Barry Family

Hello Lisa,

You didn’t mention the first name of your ggg Barry grandfather, son of Edward Barry and Catherine Culhane.

But you did say that his wife was Margaret Burns. Using the information that his wife was Margaret Burns, I believe I found the Shanagolden, Limerick Parish church marriage transcription and copy of the original marriage record for her, showing that her husband was John Barry. Is John Barry your ggg grandfather? I don’t know if you have their marriage record, but I’m going to proceed as if you do not have it.

In addition, I also uncovered the Shanagolden Catholic Parish Church baptism transcriptions, and copies the original baptism records for 5 of their children.

The marriage and baptism transcriptions were all found at the Find My Past (FMP) website, which is a subscription or pay-as-you-go website, but does not charge to look for Irish Catholic Church baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials in all 32 counties of Ireland. Most of the church records are for the 19th century, but in some counties go back to the 18th and even 17th centuries.

To view or search for transcriptions you first have to establish a free account with FMP.

JOHN BARRY AND MARGARET BURNS MARRIAGE

John Barry and Margaret Burns were married on 4 March 1832. In the transcription their first names are in Latin, Joannem for John and Margaritam for Margaret. To view the FMP marriage transcription go to: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FMAR%2F1125803%2F1

Attached to the marriage transcription is a link that will take you to the Shangolden marriage register, where the marriage can be found. You can access the register at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634930#page/28/mode/1up

Once the page downloads you’ll see two facing pages of the marriage register. You can enlarge the register by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

The marriage for John Barry and Maragret Burns is on the right-hand page, 5th entry down from the top. The marriage entry is in Latin, and shows that the witnesses to the marriage were Joanne (John) Burns and Joanne (John) Burke. The priest who married John and Margaret was M. Collins.

I’ll get to the baptisms for the five children of John Barry and Margaret Burns in just a minute, but I’d first like to mention that there will not be Shanagolden Catholic Parish baptisms for John Barry or Margaret Burns. According to the National Library of Ireland, baptisms for the Shanagolden Catholic Parish do not begin until the year 1824, just 8 years before John and Margaret were married. Shanagolden parish marriages also begin in 1824, which means there will not be a marriage record for John’s parents, Edward Barry and Catherine Culhane, or for Margaret’s parents.

To see the availability of the Shanagolden baptism and marriage records at the National Library of Ireland, and to also view a Catholic Parish map of the location of the Shanagolden Parish, go to: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0866

THE BARRY BAPTISM RECORDS

The first names and years of the Shanagolden baptisms for the Barry children are:

Mariam (Mary), 1833
Edvardum (Edward), 1835
Catherinam (Catherine), 1840
Johannam (John), 1842
Margarita (Margaret), 1846
____

You can view the FMP indexes of the 5 baptisms at: https://is.gd/fvYBan

MARY BARRY BAPTISM

To access the FMP baptism transcription for Mary Barry go to: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6107145

Mary was baptized on 14 February 1833. You’ll see her mother’s maiden name is spelled, “Byrne.”

Mary’s baptism record is on the right-hand page of the register at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634931#page/106/mode/1up

Her baptism entry and several other baptism entries are partially obscured by a notation going vertically up the page that reads, “These six baptisms should be registered.”

As far as I can determine, Mary’s baptism is the 7th entry up from the bottom of the page. The baptism is a challenge to read not only because of the notation going up the page, but also because the handwriting is faded. Mary’s godparents appear to be Michael and Catherina Farrell, but I could be wrong about that.

EDWARD BARRY BAPTISM

The FMP transcription for Edward Barry shows he was baptized on 10 March 1835. See:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4410593

His mother’s maiden name is recorded as, “Byrns.”

A copy of Edward’s original baptism record is the 4th entry down from the right-hand register page at:
https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634931#page/129/mode/1up

His baptism is recorded in very neat, dark, copperplate script, and shows that his godparents were Joanne (John) Frawly and Margarita Fitzgerald.

CATHERINE BARRY BAPTISM

Catherine was baptized on 19 June 1840 according to the FMP transcription at the following link:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4773538

Her baptism record is the second entry down from the top of the left-hand register page at the following: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634932#page/58/mode/1up

No godfather is recorded in Catherine’s baptism record. Her godmother is Maria Farrell.

JOHN BARRY BAPTISM

The FMP transcription shows that John Barry was baptized on 23 October 1842. See:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6136370

John’s baptism is the 7th entry down from the top of the right-hand register page at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634933#page/5/mode/1up

The baptism entry is very faded and difficult to read in spots. The name of John’s godfather appears to be Gulielmo Burns. Gulielmo is the Latin for William. The name of the godmother looks like it could be Johanna Gavin, but I could be wrong about her name.

MARGARET BARRY BAPTISM

Margaret was baptized on 31 July 1846. Her last name in the transcription is recorded as, “Burry,” rather than Barry. He last name is recorded as, “Beins,” rather than Burns. This is because of the handwriting in the baptism register: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6691114

Her baptism is the last entry on the left-hand register page at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634933#page/37/mode/1up

The godparents look like Thos. (Thomas) Burns and Margareta Crow. The name of the priest who baptized Margaret appears to be R. Siston.

SAINT SENAN’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, SHANAGOLDEN

The Shanagolden Catholic Parish Church is called St. Senan’s. According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, the church was constructed in 1814 and renovated in 1824 and 1905. For more information and a slide show of the exterior as well as interior of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland website link at: https://is.gd/sg5So3

You can view the R.C. Chapel in Shanagolden the way it was when the Barry family lived in the parish by going to an Ordnance Survey map from the 1837 to 1842 time period at the GeoHive website link at: https://bit.ly/2yBj5Dw

The R.C. Chapel is located in the lower center of the map. To the northwest is the town of Shanagolden.

For a larger image of the Shanagolden R.C. Chapel on the Ordnance Survey Map, see: https://bit.ly/2Vt2z1x

For a Larger image of the town of Shanagolden on the Ordnance Survey Map, go to: https://bit.ly/2x3rO18

To view the location of St. Senan’s Catholic Church on a contemporary Google Map, go to: https://is.gd/z1exW8

For a Google Street View of the church, see: https://is.gd/oflpUF

Go to the following link for a Google Street View of Main Street, Shanagolden: https://is.gd/pOEgMx

To read more about the churches in and around Shanagolden, go to the limerickdioceseheritage.org link at: http://limerickdioceseheritage.org/Shanagolden/textShana.htm

You can also read a description of Shanagolden from the 1837 edition of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland at: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/S/Shanagolden-Lower-Connello-Limer…

The description of Shanagolden from Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland would have been the way the town was situated when your Barry ancestors had lived in the area in the 1830s.

With Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan

Thank you so much! My ggg grandfather was John Jospeh. I visited Shanagolden when i was in Ireland last year. I could find no Barrys in the graveyard that  we looked at near the old church.. This is fantastic,

You're welcome Lisa.

A lot of the people in Ireland, before as well as after the famine may have too poor to afford gravestones. If any of our ancestors died in the famine, they may have been buried in mass graves, and so it's not unusual to learn there are no gravestones for the ancestors who lived in Ireland during the 19th century.

Once again thank you for your reply and kind words.

Kind Regards,

Dave