Looking for Thomas McGourn & family in Castlebar

Josh:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I located the baptismal record for Thomas on the subscription site Roots Ireland. He was born in 1838 and baptized in the Balla RC parish whichis just to the east of Castlebar RC parish. I did not see his parents marriage record and did not find any baptismal records for siblings. I also have not yet found a marriage record for Thomas and Mary McKeone. Is it possible they married outside of Ireland?

Let me know what questions you have.

Roger McDonnell

Name:Thomas McGurrunDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:22-Jan-1838Address:Not RecordedParish/District:Balla RC parishGender:MaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Thomas McGurrunMother:Mary BurkeOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Thomas Hughes Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Heneghan 

Roger,

I never saw your comment! That is certainly my Thomas, thank you! I was able to find a few baptisms for Thomas' children John, Thomas, and James, all in Balla (only James came to America - the others may have died?) Also - I did manage to find Thomas and Mary's marriage, January 2nd 1859 in Balla! He was indexed as "Thomas McGuir" but on the page it is clearly McGurn.

A cousin of mine, the grandson of Thomas, visited Castlebar 20 years ago and was told that the McGourns may have originally been called McGurrin and been from a small place named Ballytaylor, and worked as tailors. I haven't been able to find the exact location of Ballytaylor, but Thomas was a tailor and it seems that he lived in close proximity to Balla.

Best, Josh Coneby

Josh:

Thanks for your message. Usually Roots Ireland is very flexible with spelling. I looked again in Mayo for a Thomas McGurn marriage to Mary McKeon and got no record. However, when I changed the spelling to McGuir, the record popped up. All the best with your research!

Roger