My Finucane and O'Shaughnessy ancestors once lived in Coolmeen town, Kilfiddane parish. Ellen Finucane-O'Shaughnessy emigrated to Montreal, Canada with 5 of her sons. We do not know if her husband, John O'Shaughnessy, a tailor, emigrated with her. The time of emigration is suspected to be 1847, but the family could have emigrated in two waves, so to speak.
My great grandfather, son #6, born in Montreal in March 1848, visited Clare and Galway in the summer of 1888 to see the land of his parents' and his brothers' birth. He came back with the information, no doubt a confirmation, that his family had lived in Coolmeen.
Any information would be appreciated. I will be visiting West Ireland in the spring of 2014, so would be able to do further research on the ground then.
Ed
edoshaugh
Thursday 4th Jul 2013, 05:17PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Ed,
Thank you very much for your message.
It may be difficult to find information on the family as Catholic records for the parish do not start until 1868:
However, in the19th century new Catholic parishes were created so starting dates can sometimes be misleading. Many parishes changed their geographical spread so you may find earlier records relating to your family in the records of adjoining parishes so it may be no harm to check them:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/clarerc.htm
Most Catholic records are still held locally so you can contact the parish priest for assistance, and hopefully make be able to make an appointment with them before you arrive.
You could also check for record of the family in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
you could also try checking the 1901/1911 census records to see what O'Shaughnessy?s and Finucane?s were still in the area at the time:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
When you visit next year I definitely recommend that you call into the Local Studies Department of Clare County Library for some assistance and advice, they have an excellent county collection of archives and will be able to advise you on what other records may be available to you. Here is their webpage:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/local-studies/locstudi1.htm
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/clare/index.html
Clare Gen Project: http://www.igp-web.com/clare/index.html
Irish Genealogy Tool-kit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
I hope some of this is helpful.
All the best,
Genealogy Support
Wednesday 10th Jul 2013, 12:56PM