Kelly/Dogherty family of Foxford, Mayo

Hi Kate,

Thank you for your message.

It may be difficult to find birth/marriage records for the couple when you don?t know the parish of origin. Civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864 so prior to this records were kept by the local parish church and most of these still remain at local level today.

You could try searching for records online at the following websites. However please note that these websites do not have complete collections:

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

You may be able to use the possible fathers in Griffith?s Valuation to narrow down parish of origin. You could look into the church records in those parishes to see if you can find any pertaining to Charles and Mary. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Catholic parishes in County Mayo, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/mayorc.htm

It may also be an idea to contact the North Mayo Family Research Centre, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: normayo@iol.ie

Some other websites that you may find useful are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/mayo/index.html

Mayo Ancestors: http://www.mayoancestors.com/default.aspx

Historic Graves: www.historicgraves.ie

Irish Newspaper Archives: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

Remember to post any new information that you find here. 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,

Genealogy Support

Thanks Emma for all your helpful suggestions.  I assumed that they married in Foxford parish, in the Toomore parochial records but North Mayo doesn't have their marriage.  I have read that marriage records for Toomore are missing from 1840-1870 (which is when this couple would have married.)  I don't know if the original records are missing, or if the Mormon church just did not film that time period.  The titles of the LDS films imply that the parochial records covered are from 1821-1911 but when you look at the film notes, there are baptisms and deaths, but no marriages in 1840-1870.

Do you know if marriage records from Toomore 1840-1870 exist?

Thanks so much

Kate

Hi Kate,

Just rereading my original response to you I realise that I never gave you the link for Griffith?s Valuation, sorry about that! It is:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Using the Irish times website, it appears that the only places where these records are available is the LDS, however as you mention they do not have the records so I assume that this is an error on the LDS website. Looking at the other sources for the records there does appear to be a gap from 1840-1870:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Mayo&parish=Toomore&churchid=131

To be completely sure of what the situation is I think your best bet may be to contact the local parish office and enquire there. Here is the link to the parish website:

http://www.saintmichaelschurchfoxford.com/

I hope that they are able to clarify things for you.

Best wishes,

Emma

Thanks again.  Your knowledge is a great resource.  Those two links should help me answer this question about the marriage records.  

As to the Griffiths Valuation, I had previously discovered that for Belgarrow/Belgariff (which the children's baptismal records stated was the family's residence) possible fathers for Charles Dogherty were John, Martin or Owen.  Kelly men in 1856 in Belgarrow were Michael, Patrick or Thomas.

The LDS films would not include the birthyears for Charles Dogherty or Mary Kelly.  I guess I will contact the Foxford church and hope for clarification.

Best,

Kate

Hi,I am also looking for Mary Kelly and who she was married to.My Mary was born in a place called Clonfane, I believe it is now called Cloonfane and it is close to the borders of Mayo,she was born in 1843 and was baptised in Dunmore rc church.her parents were Michael Kelly and Catherine nee O'Neill.siblings were Sarah b 1834,Bridget b1835,Patrick 1837,John 1838-1839,John my GGrandfather,John 1840, and Michael b1843.I was wondering if this could be the same person u are looking for.

The dates sound good but I checked distances on maps and Cloonfane is 36 km from Foxford. I honestly don't know how mobile folks were in those days.  Could a girl from Cloonfane/Dunmore have met and married someone and settled in Foxford?

Do you know if any of your Kelly family emigrated?  My Mary had daughters Bridget and Catharine and son Patrick but her other children were Julia, Ellen, Maria, so none of the same names as in your family.  

My guess is my Mary was from closer to Foxford or Belgarrow.  In 1856 Griffiths Valuation, there were 3 Kelly men farming in Belgarrow:  Michael, Thomas and Patrick, so I suspect one of them is Mary's father.

Kate

The dates sound good but I checked distances on maps and Cloonfane is 36 km from Foxford. I honestly don't know how mobile folks were in those days.  Could a girl from Cloonfane/Dunmore have met and married someone and settled in Foxford?

Do you know if any of your Kelly family emigrated?  My Mary had daughters Bridget and Catharine and son Patrick but her other children were Julia, Ellen, Maria, so none of the same names as in your family.  

My guess is my Mary was from closer to Foxford or Belgarrow.  In 1856 Griffiths Valuation, there were 3 Kelly men farming in Belgarrow:  Michael, Thomas and Patrick, so I suspect one of them is Mary's father.

Kate