planning a trip to the Woodford/Loughrea area

Dear Jane,

Hello, my name is Clare Horgan and I am a volunteer for Claregalway Co. Galway. I have some contacts in Abbey Co. Galway, which is not to far from Woodford. She will look into you request and see if can get anyone to help you.

My family is from Woodford too but none of the surnames ring a bell.

Hope to be in touch as soon as I hear something.

Regards,

Clare

Thank you, Clare. Yes, Abbey is where many members of my family are buried. Some lived outside of Woodford some were at Drumminamuckla. It will be great when I am over, to meet up with a volunteer in the Abbey area for sure. I will give a shout a couple of weeks before I arrive. :)    Jane

Hello Jane,

After reading your post I am very interested in your family, because several of the surnames and locations you mentioned appear to be connected to my family, and I would be interested in comparing our DNA tests. 

My 3rd great-grandfather, Patrick Robbins, was born in Ballynakill Parish, just north of Woodford, in about 1820, and his mother was Anne Moran. From my research in Ballynakill Parish I believe that I have found three siblings of my ancestor who married and had families. Among the Parish records for these individuals and their families I have found individuals with the surnames of Lyons and Egan as sponsors or witnesses.

I have also completed DNA testing at Ancestry, and my kits are on Gedmatch. I have had several close family members as well as a few distant relatives tested, and several other cousins have tested on their own accord, with the total number of descendants of Patrick Robbins who have taken DNA tests hovering around 40. From the shared matches between these tests I have been able to find several genetic relatives who have ancestors from the Woodford area, and the surnames of Lyons and Fahy appear in those matches. The locations associated with these DNA matches stretch from Tynagh and Ballynakill on the north to Clonrush and Inishcaltra on the south, with matches in Looscaun being in the center.

It is my current hypothesis that the Lyons, Egan, and Fahy connections are likely associated with the Moran side of the family, because I know from a Y-DNA test that my Robbins side were fairly recent arrivals to County Galway and likely migrated from County Offaly or Westmeath a few decades before Patrick Robbins was born. 

You can contact me by email at blur127@gmail.com, and I look forward to seeing if we can find any connection.

Brady Robbins

@Brady 

​Hi Brady! We do have a Moran connection in the US, through marriage, and a great Wild West love story to go with it! 
​My great aunt, Kathryn Egan  (1904-1988 US), daughter of Daniel Thomas Egan (1859-1926 - B. Drumminamuckla, d. US)  and Elizabeth Agnes Fahy (1879-1950, b. Coolfin Abbey, Loughrea d. US) fell in love with George W. Bunner (1899-1955 b.WV d. NE). George was the son of Miranda Jane Moran (1856-1930 WV US). George got in a youthful spot of trouble, so his mother, Miranda shipped him off to the Wild West in Nebraska to her brother, his Uncle Sherrif Robert Milton "Bud" Moran. (1860-1929 b. WV d. NE US). She figured living with a Sherrif would straighten him out. Well, he and my great aunt Kathryn met and fell madly in love. My gr-grandparents Dan and Lizzie did not approve of this upstart n'eredowell from West Virgina, so they shipped aunt Kathryn off to Denver to the convent at Loretto Heights. They figured out of sight, out of mind. 

​The young 24 year old scamp, George Bunner, swiped a horse from his Uncle Sherrif Bud Moran's stable and rode it hard and fast all the way from Hyannis, NE to Denver where he scooped up the beautiful 19 year old Kathryn Egan from the convent and away they went via horseback, making their way up to Hot Springs, South Dakota, where they were married. As is the case with all great love stories, they lived happily ever after. 

​I have the information on Miranda Jane's parents and siblings and would be happy to share with you. One of Bud Moran's g-gr-newphews wound up marrying my best friend in Wyoming, and his mother gave me the information. He has their information back to Ireland and I would be happy to put you in touch with him also
. 
My gedmatch kit number is A849123 so feel free to run a match for fun and see if any DNA shakes out since we both have families from the same parish. I am going to be staying at Ballynakill at the old White mansion and will be spending lots of time in Woodford, Drumminamuckla, Loughrea, and the surrounding areas and would be happy to keep my eyes and ears open for you. 

​My email is mizrock at aol dot com. 

​Cheers, 
​Jane

​PS: have attached a photo of Mirand Jane Moran's son, George Bunner (the scamp) and Kathryn Egan for you.