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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Roscommon => Topic started by: brambleside on Sunday 17 January 16 19:31 GMT (UK)
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Hello, I am searching for information regarding Mary Kelly, born ca 1860 in Roscommon. She married James Henry Morley 29 Nov 1880 at St. Peter's, Church of Ireland, Athlone. The marriage records states her father was Peter Kelly, a farmer, and that she resided at Preaching Lane. James Henry was stationed in Athlone with the British Royal Artillery and resided in the barracks.
If anyone has any connections or advice as to how to research her birth or her parents marriage, I would appreciate it.....but I know there were several Kelly's in the area at that time. I have only been able to find the Kelly/Morley marriage record via internet sources.
Also, my family is planning a trip to Ireland in May, and we wanted to visit the church, but I cannot find that St. Peter's still exists.....does anyone know what happened to it?
Thank you for taking the time to consider these questions.
Best wishes,
Jennifer Morley Dougan
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Could St.Peter's be St.Peter and Paul's.
Looking at the maps on OSI Mapviewer, St.Peter's is shown at Ganly Place on the 25" historic and on the modern map it's Corpus Christi.
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/
This site names the oldest church as St.Peter's and Paul's an un-named COI church than the RC Corpus Christi
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WM®no=15000023
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http://ireland.anglican.org/information/dioceses/parish/15200 doesn't list it as C of I church
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How do you know Mary Kelly was born in Roscommon?
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Thank you for your quick replies and help, I sure appreciate it! Having looked at the OSI historical map, current Google, and the article on Corpus Christi, I think you are right....St. Peter's was where CC is now, and the current building ca 1840 is likely to be the one my great-grandparents married in. It will be wonderful to see :D I wonder why St. Peter's was disbanded....more to find out!
The info that Mary Kelly was born in Roscommon came from the 1911 census in Sussex, England. In the Woolwich, England 1901 census, it only stated Ireland as her birthplace. She and James Henry Morley moved to Woolwich when he was transferred with the Royal Artillery, had sons in 1881 and 1883 in Woolwich, then went back to Ireland where they had a son in 1885 at Fermoy Barracks, then spent many years in serving in India before returning to England before 1901.
We do not have any other info on Mary's family, other than what was on the marriage certificate...that she was residing on Preaching Lane and her father Peter was a farmer. Based on the 2 censuses and her supposed age at death in 1916, she was born ca 1860-61.
Best wishes,
Jenny
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Contact addresses on site I posted...
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I have sent a query off to a contact at the Athlone diocese....thank you for your help!
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Preaching Lane is on the Westmeath side of Athlone, it's also an unlikely address for a farmer as it's in the middle of a large town, so I doubt it's her parents home.
It could be a relatives or more likely she was working as a domestic or similar.
Which means she could be from just about anywhere in Roscommon.
There is no hard and fast rule with religious denomination and surnames but is there anything to suggest she had a dispensation to marry or a conversion before marriage.
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Any chance of going to Dublin?
http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_015392
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email jharte2 and he will tell you what the cost of getting copy is! very reasonable..
he's at @nli.ie
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Sinnan, yes, I did find Preaching Lane on the OSI map, and thought the same thing....not a place for a farmer's family, so you may be correct that she may have lived in as a domestic...she would have been about 20 at the time of marriage. But again, as you said, she could have been born anywhere in Roscommon.
The marriage cert just says married in the Parish Church according to the ...(illegible)....of the Church of Ireland by Licence by George M'Clenaghan; I found in a 1882 Achill Missionary Herald article that George had been transferred there summer of 1880 before their marriage 29 Nov 1880. No note as to any dispensation, etc.
From a quick view of Kellys in the 1851 and 1841 censuses in Roscommon, they all appear to be Roman Catholic. I wondered about that as well.
I also could not particularly find a Peter Kelly family that seemed just right. However, there was a Peter Kelly in the Griffith's Valuation Record as a tenant farmer in St. Peter's Parish, Athlone, in the Townland of Bellanamullia. The landlord was Lady Jane Johnson. From looking at the maps, this Peter Kelly would be a definite possibility....very close to Athlone. Granted there were 35 Peter Kellys in Roscommon on the valuation, but this was the only one in St. Peter's. Another one was in Cloongowna in Drum, also pretty close.....
I found 2 Peter Kelly deaths.... one b. ca 1834 d. 1899 in Roscommon, one b. ca 1837 d. 1885 in Athlone. However unless I can tie one to a family record or Mary's birth.....hard to tell if either is my guy:)
James Henry Morley's family was Church of England, so maybe he refused to be married in a Catholic church.....
I guess if I can look at what records are available for St. Peter's and see if there is any mention of her birth or parents marriage, and if not, could also check the Catholic side as well. I thought I saw that St. Peter's original records are in the church Body Library, Braemor Park, Churchtown, Dublin, but just also saw your post that transcripts are in the National Library in Dublin. Either way, we are stopping in Dublin, so hope I can get to one or the other.
Hallmark, thank you for the email address as well!