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My 2x great grandparents were Michael Gallagher (1840-1888) and Catharine Carroll (1842-1922). They were known is our family as being from Churchpark. They were married at Killedan Parish on November 24, 1870. At the time of the marriage, they had at least one son (Thomas) and Catharine would have been pregnant with the first of their four daughters (Bridet/Delia). I was surprised that the children were conceived prior to marriage, but have learned that was not all that uncommon in mid-18th Century, rural Ireland.
Michael, Catharine, and their two young children emigrated to the United States in 1871. They arrived in New York and made their way to Cincinnati, where they lived with relatives for three years. They eventually moved to Monmouth, Illinois where they remained until death. Michael was tragically killed at work when he was hit by a passing locomotive. Catharine raised her five children without his income or support.
Michael's grandmother lived in Cincinnati and that is who we presume he lived with. Her name was Bridget Gallagher (nee Dunleavy). She lived from 1774 to 1881! Bridget was married to Edward Gallagher and they were originally from Killybegs, County Donegal. Because of her amazing age and popularity in Cincinnati, Bridget had an extensive obituary in the newspaper upon her death. It was this obituary that led to identifying my 3x great grandmother Kate Gallagher. Kate was one of only two children of Edward and Bridget that remained in Ireland. The obituary indicated Kate married someone named Gallagher. Because Bridget was Michael's grandmother, the only person he could have married was Kate. I don't know how a young man from Churchpark, Mayo met a girl from Killybegs, Donegal but the lines are abundantly clear that he did.
I would love to connect with anyone that is related to these families or has information on them. My GEDMATCH numbers are:
PM9149070
DM2557330
SN2387006
Photo is my 2x great grandmother Nellie Toal (nee Gallagher)
PSW2
Tuesday 15th Feb 2022, 09:03PMMessage Board Replies
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PSW2:
From what I can see on the subscription site Roots Ireland, the marriage occurred on November 24 1870 and Thomas Gallagher was baptized a few days before on November 20th so likely he was born a few days before the 20th. This is no annotation on the baptismal register that Thomas was illegitimate so the priest must have been comfortable that Michael and Catherine were going to get married.
I also notice from the register that there were no marriages after August 13th until November 5 so maybe there was no priest available to officiate a marriage.
Below are the following records: civil marriage record for Michael and Catherine, church marriage record, baptisal record for Thomas, his civil birth record
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…
https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632344#page/13/mode/1up
https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632343#page/56/mode/1up
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…
Technically, Catherine was not pregnant with Bridget when she married since Bridget was not born until January 1872.
I looked at the 1901 census for Cordarragh and there were three Carroll families possibly they were brothers to Catherine.
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Tuesday 15th Feb 2022, 09:48PM -
Hi, PSW2. I just responded to you about the GEDMatch comparisons in the Gill/Lavan thread about Kiltimagh to which you posted yesterday. As I mentioned there, we seem to have only a distant dna connection. Now I realize from this latest post that we have already exchanged messages elsewhere (maybe Ancestry or FTDNA?), because I recognize the discussion of Donegal and Cincinnati. I forget for the moment what conclusion we came to before, but something in this latest post makes me think that we must actually have a Gallagher connection.
The second child of Michael and Catherine, Bridget, was baptized in Killedan parish (Kiltimagh) on 11 Jan 1872, and the record states that the family was living in Comderra townland (whereas they were in Church Park when Thomas was baptized in 1870). The full (anglicized) name of that townland is Comderrynabinnia/Camderrynabinnia, but forms like Comderra, Camderra, and Comderry were often used. The Irish form of the name is Camdhoire na binne (= “crooked oak of the cliff/peak”). That is the townland where my Gallagher line originated, although my particular branch had moved to the nearby townland of Carrownteeaun by the time that my grandfather was born. Church Park is not now a recognized townland in the parish (though it may once have been), but I believe that there is still an area called that closer to Kiltimagh town, a mile or two to the east of Comderra.
-- Kevin
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kevin45sfl
Wednesday 16th Feb 2022, 08:38PM