DNA & STILL A BRICK WALL

[shanreagh]

Ballyporeen is in Co Tipperary and about 114km from Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) in Co Laois formerly Queens County.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballyporeen

In the 1901 Census in Ireland there were two elderly (78 & 76) unmarried Walsh sisters Mary Anne and Margaret Walsh living in Maryborough urban. Posted only because of the similarity of names to the two older female children listed on the 1860 US census, the location in Maryborough and also because of the closeness in age to John Walsh in US.  Birthdates 1823 & 1825apx. These two show their religion as Church of Ireland ie Anglican or Episcopal.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rqg/

There is a townland called Ballynoran in Co Tipperary (South Riding)
https://www.townlands.ie/tipperary/iffa-and-offa-east/kilmurry/kilmurry/ballynoran/

[shanreagh]

There are a couple of Welch names including an Anne Welch from Queens Co who died aged 65 in 1875.

Here is the link but I cannot find the reference on the page it is linked too.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rqh/

[Kiltaglassan]

Queens Co is now Co Laois and Maryborough is Portlaoise (from 1920)

Appears it happened in 1929 

'In 1929 the Irish version 'Portlaoighise' was baptized as the official name of the town.'
https://www.logainm.ie/ga/131233

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portlaoise

[Maiden Stone]

Hello All. I am Deb's cousin, Lilli. I am also interested in finding John and Bridget. The answer to one question is that our DNA did link us to Thomas and Bridget Cleary Hennessy.
One other interesting story in this is that spoken family lore is that John Welch was said to have been from Maryborough, Queens County. There was also a word in there that looked like "Ballynorman" but recently I am wondering if it could be Ballyporeen..?

Welcome Lilli.
Thanks for that information.
It explains why Deb posted a page of handwritten transcriptions of Walsh baptisms in 1826 & 1827 from a Maryborough register. See reply 32 by dwelch (Deb) and my response in reply 35. I think they are on page 3 of the thread.
Link to the page for Maryborough R.C. parish in National Library of Ireland Catholic Registers collection online:
https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0714
Variant form of parish name Portlaoise. A map shows location of Maryborough parish and outlines of other parishes in the county and outlines of other counties. You can zoom in & out of the map. County Laois is next to County Tipperary. Tipperary is a large county in area and the only one in Ireland which was divided into Ridings (divisions of a county for local administration purposes).
Baptism and marriage registers for Maryborough date from May and April 1826 respectively. If John was born in Maryborough parish before May 1826 there won't be a record of his baptism. However, if he had younger siblings born there, they may be in the register.

 

[shanreagh]

Queens Co is now Co Laois and Maryborough is Portlaoise (from 1920)

Appears it happened in 1929 

'In 1929 the Irish version 'Portlaoighise' was baptized as the official name of the town.'
https://www.logainm.ie/ga/131233

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portlaoise

I also got mine from Wiki and it seems the town Commissioners of Maryborough passed a resolution in 1920 acted on and made offical in 1929.

'The town grew up around a fort established by English settlers in 1548. In 1557 it was named Maryborough in honour of Queen Mary. 2. In October 1920, the Town Commission passed a resolution that Maryborough be renamed Portlaoise.'

[Lisa in California]

Thankfully, there has been a lot of information from Irish records included here.  Would it make sense for me to continue to try to find John’s siblings in the states?  I am still interested in Michael Welch who was in Elk, Iowa in 1860.  He was living in a town just down the road from Elk as early as 1846. I will first review our postings to make sure that I didn’t already rule him out.

John and Bridget, either separately or as a couple, may have been the only family members to sail to North America.  However, I thought two of my Irish ancestors were the only people to settle in Canada.  I eventually found out (with the help of amazing RootsChatters! and someone from another site) my maternal ancestor had at least one sibling who also settled near her.  My paternal ancestor’s 5+ siblings and his parents also settled in nearby Canadian towns.  I wouldn’t want to ignore the possibility of John or Bridget also having relatives in North America.

[shanreagh]

Makes sense to find others who may have emigrated. 
It was some thing of a revelation to me when a prof genealogist said that often our forebears struck out to the wide blue yonder of another place in the world but they were often not the first to do this so look for relations or connections.
She also agreed with me when I said i had found a grouping of unrelated people but from the same small Irish town clustered together. 

There is one of Bridget's siblings who  moved to the US.  I will see if I can turn up anything interesting there. 

I am not sure if there is a way to search US birth records by actual day so we could find out who was born on the date in 1855 in NY that is on Edward's death Certificate - I think 30/5/1855.  Could be a Hennessy & spellings or Walsh/Welch and spellings or even Dwyer?
Does anyone know?

Lillibelle are you able to find out if any names came back from the DNA that are not able to be assigned to Bridget Hennessy and her family and let us know what these are please.
Not sure how DNA works and whether the fact that a tree with Welch or Walsh on it would cut out other names coming forward. 

[shanreagh]

........  However, I thought two of my Irish ancestors were the only people to settle in Canada.  I eventually found out (with the help of amazing RootsChatters! and someone from another site) my maternal ancestor had at least one sibling who also settled near her.  My paternal ancestor’s 5+ siblings and his parents also settled in nearby Canadian towns.  I wouldn’t want to ignore the possibility of John or Bridget also having relatives in North America.

Then there are the self proclaimed legends.....my gt grandfather told anyone who asked that he was an only child.  Strange then I should find a sister bearing the names of his eldest daughter and a brother bearing the names of an uncle, one of my gt grandfather's children and this brother's children had also kept my gt grandfather's unusual first names going down the generations. 

[lillibelle57]

I  am interested in Michael Welch, Elk, Delaware County 1860. He seems to be almost too good to not be John 's brother. I had seen him, but didn't get to follow up

There was also a Welch family in Clinton County around that same time. I am using my phone to message you.My laptop isn't fond of my location in the boondocks. So, my access to records is limited.

In the last year, I have begun to wonder if perhaps John Welch had a criminal past, or was adopted. Perhaps he isn't who he said he was? Our DNA doesn't show much on the Welch side of the family. Debbie, another cousin and I have searched in vain for 30+ years. I am hoping someone here can make it happen. Perhaps that will be through Michael.

Another thought, would Bridget have married in her own parish at Lisvernane? Seems logical, but I don't know how/where to search for that. That's all for tonight on this tiny phone! Thanks again, Lilli