James O'Brien and Mary Maher/Meagher died c 1850 Ballywilliam Co Tipperary

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Hi Marilyn Long . . . 

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out  . . . 

Your query is long and complex . . . which most of our researchers might have overlooked . . . 

Because I live in County Tipperary . . . our Head Office . . have asked me to see if I can help . . so . . .

Searching on " rootsireland.ie " ..( a paid search engine ) . . . I started with the possible Wedding of 

James O'Brien to Mary Maher c. 1828 . . +/- 10 yrs. . . . which info. turned up  (see below ) one only hit . . . 

 1828 . . marriage in CLONMORE, . . which is between . . .Templemore and Thurles . . . Co.Tipperary.

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You mention " Ballywilliam " . . . there is a Ballywilliam in Tipperary  . . .some 50 miles west of Thurles ( see map (1) below )

There very well may be a sub townsland near Templemore / Thurles . . . at that time . . but I failed to find one  . . BUT . . 

what I did find was a townsland named . . . CASSESTOWN . . . similar in sound to your hint of   " Castleton " (see Map below )

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I did search . . and . . failed to find any Church Records . . .pertaining to Ballywilliam . . . possibly no Church there in those years . . .

Nenagh . . . would be the nearest bigger town . . . 

Nenagh has a Historical Research Office . . . PAID . . . as follows . . . https://www.tipperarycoco.ie/heritage/nenagh-heritage-centre

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I searched for a BIRTH record of a JAMES (O')Brien . . .born Tipperary c, 1810   + /- 5 yrs. . . 

and found TWO possible hits  (see below) . . . one born in Moycarkey . . in 1804 ( proximity to Thurles )

then in 1807 . . . in Thurles Town . . . JAMES . . . with a Mother named ***  Maher

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Next . . . ELLEN ...b.1829  . . . . I found Ellen Brien . . registered birth in Templemore . . . ( see below )

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BRIDGET . . b.1839 . . . NO useful hit found . . . 

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MARGARET . . . B. Thurles  . . .1829 . . . O'Brien . . to James / Mary     (see below )

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MARY . . . (see below ) . . . 1 Aug. 1831 . . Templemore

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I chose to stick to IRELAND only . . . in searching . . . 

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I am even sure . .IF we are on to the right family . . . of (O')Brien . . . as above  . . . 

but . . . it looks possible  . . . 

WHEN you get to Ireland . . in your travels . . . I do hope you can seek out more info. 

Thurles Library may be of good help . . . as also Templemore . . . 

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The lucky ones escaped the Famine ( An Gorta Mór ) ..by a mere few years . . . and . . yes . . it;s quite possible 

the Parents were victims . . . 

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I HOPE the above . . . will add to your sum of knowledge  . . . 

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Cheers . . . Eamonn.

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FURTHER   . . . 

Looking at MARY MAHER of Clonmore Templemore . . married   . . 11 Feb 1828 . . in Templemore

SO . . looking at a Land Tax Roll . . . from that time . . 1823 - 1837  . . .a.k.a.      Tithes Applotment (see below )

BIRTH's . . of Mary Maher's  . . . around that time scale  (see below)

Fast Forward . . . to 1901 Census . . . that district . . . (see below)

MAYBE . . . these are Mary's relatives . ?????????????????????

Eamonn, thankyou so much for all this work. I will study all on the weekend but it looks like they might be a tricky family to nail down. Your help is greatly appreciated. Regards, Marilyn.

Eamonn, thankyou again, I have had a good look and there is a lot for me to work on.

I found 2016 information my cousin obtained from North Tipperary Genealogy & Heritage Services and they have 3 of the daughters christened at Burgess which they have as Youghalarra-Burgess Parish RC - Ellen 28/12/1828, Mary 19/2/1832, Bridget 27/1/1835 (who may have lied about being 18 at marriage as her husband was born 1837 and she didn't want to be older). For some of these you have a slightly later date and that may be when a 2nd copy of the record was submitted to a central registry - like the Bishop's copies in England. 

Ellen 1840 would be too late as she was marrying in NSW in 1851.

The Feb 1828 marriage of James and Mary looks good. 

I can't find information on Cassetown but it comes up in relation to real estate in Thurles.

The 2 baptisms of James O'Brien both look possible - 1804 born Moycarkey not far from Thurles and 1807 in Thurles.

Someone found on Ancestry (which I don't have a subscription for so will need to go to a library) a baptism for Margaret 19 Feb 1837 and James the father was 21 so that is where 1806 came from.  But he could have been born 1804 or 1807.

The 1804 bapt has parents Patrick Brien and Ellen Griffin and sponsors Denis and Bgt Shanahan - the first daughter was Ellen and from NTG&H her bapt sponsors were Patrick Brien and Margaret Brien (maybe James' father or a brother and his wife). And another daughter Bridget.

The 1807 bapt has parents Terence Brien and Bridget Maher and sponsors James Maher (an uncle?) and Anne Gallagher - James had a daughter Bridget. There is mention of one called Anne but I'm not sure of this.

The NTG&H bapt for Mary had sponsors Patrick Hogan and Margaret Maher, and for Bridget John Collins and Margaret Meagher.

For all 3 baptisms the father James was O'Brien, and mother Mary was variously Maher and Meagher.

So maybe the 1804 looks a bit more likely and Moycarkey is a little south of Thurles.

For the 1828 marriage registered at Templemore James was from Thurles and Mary from Clonmore a little NE of Templemore.

Maybe they had to go to Templemore to be married in Feb 1828 and by the end of that year 1828 were in the Parish of Youghalarra-Burgess at or near Ballywilliam which is where Bridget says she is from. I think Youghalarra-Burgess RC records only started in 1828 (Ellen was bapt in Dec 1828).

Bapt for Mary Maher 19 Aug 1910 looks good - Parish/District Templemore, address Borrisberg which is between Templemore and Clonmore, RC, parents John Maher and Judith Guinane ( a good name to look into as doesn't sound too common), sponsors John Meagher (different spelling - an uncle?) and Nancy Mackey.

You have given me some extra information on these and I will explore how I might find more and especially parentage for James and Mary and if they had other children who may have stayed in Tipperary and the 1901 Census May be useful.

 

Regards, Marilyn