Francis Higgins

lmhiggins:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Higgins was a common surname in Kilmovee civil parish. Below is a link to the 1856 Griffiths Valuation for the parish. Unfortunately, the RC church baptismal records do not begin until the 1850s. You may want to consider autosomal DNA testing as a way of identifying matches which might give you more information on your family. My Duffy and Rush ancestors came from Kilmovee parish.

Roger McDonnell

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/kilmovee.htm

Hello lmhiggins ,

 As has been mentioned the Higgins name is very common in the Kilmovee Parish. However the name Francis Higgins is very unusual and there are only three instances of it occurring as a groom, baptised child or witness to a marriage or baptism between 1854-1910 for baptisms and 1824-1910 for marriages. Christian names were as important as surnames in identifying lineage. It was only mid to late 1850’s that townlands were included in the Catholic Parish records so a little bit of faith is required with the details provided below.

The earliest record of a Francis Higgins is a marriage 1832 Dec 23 to a Sarah Forry, as shown in the parish registers http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632349#page/17/mode/1up . The name Forry is a little easier to deal with and from the Griffth Valuation the name is only associated with two townlands Tavraun and Cloonfeaghra which are both in the western part of the parish around the Urlaur area.

From the parish records for the period above the only additional townland name which appears is Shanvaghera being associated with the Forry surname. It could be easy to confuse this name with a similar townland in the parish of Knock, but as often happens communities were the preserve of many names which were dispensed with following the pre 1851 reorganization of townland names and continued to use them at a local level.

The only reference I could find with Shanvaghera associated with an area in the Kilmovee Parish was a pension application for a Mary Feeney (nee Foroy) as detailed in the link http://censussearchforms.nationalarchives.ie/search/cs/results.jsp?censusExtractYear=&applicantSurname=foroy&applicantFirstname=&applicantAddress=&fatherSurname=&fatherFirstname=&motherSurname=&motherFirstname=&county=Mayo&barony=&parish=&townland=&city=&search=Search

This would suggest that Shanvaghera was indeed part of the Tavraun/Tavrane townland of Kilmovee.

The only other two mention of a Francis Higgins in the Catholic Parish records were:-

Marriage - 1856 Nov 2-Francis Higgins to Maria Higgins-pt-Daniel Higgins,Bridget Higgins
 

Baptisms 1908 Aug 29-Kate of Dominick Lavin and Ellen Roddy-sp-Francis Higgins, Mary O’Hara-Clooncara

To give you an idea of the locations menioned I have used google maps to assist.

Cloonfeaghra, Kilmovee to Tavraun, Kilmovee

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Cloonfeaghra,+Mayo,+Ireland/Tavraun,+Co.+Mayo,+Ireland/@53.8652268,-8.7868921,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x485eac7a89fc589b:0x13c9681fed7ac6f0!2m2!1d-8.7756184!2d53.8573921!1m5!1m1!1s0x485eac4036966b19:0x8eebdc8dbfc9b69a!2m2!1d-8.7649309!2d53.876364

Cloonfeaghra, Kilmovee to Shanvaghera, Knock

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Cloonfeaghra,+Mayo,+Ireland/Shanvaghera,+Co.+Mayo,+Ireland/@53.8420485,-8.8951876,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x485eac7a89fc589b:0x13c9681fed7ac6f0!2m2!1d-8.7756184!2d53.8573921!1m5!1m1!1s0x4859548b4554e21b:0xa616bf4bb55d4695!2m2!1d-8.8858958!2d53.82229

In conclusion I would suggest based on the fact that pre 1850 there were three churches in the parish , the Francis Higgins and Sarah Forry would have lived very close to each other and used the Church at Glentavraun rather than the old Church in Ballyglass/Rusheens in Kilmovee Parish. If you are to proceed with DNA testing this hopefully will aid in narrowing down the focus of which of the many Higgins branches you may belong to in the Parish.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the prompt replies folks.  Unfortunately any records after 1838 can be ruled out because we know that Francis immigrated to canada prior to that date.  Your information provided may help in future research and I certainly appreciate it.  I believe the DNA thing may be the way to go and I am looking into this now trying to figure out which type of test and which testing company to use.  I read pros and cons to both tests and companies.  In the meantime I look forward to any more information that may come my way.  Take care all.

lmhiggins:

If you are male then you can take a Y-DNA test which tracks your father, his father, his father etc. You can also take an autosomal test which tracks your paternal and maternal lines. I would recommend the autosomal test. I have also tested with both Ancestry and FamilyTree DNA and prefer FamilyTree. Better analytical tools.

