Looking for information on Duffy Family

Margaret:

As you probably know, researching the surname Duffy in Kilmovee civil parish is very difficult because the name is so prevalent. The spelling of the townland you mention is Clooncarha. I took a look at the 1901 census for the area and searched for Bridget Duffys around age 10. I found a family in Clooncarha townland that had a 11 year old Bridget with olders sisters Kate and Maggie. The parents names were Stephen and Bridget. Below are the 1901 and 1911 census records for this family. You will note that in 1911 only Bridget was in the household. The Kate and Maggie in this family could have emigrated or possibly stayed in Ireland and married. Let me know if you think that this family is yours.

FYI. My great-grandmother Mary Duffy came from Magheraboy townland in Kilmovee parish. I have had a lot of difficulty researching her family. Mary stayed in Ireland and married a farmer from Co. Roscommon.

Roger McDonnell

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilmore/Clooncarha/1595525/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Mayo/Kilmovee/Clooncarha/737227/

Roger, I think you may have found my missing piece!  The original family had five girls...Mary, Nellie (or Ellen), Catherine, Margaret and Bridget.  All of the girls except for Bridget immigrated to the USA.  Catherine and Margaret did not come until 1903 and 1906 so that would account for why they were on the 1901 census and not the 1911.  Hoping with this information I can finally start pinpointing relatives.  I thank you so much for your help!!!!

Do you know how to find registration districts?  
For example...I'm trying to find the registration district (for a death record) and only have Kilmovee, Co Mayo to go on.  Much thanks!

Margaret:

Kilmovee civil parish is included in the Swineford registration district.Who are you looking for and I'll see if I can find the record?

Roger

Just to clarify, I can look for the index record. You would still have to write to the GRO for the a copy of the death record.

Roger, I am just trying to confirm that my information is correct...was clarifying the family name and thankfully, Swineford is the registration district for what I am finding.  I have worked on my family tree for more years than I care to admit. I live in the US and my great-grandmother (Mary Duffy) came here...with most of her sisters following.  Sadly, while I see them in the US census records, have their marriage and death documentation (confirmed by living relatives), I still have no actual birth dates.  Years or "about" are on the census, but as far as actual month and day, I am at a loss.  Do you know if I could find this out in Ireland records.  Even on death certificates there is no actual birth date for any of these women.  Another thing that did surprise me that while spouses, siblings and children are mentioned in the obits, no parentals are included.  I KNOW that Bridget Duffy was the only sister who remained in Ireland because I actually wrote to her daughter (another Mary...lol) and have lost contact...I believe she may have passed.  I thank you so much for your help.  Do you have a facebook page?  I have actually tried looking for people on fb as my one contact in Ireland did have four children...sadly, I am not finding them on fb as I thought that would have been a great way to reach out across the waters.  Thanks again!

I just wondered if you have seen this website, it has the burials in Kilmovee Cemetery

Theses are the Duffy's from Clooncara listed

http://www.irishgraveyards.ie/search.php?yardid=126&lastname=Duffy&firs…

Thank you...I had NOT seen this but am grateful for another resource to look at!!!!!

Margaret:

I do have a Facebook page. I also have a 1901 census website which I started in 1998. www.leitrim-roscommon.com/1901census  There is a Facebook page for Kilmovee but you can only "like" the page and not leave any messages. There is also a Mayo Genealogy group which has over 700 members that you may want to join. ( I belong).

By the way, I grew up in Philadelphia and now live near Baltimore. As I mentioned in my first note, my great-grandmother Mary Duffy stayed in Ireland but a number of her siblings left Ireland for Philadelphia.

Regarding your question about the actual birth dates for your Mary and her sisters, the civil birth record has that information. The problem is finding that record with the Duffy name being so common in the Swineford registration district. I went through the indexes for 1877 and found 10 Mary Duffy birth records and 1 Mary Anne record. You could write to the GRO and ask them to search for the Mary Anne born to Stephen Duffy in Clooncarha and they should be able to find the record. Copies cost around 4 euros. I copied the one 1877 Mary Anne birth index record that I found. Let me know if you have other questions.

