Gilroy of Mount Pallas 1850

Perhaps send your query to the Anglo-Celt and Northern Sound newspapers, both available in Cavan? If there is family remaining, they may be more likely to read your query there than on this board. Good luck.

Bill:

The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Kilbride civil parish in Co. Cavan did not show any Gilroy households.https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cavan/kilbride.htm

The 1901 census for Mount Pallas only listed one family (Mullen) in the 1901 census and one family in the 1911 census (Rotheram).

I think it is very unlikely that you will locate any living relatives in Ireland for your John Gilroy family.

You may want to consider DNA testing. Perhaps you will have matches who also have Gilroy ancestors back to the first half of the 19th century.

Roger McDonnell

Thanks for help! I have NY Herald and Belfast obits for father John b. 1799 and his oldest son Edward. Both obits say " homeland was Mount Palace, Cavan". So I believe that may be correct.

Patricia, I have contacted both newspapers you have recommended by e-mail, thanks, Bill 

Roger, yes I saw the Griffith's. From US Census records, at least for 2 in the family, both gave their arrival date NYC as 1850.

Bill

I may be able to provide a little supporting documentation, Bill.  My gggm was Mary Gillroy.  I do not have a lot of information on her, but the starting point for what I do have is the memoirs of my gggf, Simon Fitzsimmons (or Fitzsimons, or other variations.)  His memoirs were dictated to his daughter shortly before he died, so there are some inconsistencies in the story.  We've been able to correct some, we are still looking into others,.

My great grandfather starts the recitation that he was born in Mountpallas, in the mid-1830s.  (He gave a date, we were able to confirm a slightly different date.)  He goes on to say that his father was  Simon Fitzsimons, his mother Mary Gillroy.  (note the "ll" in the name.)  Simon and Mary apparently had the following children:  James born +/1830, Simon born +/- 1834, a daughter, either Mary or Bridget, or perhaps both, dob, and Partick, who "died young."  

My ggf recounts living on an estate near Mountpallas, referencing a "penny a day" school across the Inny, in the shadow of Ross Castle.  As a child he made a few pennies working for a farner named Rotheram.  They were eventually evicted from the estate (all tenants were) when the estate went into chancery, or banruptcy.  From what we can piece together, this would have been in the 1840's.

With no place else to go, the family moved in with their mother (Mary Gillory)'s brother in Thonagh (also in County Cavan, also not far from Mountpallas).  I believe that Mary' Gillroy's brother's name was John, but I will try to confirm that. There does not seem to have been a lot of work there, and in about 1850 they made the decision to move to America.   Simon (the younger) reports that his brother James had come to America "a couple years earlier" (1847, to Milan, Duchess County, NY) and that all of his Gillroy relatives other than the brother that they were living with, had aslo left Ireland before 1850.  

Simon Fitzsimons, his wife Mary Gillroy Fitzsimons, their son "Simeon" Fitzsimons, their daughter Mary Fitzsimons and a woman I believe to be John Gillroy's daughter "Biddy Kilroy" arrived in New York in early June 1851 on the ship Jacob A Westervelt.  They joined Simon and Mary's eldest son James in Duchess County, NY, at least for a while.

The two Simons (father and son) made their way west to the Chicago area by the 1870s.  I had lost track of Mary Gillroy, but last year I was able to visit her grave.  She is buried ion Rhinecliffe, NY, near her son James and his family.  Her headstone identifies her as Mary Gillroy, wife of Simon Fitzsim(m)ons.  Apparently she stayed back to help James with his young family when her husband and younger son moved west looking for work.

Subsequent sleuthing leads me to believe that Mary Gillroy was born between 1799 and 1804, based on other dates uncovered.  

I'll look through the memoirs for anything else I can find relating to Mary Gillroy.  I have a note that her father's name might have been John, but I'd want to verify that source before you dive too far in to that.  Note also that the records I have reviewed have spelled the name Gillroy, Gilroy, Kilroy and Gibney.  Three of those are phonetic spellings, the last a transcription error, I suspect.

SWalfoot, 

Happy New Year and thanks for your post!

Some additional info on the grouping of Gillroys I provided....

Documentation positively links 4 immigrants together in one family:  a father John Gillroy b. 1799 and sons John J. (NYC Liquor biz), James (NYC Plumber) and Patrick (Syracuse NY Plumber). These folks buried in Gillroy plot (20 graves) Calvary Cem. Queens, NY, except Patrick buried w/ wife and others St Agnes Cem., Syracuse, NY. James bought plot upon death of his father John Gillroy in 1868.

The Kilbride RC parish baptismal record I found for John Gillroy & Mary Smyth includes three, a son Daniel Gilray; dau. Bridget Gilroy and a son John Gilroy.

One theory for my Gillroy group might be that it's a mix of Mountpallas Gillroy families. This is because Daniel and Bridget also children of John and Mary Smyth are not buried at Gillroy Calvary plot. Also Edward Gillroy (engineer NYC Marble works) is not buried in this plot (buried elsewhere at Calvary) and not mentioned in docs for John, James and Patrick. And Mary Smith Gillroy John's wife has no record in US per my search and not buried at Calvary plot.

In the 1821 Irish Census, Mountpallas, House 18,  we see James & Mary Gilroy H&W (55/56) with children Cathrine 21, John 19, Bernard 17, Bridget 14, Anne 12. In House 19 we see Edward and Margaret Gilroy H&W (64&54) with children Philip 28, Margaret 16, Mary 18, Judith Smith D-I-Law, Philip Grandson 2, and John Grandson 2 months old.

If you will PM me I'd like to share my spreadsheet info with you and maybe you will have some good insight from your research to carry this forward for both of us. Please text me your email at six seven eight, two two one, seven four eight six.

Of note, in the greater Syracuse area counties NY State there are several two L Gillroys with large farms established late 1700s and early 1800s likely grants for military service during independance and indian wars.

Bill

I'll have a PM to you shortly.  Interesting about the Gillroy's in the plumbing business.  Mary Gillroy Fitzsimons (b. +/1799) emigrated in 1851 to NY.  Her son, Simon (the younger) was a plumber...moving west to Chicago in the 1870's to help establish the City waterline system there.

Well, certainly as we know that was the hot profession, indoor plumbing and muni water systems in 19th century. Huge infrastructure buildout everywhere in US cities as they grew, and I might add we are faced with much renewal of that work these days hugely expensive. Across the first 2 Gillroy gens on my side of family alone we have Patrick in 1870-1900 Syracuse (Gillroy & Nicholson Plumbers and Gas Fitters), my gggmother brother a Montgomert also Syracuse plumber and my Gfather John Gillroy Sr region sales mgr C.H. Mott (NYC plumbing applioances etc.).

James Gillroty's son Bernard was engineer  who helped design and build the Croton water supply system for NYC and he later became long time NYC Buildings Commissioner til he retired in 1960s. 

Bill, I'd like to take you up on your very generous offer to share your spreadsheet on the Gillroys of Mountpallas.  I've sent you my email via text to the phone number above.  Thank you for the important leads and "color" that you have already provided.  Sara

Sara, please email me. william.gillroy@gmail.com