Knocking Off A Few Bricks In A Wall: New Information on Bridget

Yesterday, I posted about my 2x-great-grandmother Bridget Theresa (Kane) McRae and the lack of information I have about her and her life prior to coming to America. I shared that post to several genealogical Facebook groups, including Irish Roots Hunters. It was there that another member of that group, Lynn, commented on my post with the transcription of a baptismal record for a Bridget Kane. 

Name: Bridget Kane
Date of Baptism: 11-Jan-1853
Parish/District: UPR CREGGAN
County: ARMAGH
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Father: Edwd Kane
Mother: Cath Downey
Sponsor 1 / Informant 1: John Brennan
Sponsor 2 / Informant 2: Bridget Maginnis

Screenshot courtesy of Lynn\.

As mentioned before, I don't have much information on Bridget's life prior to Ireland. All I know is that she was the daughter of Edward Kane and Catherine "Kate" Downey, was born circa 1855, and came to America in the early 1870's. I wanted to be extra careful in confirming this before doing anything else.

The names of Bridget's parents match. The date of the baptism is close to the approximate year of birth I have for Bridget, which I got from the marriage record for her marriage to John McCormack (when Bridget and John married on January 10, 1875, Bridget's given age was 20).

RootsIreland.ie's database is the "largest database of family records in Ireland". It covers all but two counties in Ireland (Kerry and Cork [South]) and Dublin City. Lynn told me that when she searched the database, this was literally the only result that came up. She even sent me a screencap showing me how she did the search. 

Screenshot courtesy of Lynn\.

During Bridget's life, her name on records would sometimes be given as Theresa/Teresa, which was her maiden name. I asked Lynn if she could do a search using the same information but instead, use the first name Theresa/Teresa. She did and nothing came up. She again sent me the screencaps so that I was able to see this for myself.

Screenshot courtesy of Lynn.

Screenshot courtesy of Lynn.

After reviewing everything -- the parents' names in the baptismal record being correct, the year of the baptism being close to the approximate year of birth I already had, and the fact that no other record came up in the searches -- I came to the conclusion that the record Lynn found was indeed by 2x-great-grandmother, Bridget Theresa Kane.

With this, I now know that Bridget came from Creggan, a small village located in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Lynn helped me even further. She found the marriage record for Edward and Catherine, although there wasn't much information provided besides the date and location of it. 

Date of Marriage: 20-Feb-1849

Parish / District: UPR CREGGAN County: ARMAGH

Husband Name: Edwd Kane

Wife Name: Cath Downey

Denomination: Roman Catholic Roman Catholic

Status: Not Married Not Married

Husband's Father Name: Kane

Wife's Father Name: Downey

Witness 1 Name: Waters Thos

Witness 2 Name: McShane Nicholas

Screenshot courtesy of Lynn.

Lynn also told me that through her searches, she could not find any other children born to Edward Kane and Catherine Downey. She told me that she found several children born in the same area as Bridget around the same time period to an Edward Kane, but that that Edward's wife's name Catherine McNulty/McEnully. That Edward and Catherine were married on May 6, 1851 in Ballymacnab, County Armagh.

Because no other births turned up with Edward Kane and Catherine Downey as the parents, Lynn suggested they might have emigrated. There is also the chance that they died shortly after Bridget's birth.

But only time and continued research will tell.

Special thanks to Lynn for the help! Not having a rootsireland.ie account, this would not have been possible without you!

 Copyright © 2015, David J. McRae

Mystery Monday (Monday's Brick Wall #2/Irish Brick Wall #1): Bridget Kane's Irish Background

One of the biggest brick walls in my genealogical research has been my 2x-great-grandmother Bridget Theresa (Kane) (McCormack) McRae.

Bridget was born circa 1855 in Ireland, daughter of Edward Kane and Catherine "Kate" Downey. According to census records, she immigrated to the United States in the early 1870's. She moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts and married John McCormick on January 10, 1875. They had three children, Thomas, Edward, and Mary. She eventually moved to Brockton, Massachusetts and remarried on February 19, 1887 to James R. McRae. She had three more children, Frederick Edward, Walter Lawrence, and Frederick Everett (later Frederick Joseph). She remained in Brockton until her death on December 9, 1926.

In researching Bridget, I have been unable to find anything about when, where, why, and how she came to America or about the life and family she left behind in Ireland. I don't know if she came to America alone or with somebody.

All I have been able to find out about are her parents' names (which I got from Bridget's marriage records) and the general time frame of when she immigrated to the United States (which I got from census records).

I've checked records for Ellis Island and the Port of Boston as well as ship passenger lists but am unable to determine which, if any, of the Bridgets listed are mine due to 1) the commonality of the name 2) many of the Bridgets listed have details similar to the few details that I already know 3) Bridget also went by her middle name, Theresa, at various points of her life so she may have very well come over to America under the name Theresa Kane. Regardless, I still have no definitive way of figuring out which one is her.

Bridget's marriage records (both church and city), her death certificate, records of birth, marriage, and death for her children, as well as census records all list Bridget's place of birth as simply "Ireland".

I have checked and it appears that Bridget did not leave a will of any kind.

Bridget was Catholic. I was once told by a genealogist from The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA) that because she was Catholic, she definitely had siblings.

I've been at a loss as to what other options are available in trying to figure out more about when, where, why, and how Bridget came to America as well as trying to find out more about her life and family back in Ireland. If anyone has any thoughts, comments, or ideas about what avenue I should explore next, I would love to hear from you.

Copyright © 2015, David J. McRae