Brodies

The subscription site Roots Ireland has a June 26 1838 marriage record for a Terence Brody and Anne Fitzgerald in the Newcastle West RC parish in Co. Limerick. Witnesses were Doctor Brody and Thomas Fitzgerald.

Roger McDonnell

Thanks for both the Governey reply and the Brodie.  I have the info stated but I am trying to find the father of Terence Brodie you refer to.  I think his name was John and resided in south Co. Limerick.  But as you know when you go back before 1820 it is a journey into the great undocumented, as far as I know.

Eugene Carbery

Hello Eugene,

To add to the information that Roger kindly submitted I found the baptism transcription of the older Terence Brody, as well as the baptism transcriptions of one older and one younger sibling of his. The three Brody children were baptized in the Lurriga Catholic Parish, County Limerick. Lurriga is also spelled “Lurraga,” in some records.

Terence was baptized in the Lurriga Catholic Parish on 30 October 1803. His first name and the first names of his parents are recorded in the Latin. Terence’s first name is Terrentium. His father is Joanne, the Latin for John. Terence’s mother is Anna “Obrien.” The transcription further shows that the Lurriga Catholic Parish was known by several other names, such as Ballybrown, Lurriga and Ballybrown, Patrick's Well, Patrick's Well and Puble Brien, Patrickswell, Pubblebrien, and Puble Brien.

Ballybrown, Lurriga, and Patrick’s Well are all townlands in their own right, while Pubblebrien was a land division known as a Barony in Ireland.

The baptism transcriptions were uncovered at the Find My Past (FMP) website, which is mainly a subscription-based website, with the exception that FMP does not charge to search Irish Catholic baptisms, marriages, and available church burial transcriptions for all 32 counties of Ireland. The majority of the transcriptions are for the19th century, both before and after the Great Famine (1845-1851).

To access the transcriptions you will have to first register with FMP. Registration is free.

The search engine for the FMP baptism transcriptions can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/jnmqmuv

The search engine for Catholic marriages can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/jzylkjy

For Catholic Parish burial transcriptions go to the search engine at: http://tinyurl.com/j9qe5p9

Attached to each FMP baptism, marriage, and burial transcriptions are links that will take you to copies of the original parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.

To access the FMP baptism transcription for Terence, go to: https://is.gd/CihFnz

A copy of the original Lurriga baptism for Terence can be found at the National Library of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/IuK8e9

Once the page downloads you’ll see two facing pages of the baptism register. Terence’s baptism is the 5th entry up the left page of the 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 baptism entry also records the names of Terence’s godparents. The first name of the godfather is difficult to decipher, but it may be an alternate Latinate spelling for Terrentium—Terrentis. Or, it could be Laurentis, for Laurence. His last name is O’Brien. He was likely Anna O’Brien’s brother.

The godmother is Anastasia Brody, who may have been the sister of the father, John Brody. Unfortunately, the baptism record does not mention where John, Anna, and Terence Brody were living at the time of the baptism. They did not necessarily reside in Lurriga.

Terence’s older brother is Michael. In the FMP baptism transcription his name is in the Latin, Michaelem. Michael was baptized in the Lurriga Catholic Parish on 23 May 1802. His parents are Joanne Brody and Anna O’Brien. See the transcription at: https://is.gd/bVoOPH

A copy of the original baptism for Michael is on the right-hand register page, 4th entry down from the top at: https://is.gd/6W5h2W

Michael’s godparents, John and Sara, have the same last name but at first I couldn’t figure out what the name was, as I wasn’t thinking the way someone living in the 18th and early 19th centuries would write the printed word. I finally figured out the last name of John and Sara was Russell. In that time period words with a double ss were spelled fs. Russell would look like Rufsell, and so Michael’s godparents were John and Sara Russell, who were probably friends of John and Anna O’Brien Brody.

The youngest Brody child baptized is Ellenam, who was baptized on 22 September 1805, according to her FMP transcription at: https://is.gd/B9ESgN

A copy of Ellen’s original Lurriga baptism register entry is the 4th entry down from the top of the right-hand register page at: https://is.gd/DWqFiY

Ellen’s godparents are Jeremiah Grady and Brigitta (Bridget) O’Brien. Bridget may have been Anna O’Brien Brody’s sister.

I next wanted to see if there was a Lurriga Catholic Parish marriage record for John Brody and Anna O’Brien. I didn’t find one. Marriages traditionally take place in the bride’s parish in Ireland and so I looked for their marriage in other Limerick Catholic parishes, but again without results.

