Margaret Claugherty : Short Biography

Margaret Claugherty 1869

Moyrus (Galway) County Galway

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Place of migration

Migrated to/Born in USA

Additional Information
Date of Birth	25th May 1869	VIEW SOURCE
Date of Death	11th Jul 1940	VIEW SOURCE
Father (First Name/s and Surname)	Thomas Claugherty/Cloherty
Mother (First Name/s and Maiden)	Mary Folan
Townland born	Letterard

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My great grandmother was Mary Cloherty and I believe that she came from Carna in the parish of Moyrus. At the time of her marriage she was described as a shopkeeper and was living in Kilkieran (Kilkerrin) a few miles from Carna. She was born in 1858/9 and married John O'Malley in 1890. Her grandmother was Mary McDonagh and I believe, therefore, that her mother was Barbara or Bridget McDonagh. I would be interested to hear from any descendants of Margaret Claugherty as I feel she may be related to my great grandmother.

Jo

Thursday 7th October 2021 05:28PM

Hi Jo:

Margaret Claugherty (also sometimes spelled Cloherty) was my great-grandmother. She was from Letterard in Moyrus/Carna Parish. She moved to the US with her family as a teen in 1884. Her mother was Mary FOLAN (I just posted info on her here as well) and her father was Thomas Cloherty/Claugherty. They initally settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, along with a group of other Connemara immigrants who were brought there by Fr. John Ireland, Archbishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis, working hand in hand with James Tuke. However, they did not appear to have stayed in St. Paul for very long. At some point Margaret ended up in Superior, Wisconsin and then met and married my great-grandfather, John NEE, in 1896. John was apparently employed as a stationary engineer for most of his life. They divorced in 1908 after he deserted the family several years earlier. I still don't know whatever became of him.

I also have O'Malleys in my tree. John Nee's mother was Honoria "Anne" O'Malley, who was also from Letterard, Carna. She married Coleman Nee in 1871 in Roundstone, Inishnee. Most of my NEE ancestors were from that island. They arrived in the US around 1885. They too ended up in Superior and lived there for many years, eventually moving to Chicago IL in the 1910s.

I am still working on getting more of my Irish ancestors posted here. I also have a tree on Ancesty. I don't have any McDonaghs in my tree (that I know of). Please let me know if you have specific questions, I am glad to help. I have a well researched tree that goes back to the early 1800s in Ireland.

Regards, Jackie.

jjlava

Thursday 7th October 2021 09:33PM

Hi Jackie,

How lovely to hear from you. Thank you for the information. Like you, I have a well researched tree that I have compiled over many years. I now have as much information as it is possible to get from records. As you will be aware, mandatory registration of marriages and births did not come into force in the Republic of Ireland, until 1864. Before that time, many of the parish priests were disinclined to make an entry in their records, for a number of reasons, including political ones. In England, however, mandatory registration began in 1837 and parish records were well maintained for centuries.

Added to this, UK censuses give a wealth of historical information to aid research. Although censuses were completed in Ireland in the 19th century, most were lost in either the 1920s GRO fire or were pulped for paper during WWI. The result of all this has been that I have an English tree going back to the 1600s, but an Irish tree only going back to the mid 1800s!

I have made several visits to the towns of Carna, Ardmore and Kilkieran and have been fortunate enough to view the parish records available, plus chat to locals and meet a genealogist who lives in Kilkieran. This has enabled me to discover where my great grandparents are buried and the homes where my grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather lived.

My O'Malley grandfather came to England as a young man and told my mother very little about his Irish childhood. A real shame. His siblings emigrated to the USA, as did some of his aunts and uncles.

When I refer to my family in Carna, I am referring to the small town of Carna. My great great grandfather lived in Letterdeskert, which is a tiny Townland adjoining the town of Carna. I believe that Moyrus and Carna are the same parish, but the town of Carna is not the same as the parish of Carna.

