Hello, happy to join this website - my Waterford ancestry has always been the biggest gap in my knowledge, perhaps it can be improved here. I have no parish information, just what I found in US records of the family and the word of mouth traditions. Perhaps with what I know, eventually the parish could be guessed at.
Immigrant ancestor: Patrick Hallihan, arrived in New York in 1854 with his wife Mary (Murray) and their one-year-old son Patrick (known as Patrick George in later records).
The family went first to Sterling, Mass. as shown on the 1855 state census, living with Patrick's sister Margaret and her husband Daniel Mulcahy and their two children Margaret and Thomas (both born in Ireland). The census says Patrick was 30, his wife 20, and Margaret 38. Margaret Hallihan Mulcahy died in 1869 of phthisis (TB I believe) and at the time her parents' names were given as Patrick Hallihan and Johanna Keefe. My family never knew that Margaret existed till I found her in the Mass. death records, so it is interesting to see that the parents listed match exactly with what family tradition always said were the names of Patrick's parents.
By 1860, Patrick had relocated to a farm in Holden, Mass. where he remained the rest of his life - he died in 1916. Mary Murray died of TB in 1867, and exactly 1 year later (evidently a mourning requirement) Patrick married Mary Cotter. Tradition has it that she was related to Mary Murray, and came over to take care of the family when Mary fell ill. My great-grandfather was born in January 1869 so he was clearly on the way by the time his parents married.
On Mary Cotter's death certificate from 1911 her parents are given as Timothy Cotter and Katherine McGeal or McGrail but we have no corroborating information, that is what was provided by the family to the authorities.
Patrick's children were: Patrick, Lawrence, Mary Ann, Ellen, Bridget, Johanna, and Margaret Mary (first marriage) and Thomas, James, Katherine, Alice, Timothy, William, and John (second marriage). The only child of the first marriage to survive into the 20th century was Margaret Mary, they all died young of phthisis and/or pulmonary tuberculosis.
It does look as though I know a lot, but sadly none of this has led me to a particular parish in Ireland. I looked at Griffith's Valuation online to see if there was a place where these names were all found together, but had no luck. If this meshes with anyone else's research, or if anyone knows of a parish I ought to look at, I would appreciate hearing of it!
Thursday 25th Oct 2012, 05:21PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi
Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc.? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.
If you haven't already You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/ for Patrick, Mary M or Mary C's relatives.
Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at ). www.failteromhat.com
Some sites that might be of use to you are:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/munster/index_wa.htm…
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
http://waterford.rootsireland.ie/ (a fee may apply)
Remember to post as much information as you can regarding the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
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Hello there and greetings from Waterford in the Sunny South East of Ireland
I had a quick look online at rootsireland.ie for your Waterford ancestors Patrick Hallihan and Mary Murray and am delighted to say that I found their marriage record in the Catholic parish of Kilgobinet in 1850.
The Kilgobinet parish registers start fairly late at 1848 so baptisms or marriages within the parish prior to that have not been recorded. I checked for Patrick or Margaret's or Mary Cotter's baptisms and for the respective parents' marriages but these searches were not successful.
I also looked for baptisms of children of Patrick Hallihan and Mary Murray but didn't find any.
Should you wish to obtain further details on Patrick and Mary's marriage ie. date, witnesses, townland address you can do so online at the above website (fee required) or if you wish you can drop me a line at waterfordorigins@gmail.com.
Kilgobinet is a beautiful rural parish not far from Dungarvan in the foothills of the Comeragh Mountains. The river Colligan runs through the parish. That part of Co. Waterford saw great hardship and emigration during the Famine years (1847-51) and for many years after.
I hope the above is of help and interest to you. Ye may have left 159 years ago in harder times but I'm always happy to welcome home our Wandering Waterfordians
warm wishes to you
Tony Hennessy
waterfordorigins