Hello!
I've spent years trying to track down ANY information at all on my 3rd great-grandmother, and I'm hoping beyond hope that maybe someone here can help me find even a single piece of real evidence that she even existed.
Here is what I DO know about her:
MAIDEN NAME: MORAN
FIRST NAME: I was told "Nancy Ann", but her name might have actually been Ann or Anne, with "Nancy" as a nickname. I search for records using "Nancy" and "Ann/Anne" because I'm not sure.
FROM: Mayo, Ireland. Based on a letter my great-grandmother wrote in 1910 mentioning going to visit members of Nancy's family in KILDUN, I believe that may be where she's from.
BIRTH YEAR: Because her son (my 2nd great-grandfather) was born in 1849, I believe she was born in the 1820's sometime.
MARRIAGE: She married a Michael WALSH, probably in the mid-to-late 1840's.
CHILDREN: She and Michael Walsh had two children together, my 2nd great-grandfather John Walsh, (born June, 1849,) and a daughter Catherine. (I don't know when she was born, or if she's older or younger than John.)
LIVED IN (Maybe): They may have lived in BALLINROBE or NEALE / CONG.
DEATH AND BURIAL: **The most specific information I have about her is that she died in 1856, and was buried at CONG ABBEY. I only know this because I have a postcard my great-grandmother (John's daughter) sent to her sister when she visited Ireland in 1910, and the postcard shows a photo of Cong Abbey, and on it she wrote: "It is in this Abbey that father's mother's remains are buried. I was at her grave yesterday. She is now lying there for 54 years." (I have searched the online burial records for Cong Abbey, and have not found a Nancy or Ann Walsh that was buried there in 1856 listed, but the online records for the Abbey burials are not complete. I don't know if there are more complete records for Cong Abbey burials anywhere.)
MORAN RELATIONS I KNOW OF: I know that she had a relative in Ireland named "Walter Moran". I've seen a photo of him in an album of old family photos. It is labeled with his name. but no year or specific location, nor a hint of exactly HOW he was related to her. I also have information on some Moran descendants that came to the U.S., and settled in Belmont County, Ohio, and well as a few that settled in New Jersey. I know they are related to her somehow, but again, I don't know EXACTLY how. I've tried to trace them backwards in hopes of eventually stumbling onto the connection, but have not been able to pin it down.
HUSBAND REMARRIAGE: Michael WALSH remarried a woman named Honor GANNON in Feb, 1858. (Their wedding record is from KILMAINE.) They then had several children together...the names I know are Michael, Mary (b 1858), Sabina (b 1866), and Ellen. I think there may have also been a daughter named Honor. I have various records of them listing Ballinrobe and Neale as where they live and where their children were born.
(I have never found any records of my 2nd great-grandfather John's birth, or his sister's birth. The ONLY record I have found from Ireland with John Walsh's name on it is a church record of his marriage to Julia Partlin (spelled "Judy Parlane" on the record) in Ballinrobe in 1872.
MICHAEL/HONOR WALSH BURIAL: I do not know where Michael and Honor Walsh are buried, but I do not believe they were buried at Cong Abbey with Nancy Ann (Moran) Walsh.
Thank you SO SO much to anyone who might be able to give me any help at all finding my poor lost 3x g-grandmother! I am just completely at a loss.
--Jessica H
