Help an Aussie please

Hi Guys,

My GGGGrandmother Ann Fitzpatrick born 1809, married James Reilly and had at least 3 children. Ann and her 3 children, no James, all migrated to Australia prior to 1860.  Of course, I can't find any records which is ok. I have been searching for years and it keeps me occupied as all my Irish family love to hide from me.   However, on her head stone her son John advised that Ann was a native of Belladuff, Castlereagh, County Cavan, Ireland, which I can't find either. Ann died in 1889 in Bendigo, Victoria. 
Can anyone advise me where this place might be?  I can only find Castlereach in Waterford or Kerry.

Hi Carolyn,

Thanks for joining us here with your information!

As you say, there isn't a Belladuff townland to be found, it maybe that the place was misheard when adding to the headstone.

There is a townlands website that has lists of the townlands, here is the one for County Cavan. There isn't a close match for Belladuff and the only Castlereagh references are for County Roscommon and County Down, both are close counties but neither border Cavan to be a bit of a border move.

Maybe, some of our members will have better luck with an idea of possible places.

How long have you been tracing your family tree?

Hi Carolyn, 

There are two places which could possibly have been corrupted to make Belladuff, Castlereagh, Cavan.

There is a town called Ballyjamesduff which is in the barony of Castlerahan. It would be worth looking at records for this area in case it is relevant to your ancestors. 

I had a quick look on www.rootsireland.ie and found the baptism of a Mary Reilly, daughter of James Reilly and Anne Fitzpatrick who was baptised in Cavan (parish) Catholic Church in 1816; you will know if this is a member of your ancestral family. 

Have you obtained Ann's death record in case it includes her parents' names?

We offer a range of research services should that be of assistance to you at some point: https://www.ancestryireland.com/research-services/

Best wishes, 

Gillian

Gillian Hunt
Research Officer, 
Ulster Historical Foundation

Thank you for your response, to answer Martin have been researching my tree for at least 30 years as was always curious why my family was the only one in Australia with our name.  My grandmother and great uncle did give me some info on the family and I have a great pile of Birth Death and Marriage certificates to confirm data.  I also did find the origins of the name Killury or Killoughery from County Clare and have DNA connections with some family in the USA.

I also found yesterday an 1851 census listing Ann and her sister Mary as orphans living with grandparents Terence and Mary, also listing their parents as James and Ann.  However, their ages do not agree, and their mother Ann Reilly (Fitzpatrick) also migrated here dying in 1809 aged 80 years old - so my sisters were not the ones in the census as they were not orphans.

Will keep searching before I start on John Greene and his sister from County Roscommon.  That will be fun.

Thanks for getting back!

It sounds like over the years you have found out a lot of information and having birth, marriage, and death certificates is a super way to corroborate your dates and time line.

I would imagine that you may well have a fair few relatives in the US as well.

Thanks also to Gillian for her suggestions and possible record to track down.

We look forward to hearing more about your journey with tracking down John! 💚

Thank you everyone - will let you know of my progress.