Author Topic: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?  (Read 1381 times)

Offline Ghostwheel

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Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« on: Monday 08 February 16 02:33 GMT (UK) »
My great grandfather was born in Liscannor, Co. Clare in 1865.  What is curious is that on his naturalization papers it says he emigrated from Galway in 1888, and I am wondering what this probably means, and if anyone has seen anything similar.

Could it likely mean, he just travelled to Galway to take a train to Queenstown?  Or could he have taken a boat, in that year?  Or would it make more sense to suppose he was living somewhere in the county or the town?

The trouble is, I don't in fact know where exactly his family was living at the time he left.  I believe his father had died ten years earlier, but I am fairly certain that his mother was still alive, as one of his sisters applied for a passort to visit her in 1922.  But it doesn't give a specific location and I haven't been able to locate her in a obvious way, close to where her children were born, on the Irish cenuses.  She had a very common name, and it is even possible she remarried.

Offline Billyblue

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #1 on: Monday 08 February 16 03:42 GMT (UK) »
Do you know that he was living in Clare right up till emigration?

Could be, as you suggest, it was a case of having to go to another county to get on a train/ship.

Much like, these days, certain airlines operate via some airports and not others.

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Offline Ghostwheel

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #2 on: Monday 08 February 16 04:12 GMT (UK) »
It is a mystery, where he was living exactly when he emigrated.

Several of his siblings were born in Liscannor.  The youngest two were born in Ennistymon (quite close to Liscannor), and I believe the father died there.  That would go to 1878 or 1879, or about 10 years before he emigrated.

Unfortunately, I don't believe another of his siblings filed naturalization papers.

Offline aghadowey

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #3 on: Monday 08 February 16 09:58 GMT (UK) »
U.S. naturalization forms asked where person had left their home country from (name of port) rather than their residence as well as date of arrival and name of ship and U.S. port of arrival. Do you have all those details on the form?
Away sorting out DNA matches... I may be gone for some time many years!


Offline myluck!

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #4 on: Monday 08 February 16 10:00 GMT (UK) »
If your ancestor was resident in Clare at the time he emigrated he would have to have travelled to a port to leave.  There are/were no deep water harbours in Co. Clare and therefore all emigration was from another county.

I would take it that he sailed from Galway if his immigration papers state it as it would normally state the port of departure (as referred to by aghadowey).

In 1880 scheduled sailings of large cruise vessels commenced from Galway Port and the Dún Aengus Dock was developed there in 1882. It is still a thriving port and has welcomed the Volvo Ocean race in recent years and applied to host the Tall Ships in the near future.

It is 60 miles approx. from Liscannor to Galway and many ships left from Galway especially to Canada (Quebec).  These ships carried up to 300 passengers, e.g. the "Jeannie Johnson" from Tralee in Co. Kerry of which there is a replica in Dublin.
Kearney & Bourke/ Johns & Fox/ Mannion & Finan/ Donohoe & Curley
Byrne [Carthy], Keeffe/ Germaine, Butler/ McDermott, Giblin/ Lally, Dolan
Toole, Doran; Dowling, Grogan/ Reilly, Burke; Warren, Kidd [Lawless]/ Smith, Scally; Mangan, Rodgers/ Fahy, Calday; Staunton, Miller
Further generations:
Brophy Coleman Eathorn(e) Fahy Fitzpatrick Geraghty Haverty Keane Keogh Nowlan Rowe Walder

Offline Ghostwheel

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #5 on: Monday 08 February 16 15:19 GMT (UK) »
Ah, that is very interesting.  I didn't realize there was passenger traffic from Galway.  That perhaps changes things.

I had assumed that he came straight to Boston, in which case I was thinking of Queenstown. The papers unfortunately do not, in this case, give the name of a ship.  They do give a date though.

This arrival date, the 20th of June, 1888, is very peculiar though.  I don't believe it corresponds to Queenstown traffic, that I can tell.  Perhaps, it could be some connecting ship or train from Canada. The rub is that he only had three years of schooling and often got his age wrong, so he may have not been very good with dates.

On the same papers he got his age wrong, remarkably by seven years.  As if he also had June on the mind, he picked the month for his birthday, though he was in fact born in February.  But of course, one does not remember one's own birth.

The papers were filed in 1902, so about 14 years after his arrival.




Offline a-l

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #6 on: Monday 08 February 16 17:47 GMT (UK) »
I had brothers emigrate from Cambs UK . When It was checked out one left from London and another from Liverpool. It might be a similar case with your family as in being the departure point not place of birth.

Offline Ghostwheel

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #7 on: Monday 08 February 16 20:53 GMT (UK) »
This is definitely interesting.  This changes the way I look at it.  I've noticed there were in fact ships going from Galway to Boston, close to the year of his emmigration.

Looking at the American censuses (one never knows who was filling them out—perhaps sometimes the husband, sometimes the wife), there seems to be a variety of years given for his immigration.  1900 gives 1888, which is the same as his naturalization papers, filled out in 1902.   1910 and 1920 give 1890, a year in which I know a ship went from Galway to Boston.  1930 sets it back all the way to 1885.

I suppose the true date is really a mystery, but I feel pleased to have figured out the Galway angle.  Previously, I had the misperception that ships only would have left there in an earlier error and I thought any one in Southern Ireland would have left from Queenstown or possibly caught a ferry to Britain, in the 1880s and 1890s.

This seems like a new big clue to me.  His wife (probably only met in Boston) also came from close to the same area.  Perhaps, I could suppose she left at the same port.  Maybe, I could even locate the ship, even though both names are common.

Thanks, everyone!


Offline myluck!

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Re: Born in Clare, emigrated from Galway?
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 09 February 16 08:29 GMT (UK) »
You're welcome  :D
Kearney & Bourke/ Johns & Fox/ Mannion & Finan/ Donohoe & Curley
Byrne [Carthy], Keeffe/ Germaine, Butler/ McDermott, Giblin/ Lally, Dolan
Toole, Doran; Dowling, Grogan/ Reilly, Burke; Warren, Kidd [Lawless]/ Smith, Scally; Mangan, Rodgers/ Fahy, Calday; Staunton, Miller
Further generations:
Brophy Coleman Eathorn(e) Fahy Fitzpatrick Geraghty Haverty Keane Keogh Nowlan Rowe Walder