Hello all!
I am currently helping my Father in Law research his Irish lineage. He has a Family Bible that has a few generations in it. We have hit a major roadblock, but I admit we are amateurs at best. We have been able to research his family as far as where they settled, but can not find any good sources for their lives before the US. The farthest back we go is a Thomas Lally (b. ~1822) married to Mary E. Hannaher (approx. spelling; b. ~1827). A biography states they were both born in Belfast, County Mayo. As far as we can tell Belfast is not in County Mayo. We wondered if maybe it meant Belsfarsad? We have no record of when or where they were married. This is where the Family Bible picks up. Their first son, Francis Michael Lally, is born in Westpark? Westport?, Ireland in 1848. (First birth listed in the Bible). The bible goes on list Frank’s descendants. I’ve attached a gallery of the bible below if anyone would like to see if they can make out the writing.
We found three US censuses, 1860, ‘70, and ‘80, Thomas Lally’s Last Will & Testament, and a biography on Thomas Lally that sources the following information.
Thomas and Mary E. have their second son Thomas (going to denote him from now on as Tom2) in Illinois, US in approx 1852. It would seem that some time between the births of Francis and Tom2 the family settled in Illinois, US. They go on to have 4 more children all in Illinois. Edward W., Mary Ann, John W., and Katie E.
A few trees on Ancestry.com line up our Thomas Lally with theirs, but also not listing any parents. They do all list the same siblings. I can’t not find sources citing them as siblings. It’s hard to verify siblings without knowing the parents. So take these with a grain of salt as they may not be related at all: Peter Lally (b. ~1809 maybe Westport, IE. d. ~1983 in Illinois, US), Catherine Lally (b. ~1817 Newport, IE. d. ~1904 Illinois, US), Ann Lally (b. ~1818 IE. d. ~1884 Illinois, US), Owen Lally (b. ~1819 IE. d. ~1884 Illinois, US), and lastly a Bridget Lally with no known birth year, but listed as born in Westport, IE. Died in 1886 Illinois, US.
Anyways, I am looking for any information on Thomas Lally, and Mary E. Hannaher’s families and lives before they came to America. Thanks for your time!
Kara Mundy
Wednesday 11th Sep 2019, 06:15AMMessage Board Replies
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Thank you, Miriam! Forgive me and my ignorance, but how did you find out that Francis Lally is definitely from Westport? And what is a placename? I know this is probably basic knowledge. I am sorry. I have started to comb through the microfilms! This is a very tediuous task. Thank you for the link!
We only considered Belfarsad because when we searched for Belfast, County Mayo this excerpt from Wikipedia popped up "The name Belfast is derived from the Irish Béal Feirsde, which was later spelt Béal Feirste...The Irish name Béal Feirste is shared by a townland in County Mayo, whose name has been anglicised as Belfarsad." Which can be found here. We wondered if maybe that is what the biographer meant when they wrote Belfast, County Mayo. It seems pretty close to Westport.
Thanks again!
Kara Mundy
Wednesday 11th Sep 2019, 09:26PM -
Kara, the place of birth written in the bible looks like Westport to me as well. The last letter is identical to "t" in "August" which was written below. The letter "o" resembles an "a".
Belfarsad is a townland in Achill civil parish. There were very few landholders there at the time of Griffiths' Valuation, compiled a few years after your ancestors emigrated. If Thomas and Mary were from Belfarsad, it's possible that they went to Westport during the Great Famine. On the other hand, they may have moved there for work.
There is also a townland called Beltra in Islandeady civil parish which is a few miles east of Westport. (There are 2 other townlands in Mayo called Beltra.)
A townland is the smallest division of land in Ireland. They vary in size. Each civil parish is made up of several, perhaps many, townlands.
Maggie May
Wednesday 11th Sep 2019, 11:35PM -
Thank you Maggie and Miriam! I greatly appreciate y’alls time and response. I’ve been looking at microfilm for what seems like an eternity. No luck yet! I’ll post back here if I find anything.
Kara Mundy
Thursday 12th Sep 2019, 04:32PM