Once registration of births etc began, the town of Carna fell under the registration districts of either Clifden or Roundstone. For example, some of my family were baptised/married in Carna or Kilkieran, but these events were then registered in either Roundstone or Clifden, which are both towns in Commemara, not very far from Carna, Kilkieran etc.

I note that you mention Roundstone as being in Inishee, an island so this is different from the Roundstone I refer to.

I see that your O'Malleys and Claughertys were from Letterard. My great great grandfather Patrick O'Malley (Malley) born in the 1830s, married Anne Barrett. Patrick was a herd and so he travelled a lot to find work. He started out in the area of Ballinakill and then worked his way down until finally settling in Letterdeskert. This meant that their children were born in different places.

My great grandfather John O'Malley was born in Tievgariff, but younger siblings (born after 1864 so I have records) were born in Letterard, Letterdife (just outside Roundstone) Moyrus (the townland not just the parish) etc.

Owing to the lack of records I have progressed as far as I can by looking at parish records, Griffiths Valuation etc, so I now have to rely on contacting others to see if they can help. Thus my message posted here.

A few years ago I was put in touch with an American (via my Irish contact) who was trying to trace a particular O'Malley; the person turned out to have been one of my great grandfather's brothers. This meant that I could give the American lady all the Irish information I had, but she helped me a lot too. Her Irish ancestors had talked about Ireland and their ancestors so she was able to give me the name of an ancestor of hers, who we finally worked out was my great great grandfather's brother. This led to her giving me the name of her ancestor's father who was, therefore, my great great great grandfather.

The only way of expanding my tree is by contact with others who may have information I have not. If you have any information on Honoria O'Malley's parents, we might be able to link our families. I feel that our Cloherty/Claugherty families may not be related though.

Kind regards

Jo

Friday 8th October 2021 06:04PM

Hi again Jo,

Fortunately my uncle did the vast majority of the legwork searching for information on our Irish ancestors. He actually went to Ireland a couple of times to hunt down the parish records in the 1990s after his retirement. He left his research to me and after he passed away I started to add more to the tree,

The Roundstone I refer to above is actually not on Inishnee, but a town adjacent to it. This is the parish where Coleman Nee and Honoria O'Malley were married. The Nees lived largely on the island as far as I can tell. My Clohertys were definitely from Letterard in Carna Parish, not Carna town - I have documentation showing the Letterard connection. Sorry for any confusion to that end.

Honoria's parents were John O'Malley and Mary McKeon (I'm not certain of the spelling of that name, hough). They were each born around 1815 somewhere in Galway, but I haven't been able to determine the exact years and birth places yet.

I have been watching John Grenham's videos and using his website to determine where records are kept and which records to access. I am so glad I found his YouTube channel. He is in Ireland and has a great depth of knowledge of Irish records and Irish genealogy in general.

Jackie

jjlava

Friday 8th October 2021 08:54PM

Hello again Jackie

Thank you for such a prompt response. I found the information you gave so interesting and the more I reflect on where your ancestors are from, in relation to mine, the more logical it seems that you and I are related somewhere back down our lines. Even if we aren’t, our families would have known each other as they are from small, rural areas.

If your uncle visited Roundstone in July, he may have seen the annual Roundstone Regatta. A wonderful sight, especially the Galway Hookers ( a traditional boat from Connemara).

I would love to continue our conversation and try to discover where our families connect. Would you be okay with this? As it is more a personal journey, it might be better to continue mailing in a more private way.

You mentioned a tree on Ancestry and my O’Malley Tree is there too. I wonder if it might be possible to email via Ancestry? What do you think?

Have you had your DNA tested and added to Ancestry? If so and we are related we will be a match.

Kind regards

Jo (Surrey, England)

Jo

Tuesday 12th October 2021 04:56PM

Hi Jo,

I am on Ancestry, you can view my tree via my name, Jackie LaVaque. You can also email me at jjlavaque AT gmail.com. I did my DNA through Ancestry and it is linked to my tree there.

Jackie