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Hello,

 

I am looking for Irish records for two Catholics in the vicinity of Dublin - John Dowling (abt. 1780, Ireland - 1843, Illinois) and his son Nicholas Dowling (about 1809, Ireland - 1860, Illinois).

In America, they claimed Dublin as their home, but at least one contemporary wrote that he suspected they could possibly have been from a neighboring county based on John's accent. John was born as early as 1775 and as late as 1785. Nicholas was born between 1809 and 1811. They reportedly arrived in NYC in about 1815 - just father and son (without wife/mother) - and headed west to the Mississippi Valley, where I really pick up their trail. John Dowling appears to have been a skilled tin smith and merchant prior to arriving in America, skills he passed on to his son Nicholas. Both were strong supporters of the Catholic church and John, at least, was an active member of the Hibernian Society of Baltimore - traveling to the east coast to attend events up until his death in 1843. I know nothing of Nicholas's mother.

Any help is much appreciated. 

TLMcDermott

Tuesday 28th Feb 2023, 10:52PM

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    Hi TLMcDermott,

     

    Looked up Nicholas on Findmypast sub. website and only 1 showed. Details are as follows:

    Baptism details are as follows:-

    First Name:   Nicholaus        [this is the spelling on the website]
    Last Name:  Dowling
     

    Father:      Joannis Dowling     [this is the spelling on the website]
    Mother:   Anne Byrne
     

    Church:    St. Nicholas  Dublin City

    Date:      only states December 1816
     

    Here is a link to it on the free www.nli.ie website: 

    NLI for Nicholas.jpg

     Marriage Cert: 

     

    There were loads for John Dowling - any of the above names seem familiar to you?, also take a look at the above link and you will see their sponsors - I could not make them out. 
    Hope this of some help to you.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Clonpriest, IrelandXO Volunteer

    Wednesday 1st Mar 2023, 10:36PM

  • I have a great grandmother Eliz Dowling and have learned a lot about the Dowling clan from Ancestry but afraid we can’t go as far back as 1809 most of our Dowling ancestors came from Balbriggan Co. Dublin. And I note Irish genealogy.ie don’t go that far back either. I seen that John in the the baptism records ok but not Nicholas. If you ever do your dna 🧬 on Ancestry or do your family tree you may make a connection. 
    Rita McMahon 

    Thursday 2nd Mar 2023, 12:30AM

  • Thank you for all of the input. That Dec 1816 baptismal record looks so right for my Dowlings, yet I'm not certain. The assertion that John signed papers in NYC in 1815 on behalf of himself and Nicholas is from a second-hand account from an contemporary of theirs. It's possible they arrived later. However, Nicholas is commissioned a Lieutenant during the 1832 Black Hawk War; the Dec 1816 baptism would suggest he'd only be 16 in 1832. It will be interesting to dig into this new data and see where it leads.

    Thanks again for everything... if I can make the pieces fit, I'll post an update here.   

    TLMcDermott

    Thursday 2nd Mar 2023, 04:23PM

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