"Mr McDonnell, I can't thank you enough for the very timely and meaningful information I received: the death certificates of both Mary and Francis confirm much of what was anecdotal evidence about the Fitzgerald family county origins. I do have one related question: My father always said Abigails family (Fitzgerald) originated in County Clare and his father's family (Shea) originated in County Kerry. Is it at all possible that the Fitzgeralds relocated from Clare to Kerry? Both families noted in the US and Rhode Island early census that they were from the Irish Free State. Hopefully I have uploaded a photo of Abigail Francis Fitzgerald and her husband Dennis Shea, b. 19 Feb 1877son of Maurice and Mary O'Connor Shea County Kerry.
Sylvia Frances
Monday 1st Oct 2018, 02:54PMMessage Board Replies
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Sylvia:
Thanks for your note. Here is some background on the Irish Free State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State which was a predecessor State to the present day Republic of Ireland.
It is possible that the Fitzgeralds migrated from Co. Clare to Co. Kerry. This site maintained by one of our volunteers shows where surnames were found in mid-19th century Ireland.
https://www.swilson.info/sdist.php
Co. Cork had the most Fitzgerlads followed by Limerick, Kerry, Waterford and then Co. Clare.
Possibly DNA testing would help. You may get matches with people who have Fitzgerald connections and they may have more info on the origins of the family.
You may want to add the story and pictures of Abigail and Dennis Shea to our XO Chronicles site https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-dat…
Roger
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 1st Oct 2018, 04:44PM