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USA | VIEW SOURCE |
Michael James McNamara was born in MAR 1825 ( His grave stone says 1815. He died in 1912.).
Family lore is that his father, Timothy Michael McNamara, and mother, Nora or Honora Ryan, were tenants near Kilbane, County Clare.
Michael along with his brother Timothy, born in 1817, and his sisters Mary and Honora, born around 1827, immigrated around 1848 to the US. Michael is first seen in US public records in New York census of 1850 living in the home of Michael and Mary McMahon in DeWitt, Onandaga County, New York with their daughter, his bride, Mary McMahon,19 years old. That record gives his age as 25.
Their son, James Michael McNamara Sr. (1851–1926) was born August 15, 1851, in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, USA. Mary died giving birth to James or shortly afterward.
The next record I've found documents his marriage to Catherine Hegarty in 1857 in Hartford, Wisconsin. She adopts James and Michael and Catherine proceed to have 10 more children and adopt an 11th child for a total of 12 McNamaras. The oldest son of this union, Michael James McNamara Jr, is my great grandfather.
In 1904 an article called Farmers of Cylon appeared in the Irish Standard which was published in Minneapolis until 1920. It mentions Michael Sr and Michael Jr. and other great grandparents of mine from that enclave of Irish immigrants in Wisconsin who homesteaded and farmed in the towns of Emerald, Erin Corner and Cylon and attended Holy Rosary Church in Cylon, and St. Patrick's Church in Erin, where many of them are buried. Michael Sr. is quoted in the Irish Standard saying that he's from near Bodyke, County Clare, which is close to Kilbane.
Last fall, 2019, I went to Ireland to research about this line of McNamaras and came up empty. Any help would be appreciated.
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| MJ McNamara platt map.jpg (1.29 MB) | 1.29 MB |
| McNamara family .jpg (148.27 KB) | 148.27 KB |
| irish in wisconsin.png (418.91 KB) | 418.91 KB |
| Additional Information | ||
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| Date of Birth | 1st Mar 1825 | VIEW SOURCE |
| Date of Death | 20th Jan 1912 | VIEW SOURCE |
Interested in Michael McNamara. I have John McNamara b. 3/23/1823 Broadford Clare emigrated to US 1847, naturalization papers as John Mack. Lived in Fitchburg MA until death 1901. Fitchburg is 50 miles west of Boston. Cannot find any reference to parents or siblings.
Thank you!
Hi There:
There were several McNamara families in the Broadford area. I'm interested in the comment that Michael noted that he was from Bodyke. That civil parish is Kilnoe and their registers begin in 1832. He may have been on the border of Bodyke and Kilbane. Kilbane is located within the civil parish of Killokennedy and borders Bodyke (Kilnoe). Did you check headstones for family members that didn't emigrate? I wonder if some of the McNamaras remained in the Kilbane/Kilnoe area. Let me know. I see a Timothy McNamara in the Griffith's Valuation occupying land at Coolreagh More in Kilnoe. Let me know what you think. Unfortunately the parish registers for Broadford begin in 1844 and they were water damaged many years ago, so are in very poor condition. They have been transcribed on the Clare Library website. You can view them and other family research resources here: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm
Sue C: Do you have any names of siblings for John McNamara? That might help to narrow down the search. I believe that I did come across an obituary given to me from someone about this man and his being from Broadford. Please feel free to let me know on the comments. We have a wonderful local historian in Broadford who I can ask.
All the best,
Jane
Dear Jane,
I did look in graveyards in Kilbane and Broadford but found no names of McNamaras that I recognized. I will now look in Kilnoe. Thanks for the mention of Timothy in Griffiths. I found and made a copy of that. When Covid 19 is less wild I dearly hope to visit again and head toward Bodyke. I believe that Michael's wife, Catherine Hegarty or Haggarty also lived in Kilbane and her father John and brother Patrick farmed there and may have owned a house on the High Road between Kilbane and Broadford. I'm going to start looking into them next.
Thank you so much for your note.
Mary Jo Thompson
Hi all, just seeing this
I have no references to any siblings for John. This local paper published everything- who had a visitor for Sunday dinner, trips taken, word of death of relatives, etc. - nothing indicated a sibling for John.
Here's his obituary from that local paper -
Fitchburg Daily Sentinel November 9, 1901
Death of a Civil War Veteran
John Mack, a veteran of the Civil War, and an esteemed citizen, died at his residence, 21 Forest Street, Friday night, shortly after midnight. He had been troubled with heart disease for a long time and was confined to bed about two weeks.
Mr. Mack was born at Bradford, County Clare, Ireland, March 23, 1823. His father was a well-to-do farmer and the son obtained an education. He remained at home until 1847 when he came to America, landed at Boston and came immediately to Fitchburg, where he has since resided, except about two years, 1852 and ’53 when his home was in Ashby.
He was one of the longest time citizens of Fitchburg who were born in Ireland.
He was for many years employed at the American Rattan company’s shop in Newton Place and later at the V & M Railroad company’s repair shop. His impaired health prevented him from engaging in steady work in recent years.
During the Civil War he served the quota of Fitchburg in Company H, 4th Mass. Heavy Artillery from August 15, 1864 til the regiment was mustered out by reason of the close of the war, June 17, 1865. The regiment formed a part of the garrison of Washington and was stationed at Fort Craig on Arlington Heights. He was a member of Post 12, G.A.R.
Mr. Mack married September 26, 1850, Miss Mary Kelly, who came to this country on the same ship, though they were not acquainted at that time. Besides his wife, he leaves four sons – John of Ashburnham, Edward F. who has been in the U.S. Navy for 28 years, was master at arms on the U>S. Battleship Iowa in the Spanish War and is now stationed at Norfolk, VA; James H. of this City and Patrick H. who resides at Los Angeles, CA , and one daughter, Miss Mary Mack.
Mr. Mack was the last of his father’s family. The funeral will be on Sunday at 2 pm from 21 Forest Street.
This is my 3rd Great Grandfather!
