William Dodd

Dear PMB:

Thank you for your post to the message board.  I am one of the members of the Tulla Reaching Out Heritage committee and I will be happy to assist you.

I do see the reference to Catherine Dodd born to William Dodd and Anne Sullivan both from Tulla.  It would appear that both William and Anne lived in the town of Tulla.  Martin Dodd was the noted witness to their wedding on 8 January 1832.  I also see that Martin Dodd got married on 31 January 1832.  This may be a sibling to William Dodd.  John Sullivan was the second witness to this wedding, and he may have been Anne's father.  

The Dodd family were not listed in Griffith's Valuation in 1855, but a John Sullivan was listed.  I note that he was listed at Entry No. 25 & 26 and this area is just below the Fairgreen area.  It is privately owned houses today, although I would have to look attes to see which house it might have been.  

The Sullivan family had an ancestor who was in the British army.  https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database/martin-sullivan

There were Sullivan families in tulla village in the 1901 Census.  One of these families ran a small boarding house on the Fairgreen in Tulla.  If you like, I can make enquiries for you.

Let me know.

Kind regards,

Jane

Hello Jane,

I have just found your reply to my question about William Dodd. I have been away for a while so didn't see the reply. Thank you for trying to answer my question.

I had been looking in the NLI parish registers for Killaloe, Tulla, county Clare and have found Catherine's baptism, as well as William and Anne's marriage and Martin and Mary (nee Macgrath?) Dodd. I cannot find anything on Mary Ann. I thought I saw an entry for a Mary to Martin and Mary, but it is hard to find again.

My thoughts are that there may have been a possibility that Mary Ann may have been the daughter of another relative and brought up by William and Anne. There is much discrepancy in Australian newspaper articles as to the exact age of Mary Ann when she died in Wangaratta in 1918. She was registered on the shipping list which stated she was 19 and came out on the "Beejapore" on Feb 9 1853. Catherine came on the "Stambool" in Oct 1854. her age was recorded as 18. Her marriage notice in 1858 states she was the 2nd daughter of the late William Dodd.

I appreciate anything you can find on these, either from the Sullivans or the Dodds.

Kind regards

Pat M Burchat

Hi Pat:  

there is a Mary Dodd baptised in 8 December 1832 whose parents are Martin Dodd and Mary McGrath.  You can view the transcriptions of these registers on the Clare Library website in the link that I gave to you in my previous post.  The town land listed in the above transcription record is Kildurra.  The baptism sponsors were Miles McGrath and Mary Moloney.  If you are looking at the original, it is the left side of page 48.  .  Kildurra May be the old name for Durramore and/or Durrabeg which were place names in the large town land of Ballyblood.  I would agree with you about the possibility of Mary not being a daughter but rather a relation to William.  That was often the case when families emigrated through assisted schemes.  

If you would like any more information, please let me know at this email address:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com.

All the best,  

Jane