Roger

I recently recieved a document indicating that my GG Grandfather Francis may have been called Samuel.  His full name may have been Francis Samuel Higgins or Samuel Francis Higgins.  I know that on my fathers side of the family siblings went by their middle name.  I believe this was a rather common practise at one time.  I know that Francis immegrated to Canada in the mid 1830's so I don't know if any records survived prior to the mid 1830's that may reference "Samuel".  Any thoughts?

Hello Roger

I just tried to edit my message on the website re JAMES HIGGINS & BRIDGET GRIFFIN OF UGGOOL but it said I didn't have the necessary permissions. I think James & Bridget may be my G Grandparents. Their first child Mary was born in Cloonamna in 1858 but she died.  All the rest were born in Uggool/Egool. I believe their son JAMES HIGGINS born 1871 was my Grandfather. He went to Prescot, Lancashire, England before 1901. He married Mary Ellen Donnellyt of Waterford in 1902 in Prescot. Their son John born 1903 in Prescot I believe to be the John (grandson) aged 7 yrs born in England who is with Bridget and daughter Kate in 1911 in Uggool, Kilmovee. I further believe that the John Griffin who is John's Godfather at his Baptism in 1903 in Prescot to be John Griffin of Killaclare, Kilmovee who is in Killaclare in 1901 but not in 1911. I think he may have gone to USA to Duffy cousins.

James and Bridget's daughter Mary born 1866 married Thomas McCann in 1897 and was living in Killaclare in 1901 and 1911.

I think James Higgins's parents maybe Patrick Higgins and Mary Duffy who married in 1828.

Would the Ancestry DNA Test help me to confirm these HIGGINS'S are my family.

Pat Berry (nee Higgins)

Pat:

Welcome back!

I tried to find the message you mentioned with no success. How far back was the posting?

In answer to you question about the Ancestry DNA test--the answer is maybe. After you test with Ancestry, you will get a number of matches with the closest matches first and the more distant later. Some matches will have Ancestry trees but a good number will have the trees private and you have to message them to see if they will let you view their tree. The match could be on a different part of your family i.e. not Higgins. Also some matches will not have trees at all. You may get lucky and have a fairly close match and their tree is public and you can look and see that they have the same Higgins ancestors as you.

Roger

Hi Again  P McG

In reference to your post mentioning an 1832 marriage of Francis Higgins to Sarah Forry, was it common for a 15 year old male to marry?  Do you know of any other references to the family of Francis and Sarah possibly indicating an age for Francis? Do they show up on any other records after 1838?  My thinking is that if this is in fact a possible link to my GG Grandfather then something must have happened to Sarah or their marriage to lead Francis to make the decision to immigrate to Canada after 1832 and prior to his marriage here in 1838.

LM Higgins

Hello Roger

My message was posted in 2013. Here is a copy. 

Thank you for your answer to my question regarding DNA.

LOOKING FOR DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HIGGINS & BRIDGET GRIFFIN

Hello

I am looking for descendants of JAMES HIGGINS born about 1837 and his wife BRIDGET GRIFFIN born about 1846. They are living at Uggool, Kilmovee, Co. Mayo in 1901.

In 1911 it appears JAMES HIGGINS has died (possibly in 1908 in Castlebar) and Bridget is still living in Uggool (House 2) with daughter Kate and 7 year old Grandson JOHN HIGGINS who was born in England living with her.

I think that this 7 year old Grandson JOHN HIGGINS is my Dad's brother who is missing from the 1911 UK Census of Toxteth, Liverpool.

My Dad's father was JAMES HIGGINS who was born about 1871 in County Mayo to JAMES HIGGINS (a Farmer). James left County Mayo prior to 1901 and was living in Prescot, Lancashire in 1901 and from 1905 lived in Liverpool.

In 1901 Irish Census there was a PATRICK HIGGINS with wife MARY GARA living nxt door to JAMES HIGGINS and BRIDGET (Griffin) Higgins and I think they may be brothers. "I have since found that they are not brothers as Patrick's father is James. James's father is Patrick. They are related in some way I think. Some of Patrick's family went to St Helens, Lancashire, England. My Grandfather James Higgins went to Prescot, Lancashire, England which is very near St Helens. The O'Donnell's of Uggool are connected as well."

