Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13
  1. #1
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default Christopher O'SULLIVAN, b Co Limerick, c1891

    Christopher O'SULLIVAN would be a great-uncle; he was my Irish grandmother's older brother. They were two of the fifteen children born to Peter and Mary O'Sullivan. Mary's maiden name was GRIFFIN, and she was much younger than Peter. They lived at Castleconnell and there seems to have been some connection with Mount Shannon House (which is one of the great lost mansions of Ireland). That was the only information I had from my grandmother. The following clues are taken from the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

    1901
    Peter and Mary, aged 57 and 37, are shopkeepers and they have five children: Christopher, 9; Katie,8; May, 7; Clair, 5; and Bridget ( my grandmother), 3.

    1911
    Peter and Mary are now 72 and 50. Peter is a road labourer. The children listed with them are: Christopher, 19, engine driver steam roller; Clera (Clair, again?), 14 ; Bridget, 13; and Mary Anne, 3.

    This census tells me that Peter and Mary had been married for 30 years and 15 children had been born, of whom only six survived. The family are living at 13 Ballynacourty, Castleconnell, Co Limerick. All members of the family had been born in Co Limerick, they were all Roman Catholick (sic), and the Clera and Bridget spoke both Irish and English.

    I am trying to find more info about Christopher, because it might give a clue as to why Bridget ran away from home and never returned. She had no further contact with her family. As Christopher is the right age for WW1, I have searched for Christopher/C O'Sullivan/Sullivan at TNA and at FWR, with no success. Does anyone know anything more about this man? Did he serve in the war? Was he involved in the Irish struggle for independence? Did he marry?

    Thank you

    Wideeyed Owl

  2. #2
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,676

    Default

    A possibility?
    There is a Christopher O'Sullivan in the 1925 New York Census.
    Christopher 32 born Ireland
    Mary wife 29 Ireland
    Lillian W dau Ireland
    Eugenie 5 Ireland
    Christopher 3 Ireland
    Patricia 1 NY

    In the column headed 'no of years in US' it says Christopher snr has been there 2 years and wife Mary 1 but for the children it gives the same number as their ages!
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  3. #3
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default

    Thank you so much, Christanel, for checking things so quickly .

    Well, that Christopher and family might be a possibility, or they might not... I've now spent some time on Family Search, really trying to find a marriage, which would make it easier to take things forward. But as there are four or five possibles between about 1913 and 1926, it rather defeats me because there is no info whatsoever about wife/parents/location - just that 'Christopher O'Sullivan' married. Hadn't expected to find so many with that name.

    I think I will have to wait until I have a sub to one of the Big Sites to see if I can trace Christopher, or any other member of this family. I have entered the O'Sullivan family, as they are in the 1911 census, on Lost Cousins; to date, no matches.

    So this thread is just 'here' at the moment, waiting for a descendant of one of the people in that census entry to drop by - and when you do drop by, whoever you are and wherever you might be, here's hoping you can shed some light on what happened to my O'Sullivan family.

    Yours patiently

    Wideeyed Owl

  4. #4
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland
    Posts
    627

    Default

    Eugenie is a fairly unusual name, and so I searched for the birth of Eugenie O’Sullivan in Ireland around 1920 (given that her age is 5 in the 1925 census). I found just one possible match. Eugenie Christina O’Sullivan, birth registered Cork city Oct – Dec 1919, vol 5, page 141.

    You can order a photocopy from GRO Roscommon for €4 per certificate. Put the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). Don’t worry about leaving some boxes blank. You don’t need to fill them all in if you have the reference details. https://www.groireland.ie/ You have to post or fax the form to them but they will e-mail the copy certificate to you if you wish. Tick the relevant box on the form.

    That would give you a maiden name for the mother. You could then explore to see if that fits with any other information.

    There’s not too many marriages for Christopher O’Sullivan around that time. There’s one in Cork in 1916, which might fit, in the sense of the location and that the bride appears to have been a Mary. (Cork Oct – Dec 1916 Vol 5, page 147). Brides surname appears to have been either McAuliffe or Grogan. You might want to order that to see if the groom’s father was Peter, a labourer.

