Hello. I am looking for information about my great-grandmother Ellen Hennessy (1849?-1913), daughter of Michael Hennessy (1820?-1875?) and Ellen Whelan (1825?-1909). I did not know where to look for them, but I found a baptism record on RootsIreland that seems to fit:
Ellen Hennessy, daughter of Michael Hennessy and Ellen Phelan, was baptized on 28 Feb 1849 in Ballylooby Parish, County Waterford, with sponsors Edmond Slattery and Ellen Phelan. Address was shown as M Burgess.
There is also a record in County Tipperary, Ballylooby Parish showing Ellen with a date of birth of 22 Feb 1849 and the same parents and sponsors, but the date of baptism is confused (1-Jan-0). This record shows the priest as Thomas Qualy.
I have read about the problem of duplication of records in Waterford and Tipperary, so I believe that these two records refer to the same baptism. But I still have several questions. Did the County boundaries change, or is it fairly certain that this baptism occurred in Tipperary?
Would it have been uncommon for someone who spelled their name as Phelan in Ireland to show it as Whelan when they moved to the United States? When the younger Ellen married William Crotty on 24 June 1872 at St Patrick Church in Memphis, Tennessee, she showed her parents as Michael Hennessy and Ellen Whelan. Both variations of the name were found at that time in Memphis.
If this Ellen is my great-grandmother, then I found a likely marriage record for her parents: Michael Hennessy and Ellen Phelan were married in Ballylooby Parish, County Tipperary on 3 Feb 1846 with witnesses Edmond Slattery and Mary Griffith. This information is repeated for County Waterford. There is also a baptism for their child Mary in the same parish on 13 August 1846.
Michael and Ellen Hennessy emigrated to the United States and the earliest record shows them in Memphis in 1855. According to family lore which seems to be supported by some records, they left their daughter(s) behind in Ireland. The 1860 US census showed Michael and Ellen living in Memphis with their 3 young children who were born in Tennessee. The 1910 US census shows that the younger Ellen emigrated to the US in 1869. Was it uncommon for couples emigrating during the famine to leave their young children behind in Ireland until they could send for them?
I apologize for asking so many questions and I would appreciate any help with them. I would especially enjoy hearing from any relatives of these individuals.
Beverly
Saturday 19th Dec 2015, 05:59PM
Message Board Replies
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Hello, Tom and thank you for the wealth of information you have provided. I am feeling more confident that this family is mine. I was going to ask about the residence of M Burgess shown on Ellen's baptism record because I didn't know if it was a person or a place. According to the information you provided, it appears to be both. On Google maps, I can see a place called Burgess just north of the Waterford line, about 20 km southwest of Ballylooby. Is it possible that this is the area where the family lived at the time of Ellen's birth? I am still trying to pinpoint the location of the birthplace of Ellen's husband William Crotty. From the information I have so far, it appears that William was born no farther than 50 km east of Burgess, just across the Waterford line.
With this information, I feel like I am forming a more personal connection to my great-grandparents and their parents. I hope to be able to visit Ireland again at some point to visit these places and to meet some of the local people.
Beverly Crawford (native of Memphis)
Monday 21st Dec 2015, 01:19PM -
Hi Beverly, welcome to Ireland Reaching Out.
I agree wholeheartedly with Tom's analysis of the name Whelan/Phelan. It is common even in Ballylooby to have both spellings used but it was also very common to have the correct spelling used by emigrants to the USA. A good example of this is Sullivan, which appears in my own family tree up to the presesent generation who have changed it to O'Sullivan. Carthy was a common name that has been changed to McCarthy and many old Irish surnames have several vaiations. I would use the name that is on microfilm records though these names sometimes vary also; they are written as they sound phonetically. The Parish boundaries did not change in the era to which these records apply but the southern part of Co. Tipperary has been part of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore going back to Ancient times. I was born in Dundalk, Co. Louth and Dundalk is in the Diocese of Armagh, which is oficially part of the United Kingdom.
As regards the name Burgess, the Townslands of Burgess, New Burgess, Burgess Mansion and Burgess West are bordered by th Thonogue River that flows through the Village of Ballylooby. I would suggest that M Burgess is Middle Burgess, though I don't see such a townsland in the area - it may have existed in times past. Burgess may not appear on small scale maps but is instantly visible on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland - Discovery Series, Sheet 74, 1:50,000. - right next to the village. The OSI are very fast in sending orders to the USA and their maps are not expensive.
This map can be purchased online at http://shop.osi.ie/shop/ and it gives a very accurate and up to date image of the locality from the Galty Mountains to the Knocmealdown Mountains which are parish boundaries north and south.
David Slattery
Monday 21st Dec 2015, 03:30PM -
Beverly, Middle Burgess is still used as a postal address. I googled it and found that there are seveal references to Middle Burgess in death notices etc. My personal knowledge of the deceased that are mentioned would place it in an area that is east of the village around the Scartana area on the map that I mentioned
Happy Christmas,
David Slattery.
David Slattery
Monday 21st Dec 2015, 03:52PM -
Hello, David and thank you for confirming the information about the Whelan/Phelan variations. And an even bigger thank you for identifying the possible residence as Middle Burgess. I will certainly pursue the Ordnance Map of the area. Google maps is only taking me so far in this area.
Merry Christmas to you both.
Beverly
Monday 21st Dec 2015, 10:23PM