Its been 5 years since I’ve updated this blog, and since
then the amount of information available on the web has increased
exponentially! With the rapid availability of data I’ve been able to find much
more of my family tree. Lets dive right in.
In past posts I’ve identified my great-grandparents John and
Lizzie living in Muinganear (also spelled Muingvauha or Muingvaur), Laccabaun (or Lackabawn), in the 1901 and 1911
censuses. I decided to dig a little deeper into this area to learn more about
my great-grandfather John. From census records we know:
1. JOHN CONNOR was born around 1868 (he is 43 in the 1911
census).
2. JOHN CONNOR and LIZZIE CARMODY were married around 1888,
because it states they've been married 13 years in 1901 census.
3. JOHN CONNOR’s father was JAMES CONNOR, born around 1831.
John’s mother is unknown, but we know his father James was widowed before the
1901 census.
Upon searching www.irishgenealogy.ie I found a
baptism record for a JOHN CONNOR that seems to match my great-grandfather.
Baptism
of JOHN CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 5 July 1868
Name JOHN CONNOR
Date of Birth 1 July
1868
Address
MOINGANEIR
Father JAMES CONNOR
Mother
JULIA GEANY
Further details in the record
Father Occupation NR
Sponsor 1 PATRICK
CONNOR
Sponsor 2 MARY
KERBY
Priest REV.P.MORIARTY
About the record
Book Number Page Entry Number Record_Identifier
1 10 N/R
KY-RC-BA-360263
This is an index only record, which means it is transcribed
from the original parish records of Knocknagoshel, but it includes 3 facts that
verify this is my great-grandfather:
1) The location Moinganeir is yet ANOTHER spelling of
Muinganear. I verified this by doing a general search of baptisms for
Moinganeir (there were only 48) and verified that the last names (Connor,
Cremins, Fleming, Carmody, Murphy, Curtain, Kerby, Keane, and Ahearn) matched
the last names of those in the town of Muinganear in the 1901 and 1911
census.
2) His father is JAMES CONNOR.
3) The date of birth matches John’s census records.
However, I now have many more questions.
1. We’ve learned that John’s mother is JULIA GEANY. (Note
that John’s first daughter is named Julia for his mother). However, John’s wife
ELIZABETH CARMODY has a mother named JOHANA GEANEY. Could Julia and Johana be
related? (If they are sisters, that would make John and his wife Elizabeth
first cousins. My first guess is that they aren’t sisters because of the slightly
different spelling of the last name, but that would be very curious!)
2. We find 2 new names to investigate on this document,
Witnesses: PATRICK CONNOR and MARY KERBY. Unfortunately, we don’t know their
relation to JOHN, but they may be puzzle pieces we can fit in later…
3. If we know JOHN had at least a brother BRYAN, and a
sister MARY (both single and living with John and his father JAMES in the 1901
census), could we also find their baptismal records?
With the last question in mind I did a new search on www.irishgenealogy.ie and found the
following:
Area - KERRY (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation -
KNOCKNAGOSHEL
Baptism of MARY CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 22 August 1870
|
Name
|
MARY CONNOR
|
|
Date of Birth
|
19 August 1870
|
|
Address
|
MOINGANEIR
|
|
Father
|
JAMES CONNOR
|
|
Mother
|
JULIA GEANY
|
Further details in the record
|
Father Occupation
|
NR
|
|
Sponsor 1
|
PATRICK CONNOR
|
|
Sponsor 2
|
MARY CONNOR
|
|
Priest
|
REV.J.O CONNOR
|
About the record
|
Book Number
|
Page
|
Entry Number
|
Record_Identifier
|
|
1
|
23
|
N/R
|
KY-RC-BA-360462
|
Area - KERRY (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation -
KNOCKNAGOSHEL
Baptism of JULIA CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 21 December 1873
|
Name
|
JULIA CONNOR
|
|
Date of Birth
|
19 December 1873
|
|
Address
|
MOINGANEIR
|
|
Father
|
JAMES CONNOR
|
|
Mother
|
JULIA GEANY
|
Further details in the record
|
Father Occupation
|
NR
|
|
Sponsor 1
|
PATRICK CONNOR
|
|
Sponsor 2
|
BRIDGET FOLEY
|
|
Priest
|
REV.P.PIERSE
|
About the record
|
Book Number
|
Page
|
Entry Number
|
Record_Identifier
|
|
1
|
46
|
N/R
|
KY-RC-BA-360823
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is no mention of BRYAN, but we did find his sister
MARY and another sister unknown until now, JULIA CONNOR. Also, note that
PATRICK CONNOR is a witness at all 3 baptisms. I’m going to assume that he is
one of JAMES’ brothers for now.
With all of this new information, the Connor Family tree is
starting to take form. I’ll sign off with the following depiction of John’s
family tree:
