Background
My great grandfather, Thomas Francis O'Connor's, parents were Anthony O'Connor and Julia Henry. They were both born in Ireland in the late 1840s.
Where they were from in Ireland was unknown. Their parents names were unknown
Here is what was known
1 - Julia Henry reported in the 1900 & 1910 US Census that she had given birth to four children with only one still living - (my great grandfather, Thomas Francis O’Connor).
2 - Julia died in 1925 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There wasn’t an obituary for Julia O’Connor, but there was a notice in the paper - Julia Henry O’Connor’s funeral was on Christmas Eve 1925.
The Pennsylvania Death Certificate requires the names and birth locations of the deceased and their parents, so when I first found Julia’s Pennsylvania death record, I thought, jackpot - but no. My great grandmother Ellen Scott, her daughter-in-law, was the informant named on the death record and she reported “don't know” for the parents of Julia Henry. I couldn't believe it - Julia Henry had lived with Ellen Scott O’Connor for 20 years.
Not knowing where in Ireland Anthony O’Connor and Julia Henry were born or the names of their parents left me at a dead end … a rock solid brick wall.
Aunt Alice
Thomas Francis O'Connor's youngest daughter - my Great Aunt Alice, was a genealogist. Aunt Alice's research on the Scott/Fadden side was very accurate - probably because she got the information from her mother Ellen Scott who was born in Ireland.
However, Aunt Alice didn't get very far on the O'Connor side. (perhaps because her father, Thomas O'Connor, died when she was about 8 years old.)
The information Aunt Alice had on her grandparents Anthony O'Connor and Julia Henry was as follows:
1- Anthony O'Connor was naturalized as an American citizen in the 1850s
2- Julia Henry was first married to a Dan Regan in Ireland
3- Julia Henry and Anthony O'Connor were married in the USA
4- Anthony O’Connor was killed by a train in 1894
Turns out Aunt Alice was wrong - almost all of that is wrong.
Then I got lucky
Julia Henry shows up in the 1900 US Census as Julia Regan, wife of Dan Regan, living in the same Scranton neighborhood as the O'Connor's and Haggertys. I don’t know what happened to Dan Regan, but I have not been able to find him in the records after the 1900 US Census.
Julia stopped using the surname Regan sometime after 1900. Julia is using the name Julia O’Connor in the 1910 US Census and she uses the O’Connor surname until her death, so I was really lucky to spot that Regan marriage. (It's very unusual for a woman in this time period to revert back to an earlier name)
The exciting part about finding this second marriage was that this marriage record for Julia O’Connor and Dan Regan included the names of Julia Henry’s parents - James and Anne Henry.
So I was closer, but you really need to have some idea of a location in order to start searching Irish records, and I didn’t have a clue where Julia Henry was born.
Then came DNA
I connected a group of interrelated DNA matches who all tracked back to the same common ancestor - a Thomas Henry born in 1842 near Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland. I was thinking that this could be my Henry connection. Thomas Henry and Julia could be siblings (Julia was born circa 1849 per the 1880 US Census)
The ancestor of the shared DNA matches, Thomas Henry, never left Ireland and so his children are recorded in the Irish Civil records into the 20th century. Some of the children and grandchildren of Thomas Henry did come to America and they show up in American records and they have some of the same DNA as my family.
Henry DNA chart with active links
So with the names of Julia’s parents (James and Anne Henry) and if the DNA matches were connected to Julia Henry - I had a location - (near Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland). I was able to start looking in the Irish records for Julia Henry.
And I found her
Fortunately, the Swinford Catholic Parish registers are intact, and I was able to find a baptism record for a Thomas Henry, baptized 5 December 1841 in Lagcurragh, Mayo (very near Swinford) - Thomas Henry’s parents were {drum roll} - James Henry and Anne Byrne.
Then I found her - Julia was recorded as Judith Henry, baptized on 11 November 1844. (Judith is a very common Irish variant of the name Julia - why is a mystery). Julia was also born in Lagcurragh to the same parents - James Henry and Anne Byrne. The small townland, Lagcurragh is listed in both baptism records (listing the townland in a baptism record in this time period is unusual and in this case really helped confirm my research as I found more records).
I also found the 1840 marriage record for James Henry and Anne Byrne in the parish registers.
So Thomas Henry (the ancestor of all of the DNA matches) and Julia Henry were brother and sister and their parents were James Henry and Anne Byrne.
Marriage - Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor
I’ve looked many times for the marriage record of Anthony O’Connor and Julia Henry in the Irish civil records and the Irish Catholic Parish registers and have never had any luck … until I did.
