Hi, I am looking for family in the Westport area decended from Stephen Tonra and Sabina Maley. Stephen Tonra was born 1809 (unsure if in Mayo) and died in Westport in 1895, listed as dying in the Westport workhouse. I do not have any confirmation on that. Sabina Maley was married to Stephen at Oughaval Parish RC Church 16 Oct 1847. Witnesses were Catherine Maley, possibly a sister of Sabina, and Francis Haneher.
I do not know what parts of Mayo Stephen and Sabina were from before their marriage but I know they lived in Westport Town on the Quay and James Street.
She died 15 Nov 1883 on James Street.
Children of their marriage that I know of are: Ellen b. 1848, Edward b. 1855, Patrick b. 1856 (my great great grandfather), Bridget b. 1862, Stephen b. 1864, and Katherine b. 1865.
Ellen was baptised in 1848 and witnesses were Patrick Cain and Catherine Malone, that is all I know of Ellen.
Edward was baptised in 1855 and witnesses were Martin Toole and Margaret Maley, that's all I know of Edward.
Patrick my gggf, I have no birth or baptism records. His marriage to Anne Butler was 1875 in Westport, Oughaval parish, witnesses were Arthur McKenna and Honoria Conway. He was a shoemaker. They lived on Bridge Street in Westport before they emigrated to Philadelphia, back to Westport and then to Liverpool. Children were Bridget (Delia, my great grandmother), Patrick Emmett, Michael, John Sarsfield and Mary Catherine, that I know of. They changed the spelling to Toner.
Bridget was baptised March 1862 and witnesses were John Loftus and Mary Tonrey. That's all I know on Bridget.
Tonrey was another spelling used in this family as interchangeable as Tonry, Tonra and Toner...
Stephen was baptised June 1864 and witnesses were John Ludden and Bridget Egan. Know nothing more of Stephen.
Katherine was born in 1864 or 65. I do not have a birth or baptism record. Her marriage to Peter Joseph Clarke was July 1883 in Westport and they lived on Altamont Street before emigrating to Philadelphia in 1888. They had many children.
Hope this helps me find some missing links in this family and helps others.
Tuesday 24th Apr 2012, 03:08PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Tina,
There are records available for the Westport workhouse. You might be able to confirm the death of Stephen. Here is a link you could look at. It also give links to the archives relevant to you: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Westport/
Here is a nice link for this parish: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/irlmay/CivilParishes/OughavalCP.htm
There Roman Catholic church records available for Aughaval (Tuam). These date from 1845 for baptismal records and 1823 for marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 4210, or the Church of Latter Day Saints, ref. no. 12792210/1 item 17-22, 1-4. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.
Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.
Please also check the 1901 and 1911 census records for possible information: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
You should be able to find information about shoemaking in trade directories:
- 1856 Slater, Royal National Commercial Directory of ireland, National Library of Ireland, Church of Latter Day Saints, Film 1472360, Item 1
- 1870 Slater, Directory of Ireland, National Library of Ireland
- 1881 Slater, Royal National Commercail Directory of Ireland, National Library of Ireland.
You could also view of of the directories in the failteromhat website (above).
Be sure to check all variants of the surnames when researching. They were often spelled or written down differently in different documents.
Have you tried checking the Ellis Island records (www.ellisisland.org) or the Castle Garden records (www.castlegarden.org)? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at, this could be a good place to find more information.
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Sinead Cooney
Genealogist (Ireland XO)
Tuesday 24th Apr 2012, 03:59PM -
I am excited to try those links, esp the workhouse one as that is one I did not know of before.
Monday 7th May 2012, 12:55PM -
My greatgranmother was Bridget (Delia) Toner. She emigrated to Philadelphia. She was born in 1862 in Westport Mayo. We know her mothers name was Sabina Catherine and we believe her father was William. We tthought born in March or May. She had a sister Mary born 1852. family names of Stephen, Edward, and Patrick. Could the family above be my relatives? Any ideas where I could find information? We are RC.
Saturday 16th Feb 2013, 01:54PM