Hello, my great great grandmother, Winifred McNamara (file attached) came from Newmarket on Fergus born 1828, (have no birth certificate or birth entry- convict and court record) )and as an eighteen year old, 5’1”, single, fresh faced, brown haired, hazel eyed, housemaid, appeared in the Clare County court in Ennis on 20th June 1846.She was convicted of larceny and sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing clothes from her uncle for money, having previously been convicted of stealing coffee for money and sentenced to twelve months.
According to the Convict transportation register, she left behind behind her father Michael, brothers William, John and Thomas and her sisters Ellen, Catherine and Margaret.
I am keen to know where (church and village) she was baptised and her father is buried or any other information about this family. I intend to visit Ireland later this year and want to visit the villages from which my great great grandparents came.
Thank you,
Christine Milne AO
Christine Milne
Friday 21st Jul 2023, 01:00AMMessage Board Replies
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Christine,
The baptismal records for Newmarket-on-Fergus begin in 1828. There are Ancestry trees for Winifred that give her
birth as 1824, so with that, I looked into her siblings on the Clare Library site - clarelibrary.ie. This is what I found:
John McNamara 5 Jun 1837, parents Michael McNamara & Bridget Mulloon
Catherine McNamara 25 Feb 1839, parents Michael McNamara & Bridget Mullany
Anne McNamara 9 Aug 1841, parents MIchael McNamara & Bridget Millan
Thomas "Mack" 19 Jun 1846, parents Michael McNamara & Biddy Mullane, residence "Drumgully"
I did not find the other siblings you mention, so they might have been born prior to 1828 or I just did not find them.
On the library site, you can search under the mother's or father's surname....Thomas was found under his mother,
and the townland's correct name is Drumgeely. If you take a look at the Griffith's Valuation for Drumgeely, it is nothing
but McNamaras....James, Michael, Patrick, and Anne. Also, the 1901 census is all McNamaras with the
exception of one person. Could this be the family you are looking for? Don't be too concerned about the different
spellings of Bridget's surnam...not uncommon.
Regards,
Carolyn
Friday 21st Jul 2023, 06:22AM -
Thank you Carolyn, I really appreciate your efforts at researching the McNamara family of Newmarket on Fergus. It looks like it is wall to wall McNamara's.
Drumgeely townland has an area of about a sq km and is a few kms from Newmarket on Fergus. Winifred said that Newmarket on Fergus was her native place but I assume it was the way the district was referred to in 1849.
Do we know which church Winifred's family were baptised in?
She appeared in Ennis Court. I looked that up and it is still standing so definitely a place to visit.
Cheers
Christine
Christine Milne
Saturday 22nd Jul 2023, 12:26PM -
Christine,
I took Newmarket-on-Fergus to be the RC parish in Clare, not a townland. There is a townland called Newmarket in the civil parish of Bunratty which is also in the RC parish of Newmarket-on-Fergus, but the above records show the family from Drumgeely, not Newmarket. Oftentimes when folks emigrated, they listed a general area or larger place where they were from...not a small townland. If you are not familiar with the johngrenham.com site, it is a great resource to view the RC parishes and their townlands, plus other good information. At the top of the page, click on browse, then on the left side click on maps, then Roman Catholic parishes, a map of Ireland will appear, and select Clare. There you'll find the RC parish of Newmarket-on-Fergus. Last step, click on Clonloghan and the townland of Drumgeely will show up. I don't know the specific church of their baptisms, but you might contact the Clare Heritage and Genealogical Centre at clareheritage@gmail.com to find that out.
Regards,
Carolyn
Saturday 22nd Jul 2023, 02:47PM