Roger

First Name: Mary Anne  

• Last Name: Duffy  


• Year: 1877  


• Registered Quarter/Year: 1877  


• Registration District: Swineford  


• Volume: 19  


• Page: 483  

Roger, I would be lying if I said I haven't gotten myself completely confused as I've done little else today but try to research and I'm lucky I didn't burn dinner.  Kidding.  My fear is following the wrong path which can easily be done.  My fathers side of the family was relatively easy to research as records were pretty simple for me to attain.  For some reason, I feel completely out of my element when it comes to researching my great grandparents and Ireland relatives.  What I know for sure (living relatives and personal communications) is that my great grandmothers name was Mary Ann Duffy.  She was born (I've been told) in the County of Roscommon/Mayo in about 1877.  She immigrated to the US in 1896 and died in 1955 in Cleveland, OH.  She three sisters who also came to the US.  Her sister Nellie (Ellen) born about 1882 came here in 1898 or 1899.  She died in Cleveland in 1972.  Her sister Margaret was born about 1885 and immigrated to the US in 1903, dying in Cleveland in 1975.Her sister Catherine was born about 1889 and died in Cleveland, OH in 1965.  The youngest sister Bridget stayed in Ireland to care for her parents. She was born abt 1891.  She married a young man who had the same last name as she did named Thomas Duffy.  In my grandmothers belongings I found the mass card for her burial which says the following : "Bridget Duffy Clooncara, Kilmovee , Co. Mayo. Who died on 21st October 1979 Aged 88 years.  There must have been a mistake on the original card because the month of July was crossed off in pen and October written in its place.  This pretty much everything I have.  When you told me about the correlation of names and dates I was/am pretty sure that Stephen and Bridget are their parents.  Catherine could easily have been Kate and Margaret could easily have been Maggie.  Not to confuse you/me anymore, but Bridget had one child named Mary and would you believe she also married a Duffy (Patrick).  I was given her address when my grandmother passed away as the cousins had written to each other and I continued doing so.  Sadly, the Christmas cards stopped and I only recently discovered that she had passed away.  She told me that her mom had grown up in the county of Roscommon.  She, on the other hand lived in Ballaghadarreen which I do believe is in the county of Mayo.  After more research I have found that the two places could actually be the same.  I am going to close for now as I see the name Duffy every where I look.  I will resume in the morning.  I thank you so much for your time in trying to help me.  I am so grateful I discovered this site!!!!

http://www.irishgraveyards.ie/plot.php?plotno=106&yardid=126&section= Have you found your great grandmother on the Ellis Island records, I did a quick search but did not find anything based on the information you have supplied.

Do you think this is your cousin's grave? Based on your information I think it is but I might be wrong. Some of her family still live in the area, but i cannot see them on Facebook. I will see if i can locate an address for one of her daughters.

I had a look in  the old and new graveyards for her parents but did not find them yet. Were Mary's parents both from Kilmovee? (Clooncara)

There are loads of Duffys in Kilmovee and lots in the townland of Clooncara so not an easy task to find the right family ....

Thank you so much for your response.  Yes...I have found my grandmother (and her sisters) coming in through Ellis Island.  Yes...the gravesite information you provided belongs to my greatgrandmothers sisters daughter Mary.  Only one sister remained in Ireland and Mary was an only child.  Mary one time mentioned that there were brothers and I believe they stayed in Ireland as I never heard of them.  I know that the Duffy's I know of were raised in Clooncara...this is not to say their parents were.  In my research (mostly U.S.) I have found that years ago people did not move too far from where they were born and raised.  Having said that, I do not know for certain whether this My great grandmothers parents were from there.  I do thank you for your help.  Maggie

On the Ellis Island records (the manifest I think), it sometimes gives next of kin - did you look at all the information on each record - I found some names on some of my ancestors records which helped me.

Did you ever check the Kilmovee baptisms that there is a link to on the Mayo Genealogy Facebook Page, i was going to have a look for you, but if you have already checked around the right dates/years there may be no point in me looking too.

Also have you been checking familysearch.org for the relevant names - i have found lots of my ancestors there.

Meanwhile i will do a few searches and see if i come up with anything - it's great to make progress!

Actually, i just had another thought - you should join the Roscommon Genealogy Page too, there are 1 or 2 fantastic people there that can always find what you are looking for, really helpful and knowledgeable.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FGGW-K92had a quick look there on familysearch.org and found this, it seems to match  your info - Ellen born 1879 to Stephen Duffy and Bridget Duffy Flanagan Clooncarha.

What do you think?

It matches the birth date I have for Ellen as well!!!!!  Thank you sooooo much!

You're welcome. Hope it is the right one, if it is you have Bridget's maiden name Flanagan too. Could not find any other girls but found a Patrick 1871 or 1874 I think. I just searched using Stephen and Bridget and a broad time frame and Mayo, you might find others. I was happy when Clooncarha came up too, but as someone else said don't go off on wrong track. Neighbours had a habit of naming children the same names (just to confuse us all!).

Hello, I have been researching my ancestry. I came across this post looking for a Mary Duffy in Ireland. This is the information from ancestry. This may be the Catherine you mentioned. 

 Catherine Kittie Rochford was born in 1891 in Balla, Mayo, Ireland, to Maria Duffy and Joannes Rochford. 

Catherine moved to the USA in 1910-1911. She lived in New York. Catherine is my 2nd Great Grandmother.