McGARRY/MARTIN - County MAYO prior to 1850

Jane:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I did a number of searches on the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not find any baptismal or marriage records for your family. I even expanded the search to all of Ireland. Likely their parish in Mayo does not have records back to the 1840s and civil registration did not start until 1864. I also looked at the 1855 Griffiths Valuation records to see where McGarry and Martins were located and their is no specific area in Mayo. The McGarrys and Martins were from a number of civil parishes.

You may want to add Patrick and Eliza's emigration story to our XO Chronicles site and possibly someone will see a connection.  https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-dat…

Have you considered DNA testing?

Let me know if you have any questions.

Roger McDonnell

Do you know what happened to Eliza? Did she die or was she left behind?

Have you found any of the family on 1851 or 1861 English census or Eliza 1871 onwards if she survived? People often put only Ireland as place of birth on census returns but some gave more information.

Were the family Catholic? If so, have you found any of the Cumberland-born children on baptism registers? A sponsor may have been a relative. Catholic church registers in England are not always easy to track down.

Some Irish people went to where they had family or people they knew. Browsing census 1851 onwards for Whitehaven and Egremont areas might give you an idea of origins of other Irish people there. Look at who your family's neighbours were to start with.  Irish Geneology Tooolkit has a section on emigration to Britain. https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com 

Thanks for all your checking and suggestions so far.  Very much appreciated. 

Daughter Eliza (b. 1844 in Ireland, d. 20 Feb 1926 in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England) stayed behind in England and married Owen Confrey (1837 – 1902).  I reviewed all England census from 1851 to 1911 and in all cases “Ireland” was the only notation of origin. 

I am reviewing the 1851 census more closely for neighbors that may have moved there around the same time – good idea, but will take some grinding…

The family was Catholic, but I have not found any Cumberland parish registers yet.  There was a civil registration birth index for my 2x great grandfather, Patrick McGarry Jr, born in 1850 with a volume and page noted.  Civil birth certificates from 1837 on are available for purchase.  The sample form had places of origin for the parents, but it is not guaranteed it would be anything other than “Ireland”.  Would you recommend I try that route?

I have done DNA and are familiar with the relatives that descended from the New York McGarrys.  I was able to get further than any of those researchers by finding the identification of Eliza Martin’s parents in a handwritten index card at the court house in Port Henry, New York.  Also, there appears to be an Ancestry user that descends from the line that stayed in England.  I will contact him to see if he knows of any specific Irish connections.

I will put together an emigration story as you suggest.

Will let you know if I get any further, and please continue to send any and all suggestions.  Thank  you. Jane Gibson

I looked at births on Free BMD website (volunteer site for BMDs in England and Wales) and noticed many others in Whitehave district with surname McGarry, McGarr, McHarry and several other variations during the time your family were there (sometimes letter c was missing and Mc may have been omitted). You could try looking them up on census to see if there might be a connection. Some may have been Scottish though, Cumberland being on border with Scotland. Whitehaven was a busy port. Slate mines were important in Cumberland. Men migrated from other parts of U.K. to work in them.

I doubt you would obtain any more relevant information from an English birth certificate than you already have. Information on an English birth certificate c1850 was date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, father's occupation and name of informant, who was probably one of the child's parents. It seems you already have that information about Patrick's birth. The birth cert will not give information about origins of his parents. Scottish birth certs contain more information. Perhaps the sample you saw was Scottish?

Btw, St. Bees, the sub district where Patrick was born is named after an Irish saint Beaga. I think St. Bees is where she landed around 1,300 years ago. I've visited another ancient, tiny chapel dedicated to her and possibly founded by her in another part of Cumberland. 

There is a Catholic Family History Society in England. It has a website and blog.

There are local family history societies in Cumbria. (Cumbria is a local government amalgamation of Cumberland, Westmorland and part of northern Lancashire.) I heard that one of the main County Archives is closed or about to close for refubishment.

