Great grandmother from the North

Mary McSweeney is a fairly common name in Ireland. In the 1901 census there were 64, and it would have been equally common in the 1840s. To be sure of finding the right lady, you really need her parents names from say her death certificate. The only clue I can give is that in the 1831 census of Co Derry/Londonderry, all the McSweeny families in the county lived in the parish of Tamlaghtard.

Elwyn,

Thanks so much for this information about my great grandmother, Mary McSweeney. I do, in fact, have her parents' names from her death certificate. Her father was Louis McSweeney and her mother, Mary O'Donnell. The certificate shows that she was born on August 1, 1845. But according to other records here in the US, she may have been born earlier in 1842.

I only just started searching for her in Derry as the family always believed that my grandmother's family was from Cork. Any further information you might find about her would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

Barbara  

Barbara,

Death registration started in Ireland in 1864. I searched for a Louis McSweeny death 1864 to 1901 but did not find any that might be your ancestor. (There was one in Dublin – a 10 day old child – in 1874).

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1874/020672/7253321.pdf

No Louis McSweeney anywhere in Ireland in the 1901 census.

So the inference is that your ancestor died pre 1864 which means he’ll be tricky to find. Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn,

Thanks so much again for your information and advice. I'm sorry that you couldn't find any more records for my great grandmother's family. But it is intriguing that all the McSweeneys in the country were in Tamlaghtard parish in 1831 and therefore difficult to resist focusing on that area. My Ancestry DNA targets Donegal, Derry/Londonderry. This supports the information I found on the death certificate and now, to a certain extent, your 1831 census information.

Since there are no records for Louis McSweeney's death, other than the poor little infant you found, I'm wondering if the family left Ireland together. I will look into Family Tree DNA and the North of Ireland Family History Society project. And, I'll continue to search for Mary's parents over here.

Best wishes,

Barbara