Does anyone know anything about these families.

Both families used Kilmovee RC Church for Marriages and Baptisms.

Thanks

Pat Berry in Australia

patriciaberry38
Wednesday 9th January 2013, 01:16AM

Kilmovee (Mayo)

Pat:

I located the baptismal record for your grandfather. See transcription below.. I also found likely siblings in Kilmovee. I searched for Higgins children with father James and mother's  surname of Griffin. Mary 1858 Catherine 1862 Bridget 1864 Patrick 1864 Mary 1867 Peter 1876. 

Roger

Name:James HigginsDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:11-Jun-1871Address:EggoolParish/District:Kilmovee RC parishGender:MaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:James HigginsMother:Bridget GriffinOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Pat Caulfield Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Griffin 

Roger and Patricia,

Believe this may be the link and responses to the post Jan 9th 2013

http://www.irelandxo.com/ireland/mayo/kilmovee/message-board/looking-de…

Hello lmhiggins

The information I posted back in 2013 was sourced from the Catholic Parish registers now freely available to view at the http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0137

As for the given age you have you should take into account the reliance of the accuracy based on death records or the recollections of an ageing individual who like most Irish of his generation paid little account to their actual age growing up and often underestimated .

Hello Roger

Thank you for your reply of 31 August 2016 regarding the Baptism of who I think is my Grandfather James Higgins baptised 11 June 1871 at Kilmovee RC Church. Parents James Higgins and Bridget Griffin of Eggool. Sponsors Pat Caulfield and Mary Griffin.

I had found this a while ago on Ancestry and RootsIreland.

I also have the Baptisms of his brothers and sisters that is if it is him.

James Higgins died in Liverpool, England on 25 May 1938 aged 68 years old. That date of June 1871 would make him 68 in May 1938.

I have been looking at the recently published Civil Registrations by irishgenealogy.ie and have found the Death Registration of James Higgins who I think is my G Grandfather who was living in Uggool, Kilmovee in 1901 with wife Bridget (Griffin). He died on 31 August 1907 at Uggool aged 86 years. Bridget Higgins of Uggool Widow was the informant. 

Then I looked for Bridget Higgins who I know was alive in 1911 and the only possible one is Bridget Higgins who died in 1917 aged 72  in Swinford according to the Index but when I look at the Image there is only a Dominick Higgins who died in 1916. I have written to Irishgenealogy about it but so far I have had no reply.

I would like to find Mayo Newspapers where I could possibly find Death Notices for James Higgins died 1907. I have also found the Death Registrations for his daughter Mary McCann who died in 1948 in Killaclare (Kilclare) and son Patrick who died in 1950 in Eggool.

Their daughter Catherine was still alive in 1911 but I have been unable to find a possible Death or Marriage Record for her and also their daughter Bridget born 1869 but I think she must have died at Birth. I did get a Death Record from RootsIreland for a Bridget Higgins who died in 1869 but it was the other Higgins's daughter from Uggool Patrick Higgins & Mary Gara. Their daughter was born in Sept 1869 and died aged 7days in Sept 1869. James and Bridget's daughter was born in March 1869.

Thanking you for your help.

Pat Berry

Hello Roger

Just a quick message. My posts regarding James Higgins & Bridget Griffin are now going under the wrong heading of "Francis Higgins". Can you fix this please??

Pat Berry

Pat:

I can't change the heading of this message since it was posted by another person (lmhiggins)  I did copy the link for this message and pasted the link to your original 2013 message.

Regarding newspapers in Mayo, there are subscription sites which have old newspapers e.g. Find My Past.

Roger

Having taken an autosomal and Y DNA test I found very few matches with the name Higgins and a disproportionate number of matches with the name Hagan (and it's variations).  I'm not sure what to thinks of this.  Possibly phonetic spelling came into play while emigrating/immigrating.  I also found here in Canada a 3rd cousin with a direct line to my GG Grandfather Francis.  He also took an autosomal DNA test and, if I recall, came up with NO match to me.  His autosomal test was with the same company that did mine so parameters of the test should have been similar.  Are there any Ireland specific DNA data bases one can use for comparisons?