GENUKI is a site to search for locations of churches and whereabouts of their registers. It's run by volunteers. You can look up a place and search for churches of a chosen denomination within a radius of a number of miles. Another site for churches and their registers in England is Online Parish Clerks Project. It's another volunteer transcription effort. I don't know how far it's progressed in Cumbria. 

Some Catholic churches in a 10 mile radius of Whitehaven listed on GENUKI  https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CUL/Whitehaven

St. Gregory, Whitehaven, founded 1834

St. Begh, Whitehaven founded 1860s (replaced St, Gregory)

St. Mary, Cleator Moor , foundation date unknown

St. Joseph, Frizington, foundation date unknown

Our Lady & St. Michael, Workington, founded 1867

The 2 villages of Cleator and Cleator Moor are midway between Whitehaven and Egremont. St. Bees is on the coast, a few miles west of Egremont. Frizington is east of Whitehaven. Workington is a large town  north of Whitehaven.

Cumbria Archives does not hold any registers from St. Begh, Whitehaven (or predecessor St. Gregory). It has registers from St. Mary, Cleator Moor from 1853 onwards. According to the online catalogue, St. Mary used to be St. Begha. CASCAT is Cumbria Archives online catalogue www.archiveweb.cumbria.gov.uk/CalmView

There is a question about St. Gregory's church and  registers on the forum RootsChat. A person from Whitehaven has answered the question and given a potted history and posted photos. Benedictines ministered to Catholics in the area from 1700. RootsChat is a free volunteer forum. A few people on it will do look-ups at local archives. You should be able to read the thread at www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=41009.0

Industries in Egremont were dyeing, weaving and iron ore mining. 

Thanks so much for the additional leads.  I checked the churches that did have records at the Cumbria County Coucil and no luck, so I emailed the St. Begh’s church in Whitehaven for lookups.  I love reading about the history of the townlands, which provide such insight to their daily lives.  Patrick McGarry Sr. was either a mason or a laborer on the Whitehaven to Furness railway, and his children worked in the flax factory. The fact there was a local iron ore mining industry was interesting because that is what the family did in New York.  St. Begh’s recently acknowledged my email, and I hope to get a response this week.

Have you looked at a website called Cumbrian Irish?  https://irishandcumbrian.wordpress.com 

It has links to articles, books, book reviews and posts on other websites. Cleator Moor (aka Little Ireland) has a section to itself. Articles "Excavating the Cumbrian Irish Heritage" and "Mining and Migration" both focus on Cleator Moor but will be interesting to anyone with Irish ancestors in Cumbria.

Flax is another topic. Cumberland was attractive to Irish people because there was work for men in mines and building railways while their wives and children worked in flax mills.

Reading various reviews of the book "Irish in Victorian Cumbria" (McRaild) is informative. Gillian Shepherd of Salford University has published research on Irish in Cleator Moor.

Some links on Cumbrian Irish don't work so you may need to do an online search for titles of topics.

You may like to investigate the Mineworkers Database. Cumbrian Irish has an article about it. Focus seems to be on Wicklow miners but it casts light on movement of miners around Ireland and Britain and further afield.

There was a street in Whitehaven called Irish Street.

Other leads from Cumbrian Irish:

1851 Irish census - Irish strays in Cumberland on Irish Genealogy on the net. I doubt if this is a complete list. 

Emigrant ships transcription guild.

I know the area a little through relatives and friends.

Hi I am the Great Grandaughter of Elizabeth (Eliza) McGarry and Owen Confrey ! Where do you fit into our family? 

Hello Mahon - we would be 3rd cousins.  I am descended from the brother of Elizabeth (Eliza) McGarry (Confrey),  My great grandfather was Patrick McGarry Jr (1850- 1922).  Our common ancestor would be Patrick McGarry Sr. (1817 - 1883) who died in Mineville, Essex, New York.  Patrick Sr came from somewhere in County Mayo, Ireland - which is what I am tryiing to find out.  Do you know where your great grandmother Eliza was born?  Since she was ~6 years older than Patrick Jr, she may have been born in Ireland.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Jane Gibson

