The ship Argyle arrived at Grosse Ile Quebec arriving from Newport, Mayo, on October 5, 1847. On board was my great grandmother, Margaret Dempsey (daughter of Anthony Dempsey and Ellen Flynn, of Meelick Parish or somewhere nearby), and her two nephews, Mary Cairns and Pat Cairns, the children of Margaret's sister, Mary Dempsey and her husband Nicholas Cairns. Mary Cairns died at sea, and supposedly her husband Nicholas died before they left Ireland. The records in Quebec say that the children were born in Bohola Parish, across the Gweestion River from Meelick Parish. They were turned over to the orphanage operated the Grey Nuns of Montreal, and the younger one, Mary Cairns was adopted by a French Canadian family, while the fate of Patrick is unknown. Would there be any knowledge of the families of Dempsey and Cairns in Meelick and Bohola?
Jim Cooney
Jim Cooney
