I am looking for information on my great-grandfather, Patrick McPhillips. Here is the information I have.
His father:
Michael McPhillips was born in 1824 in Clones Parish, County Fermanagh, the son of Patrick McPhillips. He was a farmer. He married Mary Smith or Smyth. Their children were born in Corravilla Township, Aghabog Parish County Monaghan
My ggfather and his siblings:
Three McPhillips children (names unknown) died in Ireland. Five McPhillips children immigrated with their parents to Quebec departing Liverpool in May 1868 on the “Nestorian” and from there to Wisconsin USA. The children were Patrick b. 14 Feb 1855, Susan 2 September 1857, John 14 September 1859, Mary in 1862, and Owen 12 November 1868. Perhaps the 3 children who died were born prior to 1855 or between 1862-68, given the gaps in birthyears of the siblings.
Kristine Marklein
Friday 14th Feb 2020, 12:22AMMessage Board Replies
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Corravilla is in the RC parish of Killevan. Unfortunately it’s baptism records don’t start till 1871, so it appears you won’t find baptism records for the various children. Statutory birth registration began on 1.1.1864 and I did find an extra child to Michael & Mary, that you didn’t mention - Peter born 13.9.1864 at Corravilla:
I looked for deaths for young children 1864 – 1868 and saw only 1 possible. A Mary McPhillips died in 1865 aged 8. You would need to pay to view the death certificate to see if it relates to your family. Deaths in 1865 are not on-line free yet. (However your family had a Mary born 1862 who emigrated so that suggests the one born c 1857 who died must be from a different family). Given the lack of deaths 1864 – 1868 that points to the 3 children having died before 1864. RC churches rarely keep burial records so it may prove very difficult find out out much about them.
You say that the family had Owen on 12.11.1868. I can’t find a statutory birth to match that, plus you also have him emigrating via Liverpool in May of that same year, 6 months before he was born. I assume one of those dates is wrong.
If Michael McPhillips was born in Clones, Fermanagh in 1824, then again you face a problem of lack of records. The main chapel in Clones has records from 1848 and the chapel at Roslea, in Fermanagh (in the same parish) has none before 1862.
Griffiths Valuation for Corravilla in 1858 does not list Michael McPhillips in Corravilla. However it does list Hugh McPhillips on plot 2 with a 20 acre farm and John on plot 9 with 26 acres. Presumably Michael was staying with one of them. (There were only about 10 properties in the townland so they seem likely to be related).
There were still 2 McPhillips farms there in 1901, still headed by Hugh & John
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Monaghan/Lisnaveane/Corravilla/
I notice a Smith household in Corravilla next door to one of the McPhillips farms both in Griffiths and in the 1901 census. Did Michael perhaps marry the girl next door?
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 7th Sep 2020, 07:30PM