Swift, Foody, Philbin Ballina area 1830s

Victoria:

I looked on the Roots Ireland indexes and found an 1832 baptismal record for a John Swift in the Kilmoremoy/Ballina RC church. The parents were Martin and Anne. Also found an 1835 baptismal record in the same church for a Sara Philbin parents Thomas and Mary. I assume these records are for your ancestors. I also found an 1860 marriage record for John Swift married to a Sibby in the same church. I could not get the maiden name of the spouse.

I looked on the civil death index records for Sibby in 1864. That was the year that civil registration started and possibly her death was not registered because I could not find a record. I also looked for civil marriage index records for John Swift and the only one before 1872 was the 1865 record below. Is it possible that his 2nd wife was Mary Connor?

It would be unlikely that there is a record of her burial. You may want to contact St. Murdachs which is in Ballina town to see if they can assist. http://www.ballinaparish.org/

This site may also be helpful.

http://www.goldenlangan.com/headstones.html

Roger McDonnell

Thank you so much for your fast and helpful response! I will follow up with the church to see if they have her somewhere. 

Sincere thanks for your time and interest!$

Hello Roger,

Did it happen to mention the maiden names of Anne and Mary? 

Thanks

Victoria:

To answer your question, I could not determine the maiden name of the two mothers.

I need to pull back on Sara Philbin in 1835. The record for that Sara was in the Kilfian RC church not Kilmoremoy. Kilfian is also in North Mayo but a good distance away.from Ballina. There were no other S. Philbin baptismal records in the mid-1830s. It is possible that this Sara moved to Ballina and then married John Swift but it could be someone else.

Roger 

Hi Victoria,

Kilmoremoy parish records are also available on Ancestry, if you want to take a look at them. You might want to see what more you can find. It seems at least that there was another child name John born in 1829 (most likely died), and a daugther named Mary born in 1831.  The family's address is listed as Garden St in Ballina. For John, godparents were James Curren & Harriet Bourke. Since the mother was Catherine Bourke, you might be able to guess that Harriet Bourke woudl have been a sister.

Thanks for this. I have a copy of John and Sibby's marriage record and I have something related to her death that I got off an Irish site last year. Ancestry has not been that helpful but I think its how I search. Now that I know to search that card catalog I will look closer to see what details I cand find, this is very helpful

best

Victoria

Hello Again Roger, 

I am wondering if you are aware of what the designation B. Garden would mean in the Ballina records. I am looking at the record for my great grandfather Peter Foody (parents John Foody and Sibby Filbin in this record). Their address is listed as B. Garden - wondering if that designates something more specific than Garden Street. Thanks for all you do! Victoria 

Hi Victoria!

Good to hear from you. Normally when I see the abbreviation B. on a parish register it would stand for Bally e.g B. Glass would be Ballyglass.

However, I think your presumption is correct, the B. Stands for Ballina meaning Garden St. in Ballina.

Roger

Hello, I'm looking for this family too and have been in contact with Victoria through 23&me. I'm not sure exactly how we connect except that it's definitely by the Swift/Foody's. I'm looking for my 3xs great grandparents Martin Swift (1815) and Mary Gilvary (1821). They left for Toxteth Park, Liverpool, England in 1845 or shortly after with their eldest two sons, Patrick (1840) and Thomas (1845). They had my great grandmother Mary Swift and more children in Liverpool. Mary and her husband Michael Flynn emigrated to the US in 1874.  If anyone here can help I'd be so grateful! Thanks!

Also, I was told that Swift was Changed from Forde. I know it's close to Foody but I did find it listed once on a record in Liverpool. -Becky

My wife is called Patricia Swiift. Her great grandfather was John Swift, who married Derinda Nicholson in Sligo Cathedral in 1854. The marriage record shows that John Swift was born in Ballina, Co Mayo probably around 1830. He moved to Sligo  around 1850 / 51 - the family story was that he was a carpenter and he was making coffins for peole dying in Sligo during the famine waiting for transport to North America. His father was also shown as John Swift born in Ballina around 1800. He marrried Winifred Cairns in Ballina around mid 1820s. Around that time, the family woud have used Irish names. When the family moved to Sligo, they changed their name. People changed their original Irish names to anglicised versions for various reasons. These included avoiding problems with the British authorities or if they had to do business with Government or local authorities or a bank, etc. There were generally 3 ways to change an Irish name. They could try to translate it into English, change it to an English sounding version or to choose a random English name.  The original name of the Swifts was Fodaghan (O’Fuadochain). This was close to the Irish word for rapid or fast. So, some of the family called themselves Swift, some called themselves Speed (or Spud), some called themselves Foody. We know that members of the family who moved to the US and Canada were called Foody, and the use of the name Spud instead of Speed has been found in the records. When John Swift married Derinda Nicholson in Sligo in 1854, the marriage record shows John Spud. My wife's family moved lock, stock and barrel to Glasgow in 1871 as my wife's grandfather, John Franics Swift born in 1857, was in trouble with the British authorities.