    I can also see a couple of Lily O’Sullivan births in Cork in 1917 and 1918, one of which may be for the New York family.

    So I think the New York census family is probably this one from Cork. Whether that Christopher is your Christopher I can’t say, but the certificates should probably tell you one way or the other.
    ELWYN

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,676

    Default

    The family that I gave in 1925 census are still therein 1930 and 1940 with the addition of Kenneth born 1830 however the wife's name has become Lillian with her details being the same as Mary's.
    Let me know if you want the census details.

    Christanel
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,676

    Default

    This Christopher O'Sullivan has a draft registration card for WW11 on which he says he was born Queenstown Ireland and his birthdate is 3 Dec 1893. Next of kin wife Lillian.

    Christanel
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  7. #7
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default A hunch

    Thank you for all these suggestions, Elwyn, and the detailed info about how to order a certificate - will bear it all in mind. I agree that the marriage and children you have found in Cork could well be the O'Sullivan family that Christanel found in New York. At the moment, though, I am trying to find a bit more concrete information before taking it further (bearing in mind that this Christopher is not a direct ancestor).

    I'm now going off at a tangent, which will seem infuriating to a researcher who has no emotional involvement with this quest. (Sorry !) I am looking for a reason why Christopher's sister Bridget ran away from home some time between 1916 and 1922, the period that covers the Irish turmoil that resulted in independence. Of course, the reason might have been political, but perhaps the age-old scenario of a young girl 'in trouble' might fit? So, on a hunch, I searched FreeBMD for an O'Sullivan birth between 1918-1922 to a woman with the surname O'Sullivan. And I found that a Christopher P O'Sullivan
    was registered in Newport, Monmouth, in the first quarter of 1922 (which suggests a birth between
    December 1921 and March 1922). Well, perhaps just a co-incidence? Perhaps this Christopher was born to a Mr and Mrs O'Sullivan? I would need the birth certificate for details. But what makes this so interesting is that Bridget's brother was a Christopher and her father Peter. So - did she take flight from Ireland because she was pregnant? If so, did she name her son after her brother and her father? Did she give her son up for adoption? My feverish imagination is working overtime! Forgive me. There is no proof at all of any of these surmises - it is just a possible theory as to why she ran away from home. (For any info post1922, you would need to pm me.)

    But back to the Christopher who is the subject of this thread (supposedly!). Because of the info unearthed here, plus the stages I am getting to with my other lines, I really am going to 'bite the bullet' and get a sub to FMP Worldwide after Christmas, using the discount available through Lost Cousins. (If interested, search for that thread on the forum.). That should give me access to Irish and US records, I believe, so - with a bit of luck - I might be able to get somewhere with my O'Sullivans.

    Thank you for all your help and interest.

    Wideeyed Owl


    If interested, you could take a look at my very first post here: https://www.british-genealogy.com/for...ighlight=Astle, which of course mentions Bridget.

  8. #8
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Christanel - you were quicker on the draw than me. I don't think your Christopher is the same as mine. Mine was born in Co Limerick, and yours in Queenstown(Cobh?), which is in Cork. They are adjoining counties, but different. (Now I will wait to be corrected by our Irish experts!)

    Owl

  9. #9
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,676

    Default

    Hi
    You can take a free trial on FMP for 14 days. (at the very bottom of the Homepage) This will let you see if they have the records you need. Just remember to cancel a couple of days ahead of the expiry date so you don't get charged if you don't wish to go ahead with the subscription. It is the same with ancestry which is where I found the census and military records.
    Christanel
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  10. #10
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Wairarapa New Zealand
    Posts
    10,676

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by thewideeyedowl View Post
    Hi Christanel - you were quicker on the draw than me. I don't think your Christopher is the same as mine. Mine was born in Co Limerick, and yours in Queenstown(Cobh?), which is in Cork. They are adjoining counties, but different. (Now I will wait to be corrected by our Irish experts!)
    Owl
    That is one that can be eliminated then, which is a bit of a help I suppose.
    Christanel
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: