They Sailed into the Unknown in the 1840s and how to research your Family Tree

Heritage Week in Barnaderg

To celebrate Heritage Week this year, the theme of which was Routes, Connections and Networks, we were privileged that  Diane McCue travelled all the way from her home in New South Wales to deliver a presentation on her connections to this parish. Diane is a retired teacher who along with her husband Atha has a passionate interest in tracing her roots which began in the parish of Killererin.

Location

We hosted our event in Barnaderg N.S. as our Community Centre is undergoing renovation at present and we are indebted to John Flattery, Principal and Secretary Pauline Donoghue and Padraic Stone for facilitating us.

A bit about Diana

This isn’t Diane’s first visit to Killererin and in 2019, Eileen O’Connell and I had the pleasure of meeting her husband Atha and herself when they visited the parish. Unfortunately, for medical reasons, Atha was unable to travel this time but she had a worthy replacement in her friend Linda who helps her with her research.

A retired school teacher, Diane is passionate about tracing her roots and her multiples of cousins in Australia are the lucky recipients of the work she has carried out. What a fabulous legacy!

The journey from Killererin to Australia

Sometime in the 1800s, her ancestors took the decision, or were forced to leave, everything they knew,  to seek a better life for themselves their children and their descendants. Their journey across the ocean was a difficult one and took approximately four months. Sometimes children were born on board at other times, people did not survive the journey. Conditions were less than sanitary.

As Diane explained on the night, many of them went on to achieve great success.

The Bounty System of 1837

“The colony of New South Wales needed shepherds, agricultural labourers, tradesmen, female domestics and farm servants. The sum of £38 would be paid as a bounty for any married man and his wife, neither of whose ages on embarkation were to exceed 40 years; £5 for each child between 1 and 7 years; £10 for each child between 7 and 15 years and £15 for each above 15 years; £19 would be allowed for every unmarried female domestic or farm servant not below 15 nor above 30 years, coming out under the protection of a married couple.”

The families

Her presentation concentrated on 3 sets of families: The McGrath/Connaughton family, the Connelly/Donoghue family and the McHugh/Ryan family. She also listed connections to numerous other families in the area. Below is a snippet of just one of the families she spoke about:

The McHugh/Ryan family

“My 3x great  grandfather: Thady McHugh was son of Edward McHugh and Winifred.

My 3x great grandmother: Sarah Ryan daughter of Mark Ryan and Bridget Finn.

Marriage of Thady and Sarah

Thady and Sarah were married in the former Chapel of St Jarlath or the parish church in Church Lane, Tuam. It was officiated by Father (later Archbishop) Oliver Kelly on 26 February 1828. The witnesses were James Shaughnessy and Martin Costelloe.

Timothy’s sister Mary married John Flattery in the same church on 20 February 1828. The witnesses were Martin and Mary Ann Costelloe.”

McGrath/Connaughton family

…… the McGrath/Connaughton families

“1850 Denis arrived with his family aboard the Kate with his wife Julia nee Connaughton, their son Michael aged 2 and their daughter Mary was born on the ship. Denis’s parents were Thomas and Honoria McGrath. Julia’s parents were Hubert Connaughton and Mary daughter of Patrick Crampton and Bridget Ford.

Denis’s uncle was my 3x great grandfather Patrick Connelly from Queanbeyan. Patrick sponsored Denis’s emigration to NSW with his family.”

The Connelly/Donoghue family

Immigration record for Patrick Connelly

Arrived by the Elphinstone

A Native of Tuam. Son of Peter Connelly and Mary Commons his wife.

Calling Farm Labourer.

Age at Embarkation 39

Persons certifying       5th March 1801

Registry of Baptism   Jn McLaughlin P.P.

Character and Persons Certifying the Same David Commins of Barna and a good many others of equal respectability

State of Health and Strength V Good

Religion Roman Catholic

Remarks Read – None of my ancestors was older than 40 despite their proven official birth year!!

The full information she gave us on all families will be uploaded to our website shortly.

Mini Exhibition

Following Diane’s comprehensive presentation, there was a break for refreshments and a browse around our mini-exhibition which included military medals, an accordion, a pram (perambulator) from the 1950s to name but a few items.

Martin Curley

Then followed by a presentation by Martin Curley from Skehana who is involved in genealogy work and all things heritage. Martin began by giving everyone a sheet outlining the different generations of any family which would enable people to begin putting down the information they already knew about their own family history. He went on to list the various sources that are available to people including I’m delighted to say our own website.

Sources to help  you research your family tree

He mentioned the National Archives, Civil Records, Ireland Reaching Out, Find My Past and of course the John Grenham website. We will put these on our facebook page later. However, he emphasised that the best source would be our own families and encouraged people to speak with them and their neighbours as soon as possible. He also cited the  local library and newspapers as a great source of information. Last but not least he encouraged people to get their DNA test done by Ancestry.com.

He answered questions and like Diane stayed around afterwards to speak to people. A thoroughly enjoyable night was had by all.

In the future

We hope to run another Research your Family Tree class run by Martin in the coming year as we did before Covid  and which proved very successful. Watch this space!!