My Keys to Ireland

I am participating in the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. The focus of this edition is "My key to Ireland." It is dedicated to the stories of genealogists tracing their Irish family trees.

My ancestors came from several different counties in Ireland: Kilkenny, Longford, Meath, Tyrone and possibly Mayo. I learned of these places of origin from a variety of sources. And I am still gathering evidence on some of them.

I found the birthplaces of my 2nd great grandparents, Timothy Bestick and Ellen McSorley in their 1833 church marriage record from Newark, New Jersey. I've written about that discovery here. I have found additional records of Timothy and his parents in Longford church records. I haven't been as successful with Ellen. McSorley is a common name in Tyrone, and it will take more digging in U.S. records of Ellen and her siblings in order to find their place of origin in County Tyrone.

I was told by my aunt, Rita Brady, that her grandfather Timothy Whelan was from Kilkenny. Since then I have found some evidence supporting that. The Whelan surname and the surname of Timothy Whelan's first wife, Mary Sinnott, are both common in Kilkenny. I am still gathering information about other Whelans from Kilkenny who settled in Chicago, to see if any of them are related to Timothy.

Aunt Rita also told me that Timothy Whelan's second wife, Catherine Markey, was from County Meath. According to Rita, Catherine and her mother came to the U.S. from "County Meath near the River Boyne, 5 miles from the sea." This exact wording was also used by a distant cousin who was descended from Catherine's aunt Bridget Ratty Crawley. The wording was so specific that it sounded like a quote from a travel brochure. I later found that wording in a gazeteer of Ireland.

My Aunt Rita told me that her grandfather, Garret Brady, was from County Mayo. I haven't found any supporting evidence of this in obituaries or other sources. And Brady is not a common name in County Mayo. But Aunt Rita's information has been pretty reliable about our other ancestors, so for now I am taking her word for it and hoping to find records of Garret that will lead me to his place of origin in Ireland.

The Whelan and O'Malley Families of Chicago

While researching my Whelan family, I collected the following Whelan baptisms. The spellings of names were copied as they were written in the baptism register. These entries are from Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago, IL) Baptisms 1891-1904 (FHL 1578585, item 8.)

Baptized 18 Dec 1892, John Thomas Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Elizabeth O'Malley. Born 5 Dec 1892. Sponsors Martin O'Malley and Mary O'Malley. Page 23.

Baptized 27-Jul 1894, Michael Whalen (conditional), son of Michael Whalen and Marg Whalen. Born 27 July 1894. Sposors Mary Melvin. Page 51.

Baptized 21-Oct 1894, Ann Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 7 Oct 1894. Sponsors James Ohara and Miss Grass. Page 55.

Baptized 20-Jun 1896, William Anthony Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Eliza Omalley. Born 13 Jun 1896. Sponsors Patrick Omalley and Ann Omalley. Page 82.

Baptized 27-Jun 1897. Joseph George Whalen, son of William Whalen and Lizzie Gleason. Born 19 May 1897. Sponsor Mary McConnell. Page 99.

Baptized 24-Apr 1898. Mary Evaline Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 8 Apr 1898. Sponsors William Omalley and Blanche Omalley. Page 111.

Baptized 2-Jul 1899. Timothy Whelan, son of Timothy Whelan and Eliz Omalley. Born 15 Jun 1899. Sponsors Patrick Walsh and Nellie Whelan. Page 127.

Baptized 29-Sep 1901. Agnes Bernice Whalen, daughter of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 11-Sep-01. Sponsors Peter Omalley and Margaret Omalley. Page 157. Married Thomas Schreiber 5-5-62 Our Lady of Grace.

Baptized 25-Oct 1903. Francis Aloysius Whalen, son of Timothy Whalen and Eliz Omalley. Born 9-Oct-03. Sponsors Nicholas Ratty and Mary Omalley. Page 185. Married Irene Rossdahl Jan 28,1953 St. Philomen.

These entries are not my immediate family of interest. However, I believe that the Timothy and Elizabeth (O'Malley) Whelan family above may be related to me. My great-grandfather Timothy Whelan, who died in 1894, and his family attended Holy Name Cathedral. He had some possible siblings in the Chicago area, and I have wondered if this Timothy above could be the nephew of my Timothy. One new piece of information from the entries above supports a relationship between these 2 Timothys--Nicholas Ratty, sponsor of Timothy and Elizabeth's son Francis, was a relative of my Timothy's wife Catherine. I hope that in the future I'll find documentation that will prove or disprove a relationship between these 2 Timothys.