Good day and thanks for reading!
I have been unable to find exactly where my 3rd great grandparents are from and hope someone can help me find the place to figure it out!
From what I have found, there were many men named Martin Kelly and many Mary Conway's also, so finding 'mine' as been very difficult from the US. I've searched all the web sites I can find, but there are so many with the same names. I wish I could come there tomorrow and God willing will get to see Ireland someday!
Three of their children listed they were born in Westport County Mayo in their obituaries, so I am hoping their birth records might lead to where their parents were from.
Martin Kelly (b approx 1827) and Mary Conway (Oct 1831) arrived in the US 16 May 1859 via the Jacob A Westervelt which departed from Liverpool. With them were
Anne (6 Feb 1850 Westport)
John H (11 Jun 1854 Co Mayo)
Margaret Cecilia (27 Oct 1858 Westport).
Another child, Mary (1856) travelled at a later date (arr 30 Nov 1864 via the Constellation from Liverpool) with Thomas Kelly (1805), Mary Kelly (1805), Thomas Kelly (1834), and Charles (1846). I wonder if Thomas and Mary were Martin's parents?
Any help or guidance would be so very much appreciated.
Thank you and God Bless!
Amy Fout Branham (amyfbgn1@twc.com)
Lexington, Kentucky, US
Wednesday 19th Feb 2014, 08:32PM
Message Board Replies
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Dear Amy
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in replying to your message.
You believe that the Westport area may be a link. It may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Westport Town for example is in the Civil Parish of Oughaval, Co. Mayo, as you can see from the link below:
The records for the corresponding Roman Catholic Parish of Aughaval begin in 1823, so you should be able to obtain baptism records for Anne, John and Margaret on the site recommended, if this is the correct parish.
Have you tried the sites below in your search for your Kelly and Conway ancestors? These websites do not have complete collections and many do not cover the period after 1900 but are very usesful:
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.
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered.
Some other websites that may be helpful 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
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search:http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland: http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm
Irish Genealogy Tool kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.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.
Best of luck with your search
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Monday 24th Mar 2014, 11:57AM