Surname Saturday: Browne? From Ireland?

It's Surname Saturday, and time to use the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers! What we do for this exercise if follow the generations back taking each surname in rotation, moving back throuigh the generations. This week we launch into the 5th generation back and the 3rd great grandmothers, because the 5th great grandfathers and their surname heritage has already been covered.

This week it's Bridget Browne's turn. She married John Kelly, father of John Kelly who was the first of our Kelly line to land in America and you can read about the Kellys in my first ever Surname Saturday post here. Honestly, I don't have too much to add to that post because any records about John Kelly and Bridget Browne are long gone. But let me tell you what we now know, and then list the things we'd like to know.


1. Diane K. Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams Kelly, living and loving it!

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 -1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller (1894 - 1985)

8. Francis Patrick Kelly (1854 - 1923)
9. Christiana Eckhart (1861 - 1932)

16. John Kelly (1829 - 1891)
17. Bridget Corcoran (1830 - after 1910)

32. John Kelly (about 1800 - ????)
33. Bridget Browne (about 1800 - ????)
Mom had done her homework before she and Dad and I went to Ireland back in 1987, and you can read about that trip here. (It's one of my most popular posts!)
Mom already knew from the tombstone for John Kelly (Jr.) where he was born and on what dates. It was super hard to read on that old tombstone but Mom waited for just the right hour and time of year to read it more clearly. See that photo below.
We tracked down the parish records for this family in Ireland in the Clonmacnoise Parish, County Offlay (Kings), which included the little town of Shannonbridge. We first had to go to the parrish house and get permission from the parish priest, and that allowed us to see the original records. Then we went over to the building on the corner and climbed the long set of creaking wooden stair to the big room where people were entering the records in a database. Mom copied all that was available, chatted with the workers and found out that the oldest parish records were burned in a parish house fire, and those were the books containing the records for John Kelly and Bridget Browne. More's the pity. We still hold out hope that other records besides those of the church will eventually become known to us.
So, we don't know too much about this couple, except that they probably saw their young son and perhaps his brothers, leave for American, and most likely, just as other Irishemn, never come home again. (Guess that's why we all shed a little tear when we hear an Irish voice sing "Danny Boy".)
They had this child, known to us, but we guess there are more. They were Irish and Catholic, after all:)
16. John Kelly (1829 - 1891)

Next Steps:
Wow, what to say? I want those old chared records from the parish in Ireland. Guess I'm probably not going to get them.
1. Check other Irish records to see if any small item might be hiding. Frankly, in order to do this I must eventually start my steep learning curve about Irish records. Now I have three families to investigate: Farrell from posibly County Clare, Corcoran from we don't know where, and these Kelly people. Maybe I'll start this summer?
2. Find out more about the history of the town of Shannonbridge. Can anything be learned?
3. Check the Catholic cemetery there. Tomstones or remnants? Other Kellys?
4. History. I need to know more about the history of Shannonbridge and Ireland in general from the 1830s to the time of the Irish Famine. All of my people were here before the famine. Interesting. And all landed in Western Maryland or northern Virginia/West Virginia within about 10 years of each other. Very Interesting.

The historical site of Clonmacnoise, County Offlay (Kings), Ireland.

Photo, 1987.

Tombstone of John Kelly (1829 - 1891),

taken by Mom one late afternoon when the light was just right.

He was born in Shannonbridge and died in Eckhart, Allegany, Maryland.

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/05/surname-saturday-browne-from-ireland.html

Surname Saturday: First Try!

A funny thing happened on the way to my starting a regular Surname Saturday post here. It all started with a post about cousin bait which you can find here: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/cousin-bait-strategy-needed.html.

And by the way, there's been a nice community response to it, of which I'm glad because the more we can help each other the better:) Anyway, the ever-helpful Randy Seaver commented and revealed the process by which he generated the list of ancestors for his regular Surname Saturday posts. I printed out what he had to say and tried to do likewise so I too could be off and running with fabulous content with which to lure the elusive cousins.

He said to create an ahnentafel report (ancestor table) and then start with ancestor 1, next week go to ancestor 3, then 5, 7, 9.... in following weeks OK, I'm lost! I'm so dyslexic and number phobic that I froze like the proverbial deer in headlights. Wait, they're odd numbers, right? I printed out my ahnentafel report and then a chart hoping that it would help me visualize the task at hand. 1,3, 5, 7, 9, 11. I'll make a list.

