Larry Sievers

Hi there,

First of all could you please post your message on the Killora (Craughwell) parish page here: http://www.irelandxo.com/group/killora-galway

It would be wonderful for you all to come visit the place where Shirley's ancestors came from. Ireland Reaching Out will be having a Week of Welcomes in the last week of June, but you must contact us regardless of when you plan to visit, as I am sure we can arrange for someone in the community to meet and greet you and show you all the places of interest to you.

You could check the freely available 1901 census for Lawrence and Catherine. Try checking for a marriage and baptismal records in the General Register Office (GRO). Failing that, you could contact the parish priest for the area who might be able to guide you further.

Try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) (this is free on www.askaboutireland.com) for more information.

I hope this is of some help to you for now.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Hi Larry,

How exiting to be planning a trip back home. Just two things that came to mind when I read your post that maybe of interest to you if your not already aware of them. One of the pubs in Craughwell is actually called Raftery's pub

http://www.rafterysbar.ie/index.html

and also F?ile Raifteir? is a festival that takes place every year (end March) between Loughrea and Craughwell to celebrate Raftery one of our famous poets. He is buried in Kileeneen Cemetery, near Craughwell.

http://www.lochariach.com/feileraifte.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_%C3%93_Raifteiri

Raftery is a name that is in Loughrea, Athenrry, Craughwell and parishes just off that like Kilconierin. So posting in each of these sections on this site might also help.

All the very best

Michelle @ IRO Kiltullagh/Killimordaly parish

Hi Larry and Shirley

Hope that your travel plans are going smooth

I had a look for Rafferty in the area and found only these in the Census in the Craughwell area:

 http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Craughwell/Mannin/1385872/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Craughwell/Maunin/462890/

The dates would make this a possibility for being the brother of Lawrence (James) but looks like that they had no children.

However some clues might help in identifying if they were related. They were married in 1880 which means that there should be bothe civil and parish records for them to identify John's parents and therefore possibly Lawrence's

Also the eldest male child was usually given his grandfather's name so if Lawrence had a son the possibility is that his name would be that of Lawrences grandfather which could be then referenced to John's father on the marriage cert

There are no Rafterty's in the 1855 Griffith's valuation for the area: 

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/galway/killora.htm

There are 2 places of contact that will be helpful :

worth getting in contact with Galway BMD  where you can obtain his birth record at their  office

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Find_a_Service/bdm/How_to_register_a_birth/Registrars_of_Births_Deaths_and_Marriages.html I have sometimes phoned and they will do it over the phone 00 353  91 546277 and secondly the Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie/index.html)  will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing when John Rafterty, if you find a relationship, came to Craughwell and what happended to his land ( as it usually went to a relation)  Hope that helps  Martin 

I appreciate your suggestions. We have already looked for leads in "Title Applotment Books and Griffith's Valuation. Why would I want to check 1901 census when they had been in America by that time for some 35-40 years?

Grateful,
Larry Sievers

Hi Larry,

I just mentioned the Griffith's Valuation in case you had other ancestors you wanted to research. IPlease feel free to contact me if you need any other assistance.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)