Searching for William Ryan married to wife Catherine Shanahan in 1840.

Rose:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

If your William was born around 1819 and in Doon civil parish then a record of his baptism will likely not be found. Doon RC records do not begin until March 1824 http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0260  If my conclusion is incorrect, please let me know.

Roger McDonnell

Roger, thank you for replying to my inquiry.  It looks like you are right.  Any suggestions?  Should I forget the baptism entries of William Ryan in Parish Register, Diocese Cashel & Emly, Parish Hospital & Herbertstown, County Limerick where his wife Catherine Shanahan was born?  They stayed in Foilycleara and had their children there, including my Grandmother Catherine Ryan in 1863.

Rose Victor

Hi Rose,  If the children were defnitely born in Foilyclera,  I would say William was probably born in Doon parish  If  you are certain Catherine Shanahan was born  in Hospital,  then there is the Possibility  William was born there also.  Generally they did not move about much in those days with very little transport. Have you tried making them out from the naming pattern, the first son called after paternal grandfather.  I will try and find out more on this for you .  Let me know if you have any questions.

Christina.

There was a Shanahan couple who were probably from Doon (John and Margaret born in 1820s) who followed a crowd of immigrants from Doon to the US, first living in Washington County, New York and then later in Waupun, Fond du Lac Co. Wisconsin.  Their daughter Margaret married a first cousin 3x removed  of mine, so some of their descendants are turning up as DNA matches (Ancestry) to me and my brother. Have you considered DNA testing?

Thanks for your post on my behalf.  My grandmother was Katherine Ryan, b. 6-20-1863 in Doon, Foilycleara, Limerick.  Her parents were William Ryan and Catherine Shanahan.  Catherine Shanahan's parents were Michael and Bridget Foley from Lissowen, Doon, Limerick. Katherine immigrated to Canada or NY with brother Stephen Ryan abt. 1881.  They ended up in Columbus, Platte, NE where she married my grandfather Patrick Caffrey on 10-10-1886.  He was born in Oldcastle, Meath 5-1-1859.  My father was their son so my brothers carry the Caffrey DNA and not the Ryan DNA.  Us ladies only carry our mother's DNA or whatever.  Katherine's brothers also came over later and were Michael, b. 11-5-1862; Milo, b. 4-15-1865 and Joseph, b. 8-8-1867 and all settled in Columbus, Platte, NE.  I haven't tracked down their children and where they ended up at.  My brother did have his Caffrey DNA tested.  That was a good suggestion of yours.  Thanks.

Rose Mary

Rose Mary,

True, Y-DNA is passed from father to son, Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to all her children but only women can pass it on.  But there are now Autosomal DNA tests available which will show you connections to all your cousins, male or female.  They are available from the Big Three testing companies: FamilyTreeDNA.com, Ancestry.com, and 23andMe.com ($99, $99, and $199 USD).  I was able to find the family of my 2nd greatgrandfather by testing of several of his known descendants.

Have you looked at connorsgenealogy.com? 

Ann

Ann, thank you for the information.  I hadn't heard of Autosomal DNA tests.  This is what I will do.  After doing more searchs through William Ryan and Catherine Shanahan's children in the Ireland Parish Baptisms Ledgers, I found in his son William's baptism record a notation that said his father had died. Sure enough, in the Parish records I found Catherine Ryan marrying Stephen Ryan a few years later.  Now the mystery is solved as I thought that William Stephen Ryan was one man and it turns out to be two different men that Catherine had married.  I still don't know for sure which William Ryan is mine, but do know that Stephen Ryan is my grandmother's father.  Thank all of you for your insight and advice.  Funny what a person will find in those Parish Records that we didn't have access to before.  

Rose Mary