Bridget Delaney Walsh?

Dear Jnalex61:

Thank you for your post to the Ireland Reaching Out message board and welcome to the site.

There is a Church Baptism Record on the Roots Ireland database for Bridget Delaney born in 1840.  It is listed below:

Name:     Bridget Delany     Date of Birth:     
           Date of Baptism:     20-Feb-1839
Address:         Parish/District:     Bekan RC parish
Gender:     Female     County     Co. Mayo
        Denomination:     Roman Catholic
Father:     Edmond Delany     Mother:     Mary Donnelan
Occupation:             
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:     Michael Hansbro
    Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:     Bridget Charles

You will note that the Parish is Bekan.  Do you have any idea where in Ireland Michael Walsh and Bridget Delaney may have married?  There is a marriage for a Michael Walsh and Bridget Delaney in Tuam County GAlway in 1866. 

You might include more information if you have it on this post.

In the meantime, if you would like to create an Ancestor Profile for either Bridget or Michael, you can do so under the "XO Chronicles" tab at the top of the page. 

The very best of luck with your research!

Kind regards,

Jane.

Jane,
Thank you so much for the information. Other than County Mayo, we have no idea about Bridget Delaney or Michael Walsh’s specific origins. What I do know is that their son (my great-grandfather) was born on the way over to the US. When I find anything about him (which is just his naturalization and death) it states that he was born in England 1864.
We believe Bridget and Michael were married before 1864 in Ireland and may have had a few children. Bridget was a practicing Roman Catholic here in the US.
According to the 1900 US Census, she gave birth to 11 children and only 5 were still alive by 1900. Sadly, she buried all but 3 prior to her own death in 1908.
We have even less information on Michael Walsh as he died in 1890.
Is there any way for us to find more information to help verify that the Bridget Delaney that you found is indeed my Bridget Delaney? Do you know if there are records about departures from Ireland?
In advance, thank you for considering.
Best Regards,
Judy

Dear Judy:

You might consider looking at English records as often, many emigrants went to the UK first before they emigrated.  This was due to financial circumstances and the UK was a cheaper option.  It also allowed them to work, to raise money for the trip to the US.  It is possible that Michael Walsh and Bridget Delaney may have married in the UK.  It seems like Michael Walsh may well have been born in the UK.  A search through Ancestry under UK records may turn up some information about his birth/baptism as well as other siblings. 

Ship records do exist through Ancestry but they are ports of arrival, and not departure.  Having said that, often on an arrival record, the ship will have originated in a UK port (such as Liverpool) before it picked up passengers in Queenstown and then sailed across.

Philadelphia was one port that you might consider looking at and particularly as your ancestors settled in Pennsylvania. 

John Grenham has a good listing of ships by name that you might look at.  It also lists by destination.

https://www.johngrenham.com/records/passenger_urls.php?StartLetter=A#passengerlists

The best of luck with your search!

Kind regards,

Jane.

I am sorry, I just realized that Bridget Delaney was actually born in February 1835 (per the 1900 census) How can I look for her birth or baptismal record in County Mayo? I feel terrible giving you the wrong date for her birth. I hate to keep bugging you. Is there any way for me to begin looking? I believe that some of her children were born in Ireland. One was born on the way to the US 1864 and she also gave birth to a few in the US.

Thanks,  Judy 

Dear Jnalex61:

You can search for Bridget's baptism record for County Mayo by using the Roots Ireland website (which is a subscription site), and then searching for other members of her family, or you can try searching through FamilySearch.org which is a free site.  Ancestry and FindMyPast may also have records but both are subscription.

There is a church baptism record for a Bridget Delaney born 4 May 1836 in Bekan parish, County Mayo to a Michael Delaney and Mary Sweeney.  Sponsors were Patrick Dugan and Mary Doyle.

This parish register can be viewed at the link below:

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/1050

The very best of luck with your research!

Kind regards,

Jane.