denis sullivan & catherine rae of Kerry

[canonized]

hello,

my ireland genealogical endeavors hit a brick wall when i get to my 3rd great grandparents.

was wondering if i could get any information whatsoever regarding them or may even find a (distant) relative.

denis and catherine had the following children, all born in ireland, and then migrated to montreal, quebec, canada in about 1890:

michael joseph sullivan (b. abt 1865) (d. 1925, quebec)
catherine frances sullivan (m. james murphy, quebec)
mary ann sullivan (m. william gillespie, quebec)
john sullivan (m. marguerite may, quebec)
patrick francis sullivan (b. abt 1877) (d. 1924, quebec)
james sullivan (m. mary hughes, quebec)
timothy sullivan (m. ellen wilkinson, quebec) (d. 1919, quebec)

[aghadowey]

IGI lists children of Denis Sullivan and Catherine Rae:
1. Catherine born 28 Feb.1865 Tralee district (page 756 in civil register)
2. Honoria born 8 Mar.1867 Co.Kerry
3. Mary born 23 Jan.1869 Co.Kerry
4. Denis born 6 Apr.1873 Tralee district
5. James born 30 Mar.1889 Tralle (Tralee?)

Sullivan's a very common surname so the above might not be your family but by checking Canadian records (marriage, census, etc.) you'll probably be able to get more precise dates and perhaps a place to see if these are your family.

[canonized]

hello,

thank you for your reply.

i have gone over the canadian censuses which include my family and have discovered that there are huge inconsistencies in the birth dates:

parents

denis
1901 Canada Census - birth: 5 jan 1846 ireland
1911 Canada Census - birth: jan 1836 ireland

catherine
1901 Canada Census - birth: 1 jul 1848 ireland
1911 Canada Census - birth: jul 1844 ireland

children:

denis
1901 Canada Census - birth: 18 mar 1876
1911 Canada Census - birth: mar 1872

james
1901 Canada Census - birth: 23 jan 1881

patrick
1901 Canada Census - birth: 14 dec 1877
1911 Canada Census - birth: oct 1875

timothy
1901 Canada Census - birth: 1 may 1882 (imm 1894)
1911 Canada Census - birth: may 1886

[GAJM1]

Also worth a look

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?name=catherine+rea&name2=sullivan&location=&dd=&mm=&yy=&diocese=KERRY&parish=&century=&decade=&type=B&sort=&pageSize=10&submit=Search

more here

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?name2=catherine+rae&name=denis+sullivan&location=&dd=&mm=&yy=&submit=Search&sort=&pageSize=10&type=B&diocese=KERRY&parish=&century=&decade=

And their marriage is here

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/282f981288464?name=catherine+rea&name2=&location=&dd=&mm=&yy=&type=&diocese=KERRY&parish=&century=&decade=&sort=&pageSize=10&submit=Search

Regards
Castlemcauliffe

[canonized]

thank you

its quite frustrating to know that some of these people are very likely ancestors but the lack of accurate records sure does make it tough

[GAJM1]

At least one or two of the dates match

Patrick Sullivan was baptised 24 Oct 1875 which matches with the 1911 census.

Timothy Sullivan was baptised 7 May 1882 which matches the 1901 Census!

The Dates for James and Denis are also within the correct ball park (right time of year but might be out by year or two in age). Appears the first Denis died and another one was born in 1873.

I have found that dates from Census and other records in Canada/America often are out by up to 5 years.

Regards
Castlemcauliffe

[canonized]

very nice findings...thank you very much 

i've read there are numerous reasons for variations in birth dates such as the census taker not knowing math, misunderstanding english, in too big of a rush, etc...

but up to 5 years? come on... 

[aghadowey]

but up to 5 years? come on... 

I've seen worse- don't forget that many people probably didn't know exactly when they were born or weren't worried about those sort of details.

[GAJM1]

And a marriage for Honora

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/d3597d1319855?name=rea&name2=&location=&dd=&mm=&yy=&type=M&diocese=KERRY&parish=&century=&decade=&sort=&pageSize=10&submit=Search

Regards
Castlemcauliffe