But no time because I was off this morning to a very special event put on by the San Diego Genealogical Society featuring David E. Rencher, FamilySearch Chief Genealogical Officer, and I really need to learn all I can about that wonderful and vast resource. Hey, I thought, maybe I could catch Randy for a half-second because he said in one of his writings that he would be there. I found a seat next to a pile of papers and settled in. This was going to be good, I thought with a bit of a grin. Oh, there's Randy, and he's walking right over here, and he's sitting down next to me and that's his pile of papers!! Goodie!!

Randy was nice enough to explain it all and once he did, it took all of two seconds out of a New York minute, and he did it so even I could understand it! Hey, this is easy and after the first one, which is my Dad and Mom, it all follows the women! Cool!

Here's a link to one of Randy's Surname Saturday posts: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/12/surname-saturday-clark-england-to.html

So here goes launching my very first Surname Saturday! Calling all Kelly cousins: come and get it!

1. Diane K. Weintraub (me)

2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams Kelly, living and loving it!

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly 1892 -1969
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller 1894 - 1985

8. Francis Patrick Kelly 1854 - 1923
9. Christiana Eckhart 1861 - 1932

16. John Kelly 1829 - 1891
17. Bridgit Cockrane 1830 - after 1910
John came to the United States, met Bridget and married here. We know where he's burried but Bridget's grave eludes us. We'd love to find it.
They married 21 June 1848 in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland and had eight children: Mary Ann Kelly 1849 - ?, Francis Patrick Kelly 1854 - 1923, #8 above, Catherine Elizabeth Kelly 1857 - ?, Michael Kelly 1859 - 1909, Margaret Kelly 1862 - ?, Theresa Kelly 1860 - ?, and John Kelly 1872 - ?.

32. John Kelly 1800 - ?
33. Bridget Brown about 1800 - ?
Mom tracked down the parish records for this family in Ireland in the Clonmacnoise Parish. We got permission from the parish priest, then went over to the building on the corner and climbed the long set of wooden stair to the room where people were entering the records in a database. Mom copied all that was available, chatted the the workers and found out that we'd come all that way to learn that the old parish records were burned in a parish house fire. More's the pity. We still hold out hope that other records besides those of the church will eventually become known to us.

This is a short list and one of the shortest to come. The records end for us with the tragic parish fire in the little town of Shannonbridge. But never mind. As I found out at the seminar today, more and more records are coming online everyday.

Here are some of the photos in the Archive associated with this family line.

2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams Kelly, living and loving it!

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly 1892 -1969
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller 1894 - 1985

Front row center:

8. Francis Patrick Kelly 1854 - 1923
9. Christiana Eckhart 1861 - 1932

The tombstone of 16. John Kelly 1829 - 1891
St Michaels' Cemetery, Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/surname-saturday-first-try.html

Like Trying to Find a Kelly in Ireland

My cousin Cynthia is in Ireland with her husband. Before she left she called Mom and asked for some information on ancestors so she might personalize her trip. Mom told he what she knew and what we'd found out so far.

Once o'r the pond, Cynthia email me for more information. I got out one of my spiral notebooks that are always handy when Mom and I have our morning phone chat. Sure enough, one morning we started remembering that trip we all took to Ireland and there  in my notebook was recorded our memories. From then on it was easy to direct cousin Cynthia.

Here's what happened in Ireland in about 1981 when Mom, Dad and I went. What we knew was from GGGF F. John Kelly's tombstone. It said that he was born in Shannonbridge in the parish of Clonmacnois on 22 June 1829. We found our way to the historical site of Clonmacnois and chatted up the lovely ladies who worked there. We also found that a feature of Clonmacnois is Temple Kelly.

We were directed to the Historical Society of Tullamore. I vaguely remember that it was housed on the second floor of a building in town... and the pub lunch was spectacular;)

We were told that what we sought were church records and that we'd need a note from the priest. We found the priest and asked if we could see the records and he chuckled and said, "Ya could now but they are not here." After a good laugh, he gave us the permission note which Mom still has.

The next morning we went back to the Historical Society and as the luck of the Irish would have it, the people working there to automate the records were just then working on the Kellys! Amazing.

They printed out a sheet with GGGF's birth record and marriage record as well. Older records were likely burned in a church fire. But maybe not.

At Clonmacnois there were graves of Kellys as well but we were not sharp enough to take photos or at least record any information for later use. If we only knew then what we know now....

Am anxious to see if Cousin Cynthia comes back with new information about our shared Kelly family history.

Grandfather John Lee Kelly in Hollywood Florida in 1944.