The village of Clongeen, Co. Wexford

I know that my great-great grandmother was baptised in Clongeen as were several of her brothers and sisters. Her name was Catherine Foley, her father Michael Foley, her mother Catherine Miskell/Missell. Michael and likely his cousin, Henry, farmed rented land in and around Clongeen but then in the late 1840s Michael's family (but not Henry) emigrated to Ontario, Canada. I would like to find my Grandmother's mother's birthplace - I have searched and searched but so far I am unsuccessful - her name Miskell is unusual so I thought it would be easier.

Hello Karen,

How lovely to hear that you have an interest in finding the birthplace of your great great grandmother, Catherine!

There is a civil parish called Clongeen, County Wexford so it may be possible that she is from one of the townlands in the area or Clongeen itself. This may broaden your search for church/parish records which is where you will need to look.

County Wexford archives may be a place to start looking if you haven't tried there already. They have some information on records but as I mentioned, you will be looking for church records as it is before 1864 when civil registration was introduced.

The Family Search website also gives some resource details for County Wexford as well.

A quick check on the John Grenham website for the surname Miskell, suggests that the west side of the country is most likely for this surname although not a popular name as you say. Foley is a little more popular, please have a look at the page for Foley in County Wexford for some ideas as to the places again to look. It does show Clongeen as a location for 3 entries.

What records have you managed to find so far that points to Clongeen?