Hi Jane, after seeing your message I contacted Theresa Holst (McGarry) who told me who you are! No I dont have a birth for Eliza, sorry.! So I am Kathleen, and I am still in Cumbria England, where are you?? I have not done any family history for the last few years, (life got in the way) so your message which i found by browsing hopefully will inspire me.I didnt know the Mayo connection ! Most of my other relatives including Owen Confrey come from Wicklow. I will look my tree and send you details of who I am . Regards Kathleen

Hi, again,

Liza McGarry =Owen Confrey (son of Edward Confrey) @ St Maarys Catholic churh Cleator Cumberland 17. 5. 1862 

Children - Mary, James, Elizabeth, Roseanne, Ellen,William,Edward, Owen and Margaret.

Mary, James, Ellen,  Edward and Owen died young. Elizabeth & Roseanne didnt marry or have children.

William Married and had one daughter Hilda circa 1912

Margaret bn 6.6.1879 -9.8.1968 married Henry Speight 21 .11.1903  

children Mary Elizabeth died as child.James bn 1905 = Leonora Graham one son James . Owen Confrey Speight18.4 1908 -7.1.1954 didnt marry or have children

Grace Annie Speight bn20.8.1909- 20.8.1996 = Philip Byrne 21.9.1935

William Henry speight bn26.4.1912-April 1965  married Elsie Dixon two daughters.

Grace Annie Speight & Philip Byrne 

children Margaret Dillon Byrne 5.2,1938=Robert Docherty had three children

Kathleen Grace Byrne 18.3. 1943 (ME) married Kenneth Morgan 27. 2. 1965

Philip  Byrne (jnr) bn 6.2. 1947 = Glynis Johnston

Hope you can understand that????

Moderator - I authorize you to provide my email to user Mahon Byrne..  If there is a different process, please advise.  Thanks

Kathleen - thanks so much for the info on your family!  

I did get a DNA match through Ancestry and their McGarry ancestors were from Glenamoy, County Mayo.  I cannot find any records to substantiate a connection of our Patrick McGarry Sr/Eliza Martin (yet).  There is a Facebook page for these relatives - https://www.facebook.com/McGarrys-from-Glenamoy-Co-Mayo-Ireland-1101678… will send a message to the site coordinator to see if he kowns anything or can provide any leads. I would like to travel to County Mayo within the next year or two to see if I can find any records, or better yet, living descendants!

I'm not sure Glenamoy is exactly where our McGarrys came from.  Since Patrick Sr worked as a railway laborer (per the 1861 Egremont census), he may have had previous railroad experience when the railroads were being built throughout Ireland.  But work is work, and many from County Mayo were forced to go to England to escape poverty and famine.  They would have moved to England sometime between 1846 (older brother John McGarry listed as Ireland birth) and 1850 (Patrick McGarry Jr, born in England).

Ireland Reaching out has a very nice writeup of County Mayo in the 1830's - https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/timeline/county-…

I did get a response from St. Begh's a couple of years ago regarding the births of Patrick McGarry Jr (my great grandfather) and his younger brother James:  Here it is:

"I have looked in St. Begh's registers and have found the following information:

Baptised 14.04.1850 (no dates of birth are given until 1852) Patrick son of  Patrick and Eliza McGerri. Sponsors: Patrick and Margaret Ward. In very small writing it states Low mile, which is probably somewhere from outside the parish of St. Begh's, although I am unsure as to where this is. There is a road called the long mile as you are going out of Whitehaven, but whether this is what is being referred to I am not sure.

22.05.1852 (d.o.b.), baptised 20.06.1852 James, son of Patrick and Eliza McGarry. Sponsors: Henry Foy and Bridget Kelly.

Eliza Martin and Owen Confrey were not married at St. Begh's in 1862.

Unfortunately, it does not state where in Ireland the family were from."

You motivated me to try the Facebook route.  I will let you know if I get a response.

Your cousin Jane

Liza McGarry and Owen Confrey married 17th May 1862 at St Mary,s Catholic Church Cleator ! The Low Mile mentioned earlier is in facct LOw Mill, it goes under St Bees ! The McGarrys lived there before moving to Egremont a village about three miles in land!