Looking for Brady ancestors

Anne:

The surname Brady was very common within the civil parish of Granard. The 1833 Tithe Applotment listing for Granard civil parish showed 60 records although some could be duplicates. I did not see an Edward record. There were 32 Brady records in the head of household listing for Granard civil parish in the Griffiths Valuation survey from the early 1850s. Also the 1901 census for Granard civil parish showed 18 Brady households in the civil parish.

I assume you have seen the parish register for Granard RC parish. Records go back to the late 1700s. I do see a gap from 1811-1816.ttps://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0167

All of these records including death records should be searchable on the subscription site Roots Ireland.

Here is a link to the Granard library branch  https://www.longfordlibrary.ie/find-your-library/granard-branch-library/  You may want to contact them before your trip.

If you have not done so already, could you complete this form regarding your trip to Ireland  https://www.irelandxo.com/meet-and-greet

Finally, have you tested your DNA? You may have 3rd and 4th cousin matches on your Brady line.

Roger McDonnell

Hello, Anne:

I have a Catherine Brady, married to Edward Higgins in my tree. They were the parents of James Higgins, born in 1829 in Granard. I couldn´t find their marriage , nor siblings to James.. maybe we are connected?

Regards from Buenos Aires

Diana

Anne,

I see 149 Brady householders residing throughout County Longford at the time of the 1901 Census, including 17 Brady Householders residing in Granard RC Parish alone.

Let me know the information you have on your early Brady Family, especially from the period 1820 - 1850, including where they married and where they were living at the time of the US Census records and I'll see what I can do.

You mentioned two daughters born in Granard RC Parish, County Longford in the 1820's, who was the second daughter and whenwas she baptised ?.

Also, it would be unusual for the parents to cross the Atlantic prior to their marriage in 1820, marry in the U.S., and to return home to Ireland for the births of two children and to then return back to the U.S.

All the Best,

Hello and thanks to all who kindly responded!  I will be following through with all of your suggestions.  
 

The second Brady daughter (the one who I have the baptism record for) was Maryann, born/baptized March 2023.  The precise date is smeared on the record so is illegible.  
 

I do know it would have been highly unusual for them to go back to Ireland and return three years later in 1820-1823, but I’m confident the documentation is correct.  That’s why I’m hoping to find someone who might have heard of such a story of a Brady relative doing so.   Someone in that area is going to put it in an advertisement in a few local papers preceding my trip there in the hopes it rings familiar to someone. 
 

I have the marriage record for them in Baltimore from 1820.  The attendant for the bride was Alice Brady (same name as their oldest daughter) but I’m not sure if it would have been my Elizabeth’s mother or sister.  Edward Brady’s “best man” was John Brady.  But I’ve no idea if John and Alice were connected, as in Elizabeth’s parents, or if John was Edward’s brother or father.  Edward and Elizabeth had no sons, so no clues using a naming pattern there.  
 

I have the family - Edward, Elizabeth, daughters Alice and Maryann on passenger list coming from Ireland to Baltimore in 1823.  

Anne:

I will defer to David because he is in Co. Longford and I'm in the States.

I did search Roots Ireland and found two possible leads for Elizabeth Brady. No Elizabeth Brady baptized in 1793 in Granard but there was a record in 1794 and 1794 in Granard RC parish.

Elizabeth Brady baptized September 24 1794 father Michael Brady and mother Catherine Levy

Elizabeth Brady baptized September 28 1795 father Patrick Brady and mother Ann Lynch

Roger

Thanks so much!

Anne,

I see Mary Anne Brady, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Brady, baptised ?9 (probably 29) March 1823, Granard

sponsors: Charles McManus & Elizabeth McCormick.

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632422#page/27/mode/1up

I note that her parents are given as Edward and Elizabeth Brady, as opposed to Edward Brady and Elizabeth Brady, leaving open the possibility that Elizabeth had a different maiden surname.

The 1823 arrival of the Brady Family in the Baltimore records (Edward Brady, aged 33, farmer, E Brady, aged 30, Alice Brady, aged 2 and Mary Anne Brady, aged 4 months) looks like a match alright, with Mary Anne Brady's age at 4 months being a particular match in the period 01 July 1823 - 30 September 1823.

I had a look for Alice Brady's baptism in Granard RC Parish c1821, to no avail.

Have you got Edward Brady & Elizabeth Brady's Church and Civil Death Certificates and also those for their children, as perhaps one of them may contain other family information ?.

I live in Limerick, but I am a native of County Longford and lived in Granard Town as a baby in 1964 and again from 1972 to 1974 when my father was stationed there as a Garda (policeman) initially and as a Sergeant subsequently.

Thanks so much for your input, David.  
 

I do not have any death information on either Edward or Elizabeth here in Ohio.  We didn’t keep good civil records here until later and the Catholic Dioceses for that area doesn’t have any info either.  But I do have several other documents that say that Elizabeth’s birth surname was also Brady -a  baptism record for her daughter Clara (my ancestor) explicitly indicates it as such.  It took me a long time of being frustrated when I would find multiple records for her hoping to learn her last name before marriage and it always listed her by her married name, despite every other record on the page gave the maiden name for the wife/mother.   I just thought I was incredibly unlucky! Until I finally figured it out   Her daughter Clara’s baptism record lists her as “Elizabeth Brady (alias Brady)” and I learned that the word ‘alias’ was occasionally used to indicate a woman’s name before marriage.   

