My 3x great grandfather Clotworthy Dobbin Devitt was born in Ireland in about 1790 and worked at the Post Office in Dublin from 1814 to 1829. His wife Jane (nee Buck) was the Postmistress in Dunshaughlin in the late 1820s and died in 1832.
I believe Jane Buck came from a Protestant family of lawyers in Dublin and that it is possible that Clotworthy Dobbin Devitt (or his father James Devitt) converted from Catholicism in the late 1700s or early 1800s. The Devitts who remained in Dunshaughlin beyond about 1850 seemed to remain Roman Catholic.
I have exhausted the online records which showed that there are Devitts recorded as running the Dunshaughlin Post Office from at least 1846-1886; firstly by Thomas Devitt around 1846-1870, then by his daughter Charlotte Devitt in 1881, and by another son Charles Devitt in 1886, the Devitt’s involvement with the Post Office in Dunshaughlin continued until at least 1911. However, I have unable to find the birth of Clotworthy Dobbin Devitt or Jane Buck, or the exact relationship between them and the subsequent Devitts in Dunshaughlin Post Office.
I am intending to visit Dublin and Dunshaughlin in June to try to find the places the Devitts lived and worked. I also plan to visit any archive where records may still exist that might provide more information about my Irish ancestry. It would be very exciting if any descendants of the family are still living in the area. Is there anyone in your group that can provide any assistance or guidance please?
I am descended from one of Clotworthy Dobbin Devitt and Jane Buck's sons called John Furlong Devitt who was born in Dublin. That family moved to Wolverhampton, England in the 1850's and became grocers, poulterers and butchers.
Thank you