Do I stand a hope of finding my Irish roots?

[DeniseJo]

I started my family history journey in 2004 because my Mother always told us when we were growing up that our Grandmother's grave was in The Windmill Cemetery Coventry. I moved 5 doors down from the cemetery in 2004 so decided  to find the grave and pay my respects to the Grandmother I lost 2 days before my 1st birthday. I found it within an hour but it didn't say what I expected it to

Catherine McCarthy 19 November 1968 age 77 (Great Grandmother)

Catherine Buckley 15 August 1970 age 51 (Grandmother)

We were told as children that our Granddad was James McCarthy and he died of foot cancer when our mum was 14 (1963) Grandmother Re married Mr F Buckley some time after that. So why was my Mothers maiden name the same as My Great Grandmothers married name? I was intrigued and needed to know so I ordered some certificates.

Mothers birth
Mothers Marriage
Both Grandmother and Great Grandmothers death certificates

They gave me the information I had expected my mother was illegitimate! On her birth certificate father is just a dashed line and the same is on her marriage certificate. I understand why my Mother lied My Grandmother was Catholic so she must have felt shamed.

on my Great Grandmothers death certificate it says she is the widow of Michael McCarthy Fisherman and my Grandmothers says she was born 1919 Eire

So I have a Catherine McCarthy (nee ?) born 1891 Ireland
A Catherine McCarthy born 1919 Ireland Parents Catherine and Michael
A possible marriage Between Michael McCarthy and Catherine some time between 1908 and 1919

From a story I half remember from my Childhood I believe it was Michael and Catherine that emigrated to England with a young Catherine. 

My Mum also said She was an only child and that she had no family in England once her Parents had died but there must have been some because her marriage to my father was witnessed by an A McCarthy


After 6 years of research I have taken some branches of my Fathers line back to the late 1600's and even made contact with a couple of distant cousins. It has been a fun and sometimes frustrating journey and taken me to many little villages around Warwickshire that I didn't even know were there.

Do I stand any hope of finding anything out about my Irish past with so little to go on? Any advice would be appreciated. I want to visit Ireland and walk the streets that my Irish forefathers walked

[shanew147]

The place to start may be with the civil BMD Index ... but with a common surname and no location it could be a difficult search.  see : Introduction to Irish Records

Another possible line of research might be to search the 1901 & 1911 English & Irish census to see if there are possible Michael McCarthy Fisherman (or all the family) included..



Shane

[DeniseJo]

Thank you Shane family Search has given me only 2 matches for a June 1919 Catherine McCarthy 1 in Fermoy and 1 in Listowel so there is a chance that 1 of them is my Grandmother. As Michael was a fisherman I am leaning more toward the Listowel birth because it is closer to the sea. Will order both certificates and see what I get.

If Michael and Catherine married in a Catholic church how would I go about tracing the record of it?

[shanew147]

Since the marriage may be sometime after 1900 your best bet would be to search the civil index. (Most of the online parish records dont include more recent dates)

When searching for Mc surnames on familysearch you need to try the name in the formats M'Carthy (that's a single quote), Mc Carthy and just Carthy (the Mc could be dropped). You may also need to allow a few years either way for year of birth if you are basing this on age at death - this was not always accurate as it depended on the details known by the informant.



Shane

[obbie]

i only give this record as data matches and you mention listowel
ive no way of knowing if correct
might be worth the 4 euros one way or other

michael mccarthy jan-mar 1909 listowel marriage volume 5 page 357
catherine carroll jan-mar 1909 listowel marriage volume 5 page 357

[DeniseJo]

Yes Shane I did search the 1911 Census I got 179 returns for Michael McCarthy so I narrowed it down by adding profession and got 14 there are no Catherine McCarthy's though.

Obbie where did you find that  would definitely be worth my euros 

[obbie]

again could be coincidence on
1911 kerry census
michael mccarthy Portmagee Town Portmagee Kerry 31  Co Kerry Fisherman single

i suppose if you order marriage cert and hes a fisherman much stronger chance there your couple

[obbie]

from

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1408347

husbands name first search kerry marriages then narrowed down to listowel and then cross ref with catherine marriages same year county district

[DeniseJo]

Yes I saw that one Obbie he is living with or visiting his 70 year old mother. If I order the 2 birth certificates from 1911 will they give mothers Maiden name? Not sure if they are the same as ones from England