Focusing on the Swinford area records, trying every variation of their names, and looking for a marriage from 1864 - 1875, I finally found the Irish civil marriage record for Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor. The reason the record was so elusive, is because it was indexed as Anthony Commee and Judy Henry. Connor was never going to show up in a search when the name is indexed as Commee. When you view the original record, the names are clearly Anthony Connor and Judy Henry and they were married in January 1870.
There is no doubt that this is the correct record as Judy Henry is recorded as the daughter of James Henry and she is from Lagcurragh, Swinford, Mayo. Anthony Connor's residence at the time of his marriage was the townland of Cloonfinnaun. Lagcurragh and Cloonfinnaun are adjacent townlands in County Mayo, Ireland very near the market town of Swinford. Anthony O'Connor's father was recorded as Thomas O’Connor, farmer.
BTW - My grandfather was Anthony Aloysius O'Connor and my father was Thomas O’Connor - my brothers are Thomas Francis O’Connor & Anthony Aloysius O'Connor.
It seems inconceivable now, but the civil marriage records in Ireland did not record the name of the mother of the bride or groom, only the father is named. So we now know the name of Anthony O’Connor’s father - Thomas O’Connor, but not the name of his mother. I’m still looking in the Catholic Parish records for Anthony O’Connor’s baptism which is probably my only chance of finding the name of Anthony O’Connor’s mother. (He was born too early to show up in the Irish civil birth records)
The best part is that I now have locations (Lagcurragh & Cloonfinnaun) to research and visit in Ireland - Already found a Thomas O'Connor in the 1856 Griffith's Valuation in Cloonfinnaun, County Mayo, Ireland
The Brother - Martin O’Connor
There was an 1870 Irish civil birth record for a Martin Connor, son of Anthony Connor and Julia Henry. I had considered might be the the son of our Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor - (remember, Julia Henry reported in the US Census that she had given birth to four children). But I always thought it was unlikely that the Martin O’Connor in the Irish civil birth record was the child of Anthony O’Connor & Julia Henry because Aunt Alice said her grandparents, were married in the United States and this Martin Connor was born in Ireland.
But now that I know that Julia Henry was from Lagcurragh, Mayo, Ireland and that Julia Henry and Anthony O’Connor were married in Ireland, there is no doubt that Martin Connor was our Julia Henry & Anthony O’Connor’s son. Martin O’Connor was born in 1870 in Lagcurragh, Swinford, Mayo the same small townland in Ireland where Julia Henry was born. Martin was born about ten months after Julia and Anthony O’Connor were married. Note that in this record, Julia is recorded as Julia Connor, formerly Henry.
I have not located any additional children born to Julia Henry and Anthony Connor in Ireland or America.
Coming to America
There is a ship manifest from the "City of Limerick" May 1871 for a Julia Connor age 25 traveling with a 6 month old infant from Ireland to New York. I believe this is Julia and her son Martin O’Connor who was born in November 1870. This manifest indicates Julia was born in 1846 which lines up quite well with the November 1844 baptism parish record.
Julia and Anthony O’Connor had to arrive in America after November 1870 when Martin was born in Ireland and before 1872 or 1873 when Thomas Francis O’Connor was born in Pennsylvania (born at the “Continental” - coal mine in Lackawanna Township).
DNA notes
1- The DNA connections are only shown for thirteen descendants of Anthony Aloysius O’Connor & Helen Haggerty (nine 1st cousins, myself and my siblings). They have kindly designated me as a viewer of their Ancestry DNA results, which allows a much more detailed DNA analysis. (I might not have discovered this Henry connection without access to my cousin’s DNA as I seem to have the least Henry DNA)
2 - As of December 2018, there are 22 descendants of Thomas O’Connor and Ellen Scott found in the Ancestry database. They also share DNA with this Henry Group. (Uncle Frank - Johns Street, Hornell, Uncle Tom Binghamton NY, Aunt Helen Nealon, and Uncle Jim’s - Scranton, PA descendants in the Ancestry database all share with the descendants of Thomas Henry)
3 - Ancestry.com DNA regions - According to our DNA, Ancestry.com has determined that the descendants of Anthony Aloysius O’Connor and Helen Haggerty came from seven different regions in County Mayo. Ancestry will display your DNA matches by region. My Haggerty matches are displayed within the North Mayo regions which is where my great grandfather Pat Haggerty was born. Our Fadden/Scott matches show up in the South Mayo, South & Central Mayo, and Achill Island regions. The Henry DNA matches are the top matches in the East Mayo & West Roscommon region list which is where Swinford is located - East Mayo