I wonder if daughter Alice was baptized in another parish?  I wonder if only Edward or Elizabeth was from Granard and the other from elsewhere, possibly Cavan?  After years of research, I can’t find a date for Alice’s birth, only the year.  Also, they settled in Ohio where the first Catholic Church in Ohio was established.  The priest who assisted in that church’s establishment was a cousin to the priest who married them in Baltimore.   

I’m trying to share some docs with Elizabeth’s maiden name as Brady but the files are too large or not quite right in some way.  This should be the marriage record from 1820, Baltimore, MD

Anne C,

I checked further, but cannot locate any Alice Brady, daughter of Edward Brady & Margaret Brady on the subscription website www.rootsireland.ie anywhere in Ireland during the period 1816 - 1826, even searching for both parents individually.

Similarly, I could not locate any Edward Brady with a wife named Margaret marriage prior to 1824, nor any Edward Brady marriage prior to 1826 in County Longford. However, only 4 of County Longford's 23 RC Parishes have records commencing in 1820 or earlier.

I see Alice Brady Dittoe, aged 29, born in Ireland, with her husband and three children recorded at her father Edward Brady's house, Reading, Perry, Ohio in the 1850 U.S. Census.

I do not see any record of Mary (Anne) Brady in the 1850 U.S. Census but she appears again at Reading, Perry, Ohio with her parents in the 1860 Census.

About half of County Cavan's 1821 Census still exists, and is available at the following website:

http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?searchMoreVisible=…;

However, I have not been able to locate any Edward Brady & Margaret Brady couple in these records. Nor have I been able to locate any Alice Brady under the age of 10.

Finally, I also see the 1899 Wills of Margaret Brady & Catherine Brady, who both died in 1901, mentioning their sister Clara Brady Kintz.

It looks like you will not be able to locate any further information on your ancestors before you arrive in Ireland in September.

On account of the Granard address given for Mary Anne Brady's baptism in 1823 you should concentrate on the Town of Granard during your visit.

St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Granardkill is the old graveyard & old Church ruin – the site of Old Granard Town burned by Edward Bruce in 1315 is opposite this cemetery.

Granard Motte overlooking the Town of Granard, dating back to Norman times.

Knights and Conquests Heritage Centre (check the opening times).

Greville Arms Hotel (if open, as once belonged to The Kiernan Family - connected with Michael Collins, Irish Freedom Fighter, whose fiancee was Kitty Kiernan) & neighbouring Market House, built c1785.

St Mary’s RC Church (1867).

Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School (Site of Granard Workhouse 1842 - 1932).

The neighbouring Towns and Villages are: Abbeylara, Edgeworthstown and Ballinalee.

Have a look at the Granard Historical Society's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/GranardAreaHistoricalSociety/

for more to do and see around Granard.

Hoping this helps further,

Thanks so much again, David.  
 

I have extensive records for the Bradys once they arrived in Ohio - tax records, deeds, the wills of Catherine and Margaret, various church records including the burial notation for their third daughter, Elizabeth, who died as a young woman.  They had seven daughters and no sons!  Alice and my gr gr grandmother Clara were the only two that married.  Alice married a Ditto and her family moved west.  My Clara and her husband (she was his second wife) stayed in the same area, as did several generations of their descendants.  
 

Whether I’m able to make any discoveries during my trip or not, we will definitely stop in Granard and see the church and surroundings.  We will be with distant cousins from another branch, traveling from Mayo back to Skerries.  
 

You’ve been generous and kind in your replies.  I appreciate it! (And I’ll have a look at those Cavan census records.  You never know…)

Interestingly, I found a John and Alice Brady in Cavan in that 1921, the right age to be Elizabeth’s parents.  Their oldest child appeared to be a 22 yr old daughter named Catherine.  
 

The witnesses for my Elizabeth and Edward’s marriage were named Alice Brady and John Brady.  
 

My Edward and Elizabeth’s first four daughters were Alice, Maryann, Elizabeth, Catherine.  If they named their girls using traditional Irish nameing patterns, the first would be named after her mother Alice, then Maryann would have been Edward’s mother’s name, the next daughter named after her (Elizabeth, which corresponds to the pattern) and the next after Elizabeth’s oldest sister - Catherine.  
 

This family sure fits that nicely.  Might be a clue!

http://census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1821/Cavan/Denn/Largan/7/

Anne,

That's an interesting find i.e. Alice Brady in the 1821 County Cavan Census. However, it looks unlikely that you will be able to prove any connection.

It is interesting also that Edward Brady and Elizabeth Brady had seven daughters and no sons.

I see a few items connected with Granard Town dating from before Edward and Elizabeth Brady's departure for Baltimore, United States in 1823 which may be of interest:

There is a plaque at the corner of Moxham Street and Main Street inscribed 'Moxhams Street 1809'.

There is another plaque on Water Lane with the inscription 'Water street by Thos. Tuite 1813'.

Finally there is another plaque above John Pettit's Grocery and Off-licence (now closed) with 'Established 1708'.

Granard Town was burned by the Black and Tans (former British Soldiers who had served in World War I) in 1920 during the War of Independence and many of the buildings were burned down at that time. Therefore the plaque on Pettit's may relate to an older building on the same site.