Researching O'Kelly and Leavey in County Longford (Possibly Cooleeny) and Westmeath (Templemichael)

Joyce:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I made a number of searches on the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not have any success in finding William O'Kelly and Margaret Leavey or their children. I assume the family was RC?

The subject line of your message shows Cooleeny and Templemichael. Cooleeny is a townland in Templemichael civil parish in Co.Longford. What info do you have that points to Cooleeny? There was an Edward Levy in Cooleeny in the early 1850s as shown on the Griffiths Valuation records.

Let me know.

Roger McDonnell

Roger, Hello

Thank you so much for your time in searching for me.  The family was Roman Catholic.

Margaret Leavey/Leavy/Levey was the daughter of James Leavey/Leavy/Levey born September 15, 1817 in County Longford.  He was the son of Christopher Leavey and Joan (Joanne) Dinnegan.  Christopher was born 1781/1788 and died in Cooleeny and was buried in Ballymacormack on October 22, 1840.  The tithe applotments records 1823-1837 and 1836 that I have for him indicate Cooleeny, County Longford. The Ireland Catholic Church registers 1653-1915 for him and his wife indicate the parish variants as Ballymacormack, Longford; Templemichael and diocese as Ardagh.

His siblings are indicated below and all born in County Longford.  James migrated to Canada around 1850 along with his daughter Margaret and James married a second time in 1851 to a Bridget Gorman 1831 and had additional children in Canada.

Hugh 1808

Margaret 1810

Catherine 1813

James 1815

Elizabeth 1821

Michael 1823

Thank you again for your help.  Your time and kindness is appreciated.

Joyce

Joyce:

Roots Ireland has baptismal records for Hugh, Margaret, Catherine and two James' records (1815 and 1817) so likely the 1815 James died young plus Elizaeth and Michael. I also saw an 1826 Brigid record which may be a different family but the father is Christopher and the mother is Bridget Dinnegan

Name:Brigid LeavyDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:17-Dec-1826Address:Not RecordedParish/District:LONGFORDGender:FemaleCountyCo. Longford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Christopher LeavyMother:Brigid DinneganOccupation:Not Recorded
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John Hopkins Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Margaret Corcoran 

I was not able to find the baptismal record for Margaret in the 1830s. Perhaps she was baptized with a different first name and I preume ypu don't have his first wife's name.

Question: You indicate that James left Ireland in 1850 and took his daughter Margaret with him but yet she married William O'Kelly in Ireland and they had two children in 1854 and 1855. I did not locate the baptismal records for those two children but possibly they were baptized in a church which does not have records back to the 1850s.

Roger

Roger, Hello

Thank you again for your time and kindness in helping me.  I do have baptismal records for the seven children born to Christopher Leavy and Joanne Dinnegan in Ireland.

I also assumed that James born 1815 died young. It might be that Christopher remarried to a Bridget Dinnegan.  His last child born to he and Joanne Dinnegan was 1823.  I don’t have any record to prove or disprove the marriage to Bridget.  Thank you for providing Brigid’s baptism record and the information deserves some researching on my part.

I do not have the name of Margaret’s mother. I should have worded Margaret’s arrival in Canada a little differently.  While James arrived about 1849 in Canada, Margaret, and her husband, William James arrived in St. Chrysostome, Quebec, Canada around 1850 as he appears in the 1851 Canada census and the children born in 1854 and 1855 were born in St. Chrysostome, Quebec, Canada.

Thank you so much for your help.

Joyce

Joyce:

All the best with your research and let us know if we can help further.

Roger