Furlong search and connections

Kathy:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Civil registration of deaths in Ireland did not begin until 1864. Sometimes you will find a church that maintained death info pre-1864 but Ballyhoge/Bree did not. Also, Ballyhoge/Bree records start in January 1837 https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0582  so any events 1836 or earlier will not be available. I did search on the subscription site FindMyPast and did not find a marriage record for Andrew and Anna. I saw the baptismal records for the children you mention in your message but not new records.

Furlong is a very common surname in Co. Wexford. With the church records available for Ballyhoge/Bree, there is no way to connect Andrew and Anna to John and James unless connections can be made thru DNA testing.

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger,

OK, thank you.  I was hoping there was some other Catholic church that might have predated Ballyhoge and would have some records.  But maybe this is as far as I'll be able to take our family's Irish line.  I'm sad to hear that death and burial records did not exist until 20 years later.

I did just find Catherine "Kitty" (Furlong) Fisher's Kentucky death record - 10 Sep 1922.  It named her father as John Furlong and her mother as Ellen Murphy.  I do see that same Fisher family on the 1900 census for Maysville, Mason county, Kentucky.  Catherine gives her birth as Feb 1837, which is amazing to find!  But I couldn't see her baptism record at Ballyhoge.  Maybe she is at another church nearby or maybe her baptism wasn't recorded at all.  Another research said that Catherine Furlong and John Fisher were married in April 1858 in Cincinnati.  The hcgsohio.org website shows the location for that marriage as St Peter in Chains Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1845.  I'm going to try to obtain a copy of that marriage record.

I do see a James and a John Furlong in Galbally on the Griffith's evaluation.  But I'm not yet understanding what timeframe the evaluation was done for that particular location.  Or if there is any way to tie those two men to the others in my family line.  If that James the Griffith's evaluation in left in 1854, then he could very well be the one that was on the ship with Kitty, Ellen, and little Patrick. 

I appreciate all of your help and knowledge on Ballyhoge/Bree.  The timing of those church records is good to know!  Thank you so much!  Kathy

Kathy:

My guess is that Catherine Furlong possibly made herself a little younger in the 1900 census and she was actually baptized pre-1837 in Ballyhoge and there would be no record.

People in the 19th century were not as concerned about age and dates as we are in the 21st century. Just to be sure, I went on FindMyPast and searched for Catherine Furlong baptismal records in the 1830s in Co. Wexford. There were 21 records but none had parents John Furlong and Ellen Murphy.

From what I can read on the Griffiths Valuation, the work was done in Co. Wexford from 1851-1853 and published in 1854 so it is possible the James on the ship was the individual listed in Galbally townland.

There is another records source called the Tithe listings which were compiled in the 1820s/1830s and in the case of Ballyhoge civil parish 1825. The Tithe listings show four Furlongs in Galbally: Michael, Martin, James and John.  There is no way of knowing but the James and John in 1825 could be the same persons listed in the early 1850s Griffiths. 

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?surname=furlong&firstname=&county=Wexford&parish=ballyhoge&townland=&search=Search

Roger

Roger,  you are amazing.  Those tithe listings are really a great find.  Due to the fact that Andrew and Anna named their first two sons Martin, I have long suspected that Andrew's father was also a Martin.  This is the first that I've seen that there was actually a Martin Furlong in Galbally.  If I were a betting person, I'd bet that that Martin on the tithe list is Andrew's father.

Thank you for all your help.  You have been truly outstanding.

Kathy

Kathy:

Glad I could assist.

Roger

Just a quick update on the Furlongs from Galbally.  The fourth child, Anne, was baptized February 23, 1846, and I had thought for about 30 that she had died young. But this weekend *surprise!*  I found a tiny newspaper article that said a little Meehan girl, niece of JB Furlong, was visiting from Cincinnati, Kentucky.  I had no idea who the MEEHANs were!  I dug in and found out that the mother was Anne Furlong.  Anne immigrated in 1856, two years after her mother and the rest of her siblings.  For some reason Anne is not on the US Federal census in 1860 with her parents.  Maybe she is working somewhere in Cincinnati?  Anne marries Joseph Meehan on 19 May 1864 in Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, USA.  They have nine children, seven of whom are still living by 1900.  For some reason all of their children stayed single and I haven't been able to find any grandchildren at all.  Anne Furlong Meehan is buried in St Joseph's new cemetery in Cincinnati:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129417034

Just a couple of more clues on Andrew Furlong, the progenitor of this immigrant family.  On the US Federal census in 1870 he gives his birth location as Limerick!  All of the other records I've found for him just say Ireland and nothing more specific than that.  Also on the US Federal census, the oldest son, Martin, is living on his own and he gave his birth location as "Tipperara."  But I notice that census taker canvasing that area of the county said "Tipperara" for many of the Irish there.

Kathy