Looking for McAndrew relatives

Hi Mary,

You are most likely looking for Kilfian Parish, which is nearby Killala & Ballycastle. The Roman Catholic parish of Kilfian contains both the Civil Parishes of Kilfian & Rathreagh.  Here are the McAndrews in both Civil Parishes on Griffiths Valuation, a land survey from about 1858.

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/kilfian.php

Mc Andrew       Edward               Treanagh               Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Hubert               Greenwoodpark          Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       John                 Glenedagh, Eighter     Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Martin               Rathroe                Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Patrick              Ballykinlettragh       Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Patrick              Belladooan             Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Richard              Cloonkee               Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Richard              Rathroe                Kilfian     Mayo
Mc Andrew       Thomas               Ballykinlettragh       Kilfian     Mayo

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/rathreagh.php

Mc Andrew      John            Ballybeg            Rathreagh     Mayo

I am pretty sure that this is an ancestor of yours:

Mc Andrew       John                 Glenedagh, Eighter     Kilfian     Mayo

My Loughney's come from Kilfian parish, and I'll see if I can contact anyone there to see if the McAndrews are still there.

John Loughney

Mary,

If you look at the first entry on this page:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNam…

You will be able to click on the Griffiths Valuation for the place where your ancestors lived. You'll see quite a few McAndrews lived there ,and you can see the map as well.  I'll look a bit more about this and report back.

John

Dear John Loughney,

Thank you so much for this!  If I write to John McAndrew with just  the information as it appears:

John McAndrew   Ballybeg, Rathreagh, Mayo 

or Glenedagh, Eighter, Kilfian, Mayo

will that be a sufficient address?

I am so excited about this.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thankyou!!!!!

Mary,

Those records I gave were from about 1858, so maybe don't use those addresses ;)

Here's a list of McAndrews from the Irish Yellow Pages:
http://www.goldenpages.ie/q/business/advanced/where/mayo/what/mcandrew/…

It lists a Sean McAndrew in Lahardne, which isn't far from where your ancestors came from. There's also a Muredach McAndrew in Meedoon Killala Co. Mayo who is close as well.

I'd go for broke, and send a letter to each of them, explaining your family background and give them an invitation to contact you.

If you are feeling bold, you could always just give them a ring, as their phone numbers are listed in the web link.

Good luck!
John

I am descended from John McAndrew(s) of either Killala (official records) or Kilfian (family oral history). John McAndrew(s) Bridget Howard, daughter of Anthony Howard and Mary Newcombe, who was baptized in Kilfian 1827. Est, marriage date 1850-55. Bridget died in Rathowen, Killala, in 1886; John was still alive and his occupation is listed as "Herd". No knowledge of what happened to him after.

They had, from the late 1850s through 1870, at least 6 children, Bridget, Mary, John, Anne, Catherine, and Michael. There are civil birth records for the last three, 1 in Carrowkeel and the others in Rathowen, both areas of Killala. There is only one McAndrew in Rathowen in Griffith's, a Bridget McAndrew, leasing 20 acres from the notorious Harriet Gardiner. I suspect this is the widow of the older John McAndrew. It is also possible that the John McAndrew, Rathreagh, leasing from Harriet Gardiner, is the same John who married Bridget Howard. It depends on where they were then and how many plots of land he had, which I do not know.

All of the children, save Michael, emigrated to the coal mining town of Archbald PA in the 1880s, and were married and had children there. Bridget may have been the first; she married a successful businessman from Mayo or Sligo named Michael Murray.

Thank you John Loughney for this information and I will make use of it. I administer several DNA results of my family on ancestryDNA.com and encourage anyone with McAndrew connections to Killala or Kilfian, or Ballina for that matter, to submit a DNA sample to that website and see if we match. Please contact me at mt57@aol.com if you have any information to share or questions to ask.