Hehirs who immigrated to Binghamton, New York, USA

Dear Jim:

Many thanks for your query to the message board.  I can check the parish registers here in Tulla for you and let you know what information is available that may assist you.

Please give me a week or so, and I will get back to you.  Please also join the Tulla Reaching Out webpage if you have not already done so.

Kind regards,

Jane.

Hi Jim,

Just saw your message about Hehirs in Binghamton.  My GG grandmother was Margaret Hehir- she was born in Vermont, probably Burlington, the daughter of Michael Hehir and Anne McNamara.  She married Patrick Penders in Rutland County in 1867, and they eventually moved to Essex County, NY.  Over the years I've collected information about any Hehirs I suspect may be related, but this has been a very elusive family to track down.  I'm sure you are aware of the spelling challenges in researching this surname- I've seen everything from AYERS to TYLER and back again.  Unfortunately I don't know a lot about Michael Hehir's origins, just that he was likely from Clare and was in the US by the time he married in Burlington, Vermont in 1847.  I don't even know when or where he died.   

I've done a bit of basic research on any Hehirs living anywhere nearby Vermont, and that includes the Hehirs of Binghamton.  I know I've got some information about your ancestors somewhere in my notes.  I have often wondered if there was a connection, even though your ancestors arrived a bit later than mine did.

I'm planning a trip to Ireland in April and I'm hoping to get a little bit more information about this family before then.  The Penders side was also from Clare- specifically the Kildysert area.  I've done extensive research on them.  No baptism record exists for my GG grandfather Patrick Penders, but strong evidence suggest he had siblings whose baptism records have been found.  Maybe if you and I put our heads together, we can get somewhere.

Lisa Dougherty, Castleton, NY 

Nice to 'meet' you, Lisa.  I have been working with several others who are all researching the same general family.  Although we now know specifically the US history of one Hehir family, we believe they had other relatives in the Binghamton area, still not identified.  One of my contacts mentioned your Michael in Vermont just the other day.  Another one of our fellow researchers lives very close to you, just across the state line in Massachusetts, south of Pittsfield.

The County Clare Library has a large study I did on every person with a variation of the fmaily name in Binghamton from 1860 to 1940, also a breif history of "my" Hehirs in Binghamton. Go to:

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/whatsnew.htm

My email address is    tangentjt@gmail.com    if you would like to talk with our group.

JIM

Dear Jim:

I see from a previous post that you may well have made a family connection through the web page, and if so, well done!  I checked the Tulla parish register for you and there are not any Hehirs that were baptised in the parish, unfortunately. 

If you do find the Clare parish, please let me know if I can be of further assistance from here. 

A very Happy Holiday to you!

Kind regards,

Jane.