Gavaghans and McNultys in Co. Mayo (1790-1840)

My grandmother, Ann Marie McNulty, was born in the parish of Killasser in 1885, in the townland of Callow, which is between Swinford and Foxford.  I don't know of any Gavaghan's in my family, but I know the surname was common in the same area, especially around Swinford, where the McNulty's also lived (and still live).  In fact, the surname [O']Gavaghan (in Irish, Ó Gáibhtheacháin) originated right there in eastern Mayo and western Roscommon.  It is also sometimes anglicized as [O']Gaughan, but the [O']Gavaghan form is a better phonetic rendering of the Irish.  I can give you the history of the McNulty family in Mayo, and I think I may have found a family tree for John Gavaghan and Catherine McNulty.

First, the family tree, since that will probably interest you the most.  I keep my genealogical records on the Family Search site.  It's run by the LDS church, but free for all to use, and it's the largest genealogical database in the world.   It is actually arranged as one giant family tree, rather than separate trees set up by various people, and I found a John Gavaghan there, married to a Catherine McNulty, with exactly the children you listed, born at about the right times.  You can access the site here:  https://www.familysearch.org

Once you do that, you'll need to create a (free) account, but they don't ask for much in the way of personal info, and (in case you're worried) no missionaries will seek you out afterwards.  Once you're logged in, you can find John at his record ID#, which is 96XL-K55  You'll be able to see easily how to maneuver up and down by clicking on other names, including Catherine's, which you'll see in John's record.  If you get hooked on the site, you may want to take a class at one of the Mormon Family History Centers about how to use the many features which it offers. 

The records I looked at there do not specifically state that the Gavaghan's were from the Swinford/Swineford area, but there appear to be records for a number of other relatives there and you may find more info in them (I just glanced around). The online parish records in Mayo generally only go back to the mid-19th century, but in a few places they go back further, and one of those places is Swinford.  The records there go back to 1808 for marriages and 1822 for baptisms, with some gaps, so if your ancestors lived there, you might be able to find records for them.  You can find the records online here:  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0133

As to the McNulty family.  In Irish, the surname McNulty is Mac an Ultaigh, which literally means “son of the Ulsterman” (Ultach = Ulsterman, and Ultaigh is the genitive case of the word), but it may simply refer to descent from the Ulaid  (in ancient Ireland the Uluti tribe), a people for whom Ulster is named, which in remote times ruled most of the North of Ireland.  According to MacLysaght’s “Surnames of Ireland”, the surname originated in Donegal (where McNulty's can still be found), and that is where the Mayo McNulty’s came from several centuries ago.  Many people left Ulster for Mayo and Galway at the time of the plantation of Ulster by Protestants from Scotland and England.  McNulty emigrants from Ulster are also known to have moved to Counties Louth and Meath (in Meath, they usually just use the name Nulty).  A family of McNulty's migrated to the Callow Lakes area in Mayo in the 1640's, according to a history of the parish of Killasser.  After their arrival, members of the family constructed a number of mills in the area. In the course of time, McNulty’s became numerous, and the first parish priest of All Saints Church at Killasser was a McNulty.  There are also people named MacNalty or MacAnalty.  They’re generally from a different family, whose name comes from the Irish name Mac Conallta ("son of the wild hound"), but they lived in the same areas as the McNulty's.

Kevin,

Your comment above is very helfpul to me.  I read somewhere that a McNulty was first parish priest of Callow Church which searching the internet last month.  I've learned to double check info and not take at face value.  Looks like it's All Saints Church instead.  Any chance he might be related back to  Anne Marie and mine  Mary McNulty, daughter of Anthony McNulty near Callow Lake by Foxford and Swineford?  Guessing All Saints and Callow Church are two distinctly different churches.

Blessings

Audrey