In honor of one of my Irish ancestors, Mary Delaney Kelly, born 1812 in Laos County, Ireland, married Matthew Francis Kelly about 1839/40 in Laos County, and died 18 Jan 1896 in Vinton, Quebec, Canada. The inscription on her gravestone states she paid for this stone with her own money. Something she must have been proud of doing, giving me a sense that she was a strong woman. The story goes that she was from a wealthy family and Matthew Kelly was a tailor for the family. They're relationship was not supported by the family and they left for Canada during the famine years. I would love to find where she was from in Laois County, Ireland. My suspicion is Offerlane, Parish Castletown, diocese Ossory. There are a couple of possibilities for Mary Delaney's being baptized in this diocese around the same time as her estimated birth (based on her age at death). Also, but not conclusive as the first names are so common, is family names of Martin and Judith.
10 years ago I was told my grandmother Mary Jane Kelly was too common an Irish name to find much of anything. Now, I have the entire family in Canada dating back to their migration from Ireland in the 1840's. And, the long line of forbidden marriages of William Gilchrist (Scottish Protestant) to Hannah Kelly (Roman Catholic), daughter of Mary Delaney and Matthew Kelly; John Samuel Kelly, Mary Delaney's grandson marrying a Protestant Scottish 1st cousin, and them running away across Canada as not to shame the family. 😳
Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!
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