Burke girls married in 1850 in Ballyovey parish; Nolan relatives

Johnny:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

The Ballyovey baptismal records do not start until 1860 so no records would be available for Mary or Ellen. Here is a link to the 1855-1856 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Ballyovey civil parish. There are a number of Burke records.

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/ballyovey.htm

You also may want to consider autosomal DNA testing.

Roger McDonnell

Thanks Roger, there are so many Burkes in Mayo, and Griffith's, I really need an extra clue.    I was hoping perhaps some local history re soldiers in the area might help, or a family in the area whose tree might provide a clue.    The only Burke sisters I have found born around 1930 are in Inchigeelagh in Co.Cork !.    Perhaps they were only cousins.  Traditional naming pattern for children hasn't lead to anything either.  I thought eldest Cleary girl's name of Caroline might be a clue as it is fairly uncommon at that time I think, but didn't have much luck there either.    

Johnny

Re Ellen Burke Cleary and Mary Burke Connell:   I have since learned that the 17th Foot Regiment were moved in late 1850 from Castlebar to Galway.  I also learned that Mary Burke's first child, Ellen, was baptized by the army chaplain in 1851 in Oughterard.    This suggests that Mary Burke's mother's name might have been Ellen. 

William Connell's son was born in Dublin in November 1853 where the the 17th Foot were assembled in preparation for embarking to Gibraltar then Crimea,  and Ellen Burke Cleary's first child was also baptized in Dublin in early 1854; the godmother was Ellen Morris, is that a clue?.   Did Ellen decline to name her 1st daughter after Ellen's mother, per tradition,  to avoid confusion, and instead waited till her 2nd daughter was born in Quebec and named her Ellen.   

The Burke+Cleary and Burke+Connell marriages took place in Ballyovey parish in Aug 1850, so where were the girls from?  Were the soldiers stationed in Castlebar or Ballinrobe and meet the girls there?  If in Castlebar, would the marriages still have been in Ballyovey parish? 

Anyone got any ideas/

Johnny Canuck

Hello, I have recently made a dna connection, I'm pretty sure, with descendants of Patrick Nolan and an Ellen Burke, who married in Ballinrobe in 1874.  Patrick was the son of Martin Nolan, a hatter, on Glebe St.  Ellen was the daughter of John Burke of Partry.  They had 2 children, Bridget born 1874 who went to Swinton Lancashire around 1900 and married James Grimshaw a coalminer.  They also had a son John 1876-1959, who married Mary Sheridan in 1914.   I'm wondering if there are any descendants of John Nolan still in Ballinrobe who might have more family history information that might help me identify the Mary and Ellen Burkes who got married in 1850 to two soldiers recently stationed in Castlebar.    William Connell and Mary Burke settled in Newbridge Co.Kildare when he finished his army service in 1970.    Michael Cleary and Ellen Burke stayed in Canada after his regiment was there in 1856.  They settled in Dunnville, Ontario.  

John in Canada, born in Blackrock,Co.Dublin