John Cahill & Bridget Galligan/Gilligan Nov 1851 Granard

http://www.igp-web.com/longford/churchrecs.htm

Good Morning Mary and a belated Happy Easter!

I wrote a version of this response a few days ago but since I can't find it attached to your Inquiry I've decided to try again.

The above site address is for the Granard church records for baptisms and marriages including the time period you mention.

I came upon it researching my last name, McGoldrick, which I've found has undergone an evolutuin in spelling through the several generations I found on this site.

What caught my eye about your post however, is the Galligan reference.

It seems Granard had quite a few Goldricks and Galligans and in fact, one Catherine Galligan, parents names, Terence and Julia Black, married Peter Goldrick in February, 1862, making Catherine my great-grandmother and I believe your Bridget my great-grandaunt...It seems I'm one generation ahead of you but I think it still means we may be some kind of cousins but I have a problem figuring the 'first and second and how many times removed' thing.

I saw that your post is from December 2013 and it is now April 2014 but I hope you still get notifications of responses and that you haven't given up searching.

We may have information to share.

Happy searching Cous!

Bob

Hi Cousin Bob,

I can never figure out the cousin thing either.  I hope you hand a nice Easter.   We have a mystery here!

Also, I do not see any spell checker, and I'm not the best typest, so hopefully I won't mess up too many words with my typing.

I know for a fact that my gr, gr, grandmother Bridget (Gilligan/Galligan) Cahill parent's were Terence Gilligan/Galligan and Julia Back.  Terence and Julia appear on Bridget's death cert and parish records in Rhode Island.

Now here is the mystery.  The Gilligan  Galligan names seems to flip flop on different documents.  So I'm not sure which is correct.   On the 1870 US Census, a Mary Dodds was living with her aunt Bridget Cahill.  Mary Dodds' mother was Catherine(Gilligan) Dodds.  I assumed that Catherine was  Bridget's sister.  A couple of things may be going on here.  Catherine (Gilligan) Dodds may have been Bridget's cousin OR Catherine may have been using a middle name, OR there may have been two Catherines in the family. According to the 1865 Massachusetts Census, Catherine was born around 1840.   Howerver, if you have been doing family research for a long time, you have realized that woman lied about their age. 

I can find Mary Dodds with her parent's  George Dodds and Catherine (Gilligan)Dodds on the 1865 Massachusetts Census, but I can not locate George & Catherine Dodds after 1865. Nor can I find a marriage or death cert for George and Catherine.   I assumed they died before 1870.   Mary Dodds is always listed with the Cahill family from 1870 until she marries Malachi Kelly in Rhode Isalnd.

According to Bridget (Gilligan/Galligan) Cahill obituary, she was one of 11 chidren of Terence & Julia.  I have found several other Galligan/Gilligan  families along with a few Black families living in Northern Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts.

Also, have you checked out the 1821 Census for Townland of Crosserlough Rockes, Parish of Crosserlough, Barony of Castlerahan, County Cavan. (Go To FamilySearch.org it's FREE!)  House Number 28, Terence Galligan - Head Age 24, Judith Galligan Wife age 22, Jane Black Age 15.  I assume this Jane Black is Judith's sister.  I've been told that Judith and Julia are also interchangeable on many records.  The Gilligan/Galligan family that we know in Longford Ireland, may actully have some connection to Cavan county Ireland.

Thanks for posting cousin Bob, I hope you continue have great success in your family search.

Mary Cahill