Mary Vizard - Patrick Fay

Dear Lois,

Thank you for getting in contact. Unfortunately, I cannot be of much assistance. I have checked the guides to two of our key sources - the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-'35) and Griffith's Valuation (1854) - and the surname Vizard does not appear in either. I am assuming that the information you got on rootsireland.ie comes from the baptismal register of Longford town parish (also called Templemicheal). That site has all of the church records. The name is unusual and I have not come across it in Longford before. There are no surviving census records for that period, so church records are crucial.

The next step is probably to check the parish registers for other people of that name and see if there are potential links. Rootsireland.ie is the website of local genealogy centres and for a search of this kind, you would probably be advised to contact the Longford Genealogy Centre directly. The address is longroot@iol.ie. It is open on a part-time basis, but the researcher will be able to check for Vizards in Longford town.

Kind regards,

Martin Morris

I did another search on rootsireland.ie and found that the Mary Vizard in County Longford whose record I noted above had three brothers:

James Vizard, 1818

Patrick Vizard, 1824

Thomas Vizard, 1827

I did not view the records of the brothers since rootsireland.ie is expensive and I'm not yet sure that this is my family, but I did the search with the parents' names, so I'm pretty sure this is one family.

I found this James Vizard's marriage record in Rhode Island in 1868:

James Vizard, 1818, age 50

Hanna Sullivan, 1848, age 20

Married:  28 January, 1868

Newport, Rhode Island

Parents:  John Vizard, Elizabeth Kane

I know that my great-great grandmother, Mary Fay, was born in Ontario, Canada, in about 1848, and her parents are Patrick Fay and Mary Vizard, both born in Ireland, so the Mary Vizard born in County Longford in 1821 is the right age to be her mother.  I have not found a passenger list, so I don't know if they came to Canada or the USA.  When Mary Fay married my great-great grandfather, William O'Brien, in Detroit, Michigan, in 1865, one of the witnesses was Michael Vizard, and I don't know how he was related to Mary.  I don't know where Patrick Fay married Mary Vizard.

Well there are a few possibilities; Vizards have ben crossing over into Detroit and Chicago from Canada for decades. A number of them were named Michael. They still live in Michigan

Vizards are currently based in Mayo and Sligo border (including Mary)

There was a Confederate private named Michael Vizard as well

The Vizard Group is active on Facebook