Kelleher / Kaleher in Waterford or Cork

Brian:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Did not find a Maurice Kelleher in Boherbue but found an 1838 Maurice in Dungarvan. Mother was Bridget More/Moore. Siblings Catherine 1835 Brigid 1841 Honor 1844 Mary 1846 per Roots Ireland records.

Is this the correct family?

Roger McDonnell

Name:Maurice KeleherDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:20-Apr-1838Address:
Parish/District:DUNGARVANGender:
CountyCo. Waterford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Michael KeleherMother:Brigid MoreOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John Flynn Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Margaret Flynn 

Dear Roger, thank you so much for your kind reply. It seems that the family first apeared in the London census in 1861, as then Michael b.1813, Bridget b. 1813, Maurice b. 1841, John b. 1835, Kate b.1839, Mary b.1850.--all living together.--only giving Ireland as the place of Birth ( except Mary whos birth place was Essex)

So it would seem that the family left Ireland between 1841 and 1850

Then in the 1871 census Michael b.1817 and Bridget b.1816 are alone but living next door to Maurice b.1841 and his then wife Jane b. 1844, their children Jane b.1870, and Daniel b.1866.

Im not sure if the Dungarvan records are our Kellehers because the dates are slightly different. Then again there could have been a date anomally in the census's. 

Also we go go from Brigid to Bridget ( the London census's writings seem to be somewhat ' varied ' to say the least ) -Kelleher, Kaleher, Kalher, Kalahar

But the reason I assumed it was Waterford is because Michael actualy stated this on the 1881 census ( Bridget having died in 1876 cert DOB -1818) I assumed that the Waterford he gave was the 'city' and not the 'county' but I could be wrong there. Would you be able to advise please ?

To complicate things I recently found someone on the 'Ancestry' website giving (from the same family tree line) Michael b.1813 and Bridget Connor b. 1817 in Boherbue, Co. Cork. I contacted them to ask where Boherbue came from but they couldnt remember.

It seems that our Michael, Bridget (Brigid) and Maurice are a bit of a mystery but thank you once again for your information. I really dont know where to look next.

Regards Brian 

Brian:

I would assume Waterford on the 1881 census was referring to the county.

Spelling of names and ages and dates were not an exact science in the 19th century so you will see variations in records.

Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Dear Roger, my appologies but I missed your reply, Ive now seen it so thank you once again. Yes I did have my DNA done with 'ancestry' but all it showed was Munster as a location. I dont know if it can be narrowed down to a more specific region but maybe it is an avenue for investigation. Ive completed a family tree on ancestry and from other trees it seems Michael & Bridget are not of the same location. Some years ago I did visit Dungarvan and found that the Kellehers baptisms showed (as you kindly confirmed) their residence as Fair Lane (now Wolftone street). The 1851 Griffiths land valuation showed no Kellehers in Fair Lane but a couple of houses vacated (I assume from the famine). Ive always assumed it was our Kellehers who sailed to London. 

Regards Brian

Brian:

I have tested my DNA with Ancestry and also Family Tree DNA. You should have received matches starting with the closest matches. One of the limitations with Ancestry is that many people test just to find their ethnicity background but are not that interested in the specifics of their family tree.However, I would contact your top matches and see if they respond. One other step you can take is to upload your DNA to a volunteer run site called Gedmatch www.gedmatch.com   Gedmatch allows you to see who you match with people who tested with other companies like Family Tree (and also loaded their DNA data to Gedmatch). Gedmatch also has some very good analytical tools.

Roger

Hello Roger, many thanks for the link to the gedmatch website, I did not know about this one, so am very grateful. Yes, I did in fact contact some of the matches (and even found some with a common 'line' of the kalehers (Kellehers)-right back to Michael and Brigid (Bridget) but they had a different location of marriage for them ( Boherbue, Co. Cork) unfortunately no reply from them, or many others Ive contacted. 

I will try the gedmatch and maybe even dig further into Boherbue records / DNA. The only other thing I could think of is that Michael and Brigid maybe 'were' from Boherbue but moved to Dungarvan where the children were baptised (no record of a marriage there). I do appreciate, obviously, these were difficult times and families were doing what they could to survive-mine too it seems. I'll keep persevering the search though.

Regards Brian