I currently live in St Helens, England (between Liverpool and Manchester) and have been researching my family tree. I know that my great great grandparents (Martin and Margaret Farrell) were from Ireland. My late father always maintained that his ancestors were from County Longford and I guess with a surname of Farrell that would be highly likely!
I know that Martin was born in Ireland around 1800 and Margaret in about 1803.
I also know Martin and Margaret had at least 3 children (all born in Ireland) - Margaret (born 1832), Edward (born 1834) and Michael (born 1839), who is my great grandfather.
I can find Margaret and the 3 children living in Manchester on the English 1851 census but there is no record of Martin and I cannot find any obvious record of his death in England. I suppose It is possible that he could have died in the Irish potato famine and his wife, Margaret, and the three children emigrated to England between 1847 and 1850 to avoid the same fate, although this is pure speculation.
Tracing records back to Ireland is very difficult but I have found a church burial record of a Martin Farrell in Newtoncashel. He died on 27th December 1844 aged 45 and his address is given as Derrahannbeg. This is the only record I can find which would tie in roughly with his known birth year of around 1800. There also appears to be an associated record from 1827 of a Martin Farrell with the same address in the Irish Tithe Applotment Books 1814-1855.
I know this is a very long shot but is there any way of getting any additional information to determine whether this is the Martin Farrell I am looking for either through a gravestone or other parish birth/marriage/death records which might tie him to Margaret or the children listed above.
Monday 25th Aug 2014, 12:58PM
Message Board Replies
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Martin:
I went on Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie and searched their indexes. I located an 1845 death record for a Martin Farrell in Newtowncashel RC records. I didn't know where you found the record but possibly since he died very late in 1844, it was recorded in 1845. Roots did not have a marriage record for a Martin Farrell from 1825-1835. Also, baptismal records for Newtowncashel church are not available on Roots until 1860 or so.
I looked up the 1854 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Cashel parish. There is still a Martin Farrell listed in Derraghan Beg townland. This would indicate that the 1827 Martin in the Tithes was still alive in 1854 which would cast doubt on the 1844 death record. Of course, there is the possibility that the land records were not changed if he died in 1844 and his name was still shown as leasing the land even though he was deceased and his family was in England.
I know I'm not helping you but I wanted to make sure you were aware of the Griffiths record.
http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/longford/cashel.htm
I checked the 1901 and 1911 censuses and there were still 3 Farrell families in the townland.
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 25th Aug 2014, 04:18PM -
Roger,
Many thanks for the swift reply and the information. I will have a look at it all but looks like I could be barking up the wrong Farrell tree in Newtoncashel.
It was a bit of a long shot anyway but at least I can probably discount that one and look elsewhere.
Thanks again,
Martin
Monday 25th Aug 2014, 04:27PM -
Martin:
One suggestion for your consideration. You may want to look into DNA testing and specifically Y-DNA since you are a Farrell and the Y test looks at your straight paternal line. There is also an autosomal test that helps identify possible cousins with all your paternal and maternal lines. I live in the States and we have three companies that do testing ( Ancestry, FamilyTree and 23 and Me). Not sure how much coverage they have in England. I did my test with FamilyTree and so far no major breakthroughs with my brick walls but I'm optimistic as more people have their DNA tested.
Roger
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 25th Aug 2014, 05:34PM