Michael Gallagher/Catherine Kelly Gallagher

Marian:

There were 8 Edward Gallagher civil birth registration index records in 1866. Not sure if any of these records relate to your ancestor. FYI civil registration started in 1864.

I could not locate a civil marriage index record for a Michael Gallagher and Catherine Kelly in your time period.

I also searched Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie  for the marriage and the baptism and could not locate a possible record.

Roger McDonnell

Roger,

Thank you very much for your quick look.  I would of hoped for better results, but you can't report things you can't find... I do however appreciate the effort!

Marian

Roger,

Thank you very much for your quick look.  I would of hoped for better results, but you can't report things you can't find... I do however appreciate the effort!

Marian

Marian:

Do you have death records for Michael and Catherine which might show their parents names? Any obituaries which might provide clues to where they came from? Their names are very common which complicates the search.

Roger

Reluctantly Roger I do not... What I know is that Michael Gallagher was born around 1841 in Ireland... Catherine Kelly was born around 1844... I had originally thought they were married in Ireland and the first child born there before they immigrated to the US.  It now actually looks like they may of been married in the US.  I know they had a son Thomas who was born in 1871 and who was my great grandfather.  That I have been able to confirm via a death certificate.  The certificate does list Thomas's parents as being born in Ireland.  Again I thank you for any info or direction you can provide.

Marian:

There is not much we can do with Irish records. Michael Gallagher is a very common name. Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie has 23 Michael Gallaghers baptized in 1841 and the county with the most Gallaghers is Co. Donegal and very few of the Co. Donegal churches have records back to 1841 which means those records are not available at all on Roots.

Without parents names you are stuck unless you find a clue in American records.

You have the same issue with Catherine Kelly.

Roger

Thanks Roger. Good luck with your search Marian!

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Roger,

I may of found a bit of a clue... It is possible that Michael Gallagher was born on 22 Feb 1841.  I am beginning to believe that he did not meet Catherine until after he came to the United States.  I think i may of found a death certificate but relcutantly it does not give me parents information.  It simply states 1909 but I doubt that would be of any help since he died in the US.  Does that give me any better searching information?

Thanks again for your help.

Marian

Marian:

The more specific date in 1841 does not help. Roots still searches by year. It is only when you pay for a transcription do you see the date of the baptism. You still have the limitations that I mentioned in my earlier note.

Roger