This prompted me to go to the National Library of Ireland link at see how far back in time the Lurriga marriages, as well as baptisms, are available. I found that baptisms commence on 2 October 1801 and marriages on 26 April 1802, which would have been too late to have recorded the marriage of John Brody and Anna O’Brien. To see the available years of the Lurriga Catholic Parish registers, and for a map of the Lurriga Catholic Parish, go to the National Library of Ireland link at: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0865

I next wanted to see if there was an R.C. Chapel in Lurrica on an Ordnance Survey maps of Limerick. Some Ordnance Survey maps date back over 180 years. Others were compiled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These maps are available at the GeoHive website.

Catholic churches on the old maps were labeled “R.C. Chapel,” to distinguish them from Church of Ireland congregations. Church of Ireland structures were labeled, “Church,” on the Ordnance Survey maps.

I accessed the Ordnance Survey Map of Lurriga from the 1837 to 1842 time period. On the map the name of the townland is spelled, “Lurraga.” I didn’t find an R.C. Chapel on the map, which is attached to this reply.

This doesn’t mean there wasn’t a chapel in Lurriga at one time of the three baptisms. The chapel may have been taken down because of deterioration or because the congregation outgrew the chapel, and moved to another townland.

The Ordnance Survey Map for “Patrickswell” from the 1837 to 1842 time does not show that an R.C. Chapel was located there at the time either. The map for Patrickwell, labeled “St. Patrickswell” on the map, is also attached to this reply.

The name of the Catholic Parish today is Patrickswell & Ballybrown. I went to the Patrickswell & Ballybrown website, where I found a history of the parish at: https://is.gd/Apv6Tm

I found the answer about the Lurrica chapel in the history of the parish, which states in part that, “Patrickswell has had a number of Catholic churches. The earliest known one was sited near the old Lurriga school. This was replaced by a more modern structure in 1847, at the height of the Great Famine.”

The Lurraga School is not on the Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time period, but it is on the Ordnance Survey Map produced between 1888 and 1913. The map is attached to this reply, but the school is actually just north of Lurraga in the townland of Kilcolman.

The school may have been in this same location, or close to this location when the Brody children were baptized from 1802 to 1805.

Lurraga/Lurriga is the English spelling of the townland. The Irish spelling is “An Lorga,” which means “The Ridge,” or “The Shin,” which may have to do with the geological makeup of the townland.

A Google Map shows that Lurraga is 1.9 miles west of Patrickswell: https://is.gd/0qyE9O

Another Google Map shows the proximity of Lurraga and Patrickswell to Limerick City heading northeast on the M20 road: https://is.gd/AVDarB

For a Google Street View of Lurraga, go to: https://is.gd/qHvihJ

For a Google Street View of Main Street, Patrickswell, see: https://is.gd/0vBmqN

I found a handwritten description on lined paper of “Lurriga,” accompanied by a transcription of the narrative at the duchas.ie website link. The narrative, which is part of the National Folklore Collection from the University College Dublin (UCD), was written by a teacher named Máire, Bean Uí Bhroin, which in Irish means, “Mary, wife of O’Brien,” or, Mrs. Mary O’Brien. The narrative describes the schools, chapels, and townlands in the Lurriga and Patrick’s Well area. It’s about a page and half long. See the narrative at: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922108/4852764

Eugene, if you have a DNA test and find O’Briens as part of the genetic profile, it may be from Anna O’Brien, who married John Brody.

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Sorry about that Eugene. Attached is the Ordnance Survey Map for the Lurraga School. Dave

Dave:

Great work!

Roger

Many thanks Roger.

Dave

Dave

Thank you.  That is an amzing amount and quality of work.  I had the reached the Lurraga documents but you have given me more information and more avenues to pursue.  Anne Brodie live to be 99 years of age and died in Limerick at her son's residence in 1876.  However, some of the missing information is: John's (father of Terence etc.) death, which I reckon was between 1805 and 1838.  Johna nd Anne' marriage, presumably shortly before first born Terence in 1803. You are correct, John and Anne did not reside in Lurraga.  They lived in nearby Ballygeale (I saw this on Anne's death registry  document).

Again many thanks for the effort and all the informationj. I have lots to go on.

Eugene

You're welcome, and many thanks for your reply Eugene. The majority of the Catholic churches in Ireland did not record deaths/burials in the 19th century, though some did, but the Lurriga Catholic Parish was one of the parish churches that unfortunately did not record deaths of parishioners. The other thing too is the Irish government did not begin to record deaths until 1864, well after the time period that Terence's father John would have likely died.

I suspect that John and Ann were married just prior to the beginning of Lurriga marriages being recorded in 1802, perhaps the mid to late 1790s, and maybe even into 1800 or1801. So close but so far at the same time. This is one of the challenges of Irish genealogical research that almost everyone experiences.

Once again, thank you for writing Eugene, and Best of Luck with your continued research.

Dave