Hello, I'm new to the list and hope that someone might be able to point me in the right direction. My maternal gg grandparents were Michael McGrath (1817 to 1901) and Catherine Brennan (1836 - 1881). Both were born in County Kilkenny and emigrated to Canada, most likely around 1847. Michael was the son of William McGrath and Mary Meagher. Catherine was the daughter of John Brennan and Helen Walsh. All were Roman Catholic. >From what family information I've been able to find, I believe that Michael emigrated alone, or at least not with his parents. He settled in or around Ottawa, ON Canada - then known as Bytown. I think Catherine must have emigrated with her family because she was only 18 when they married in 1854. However, I have not been able to locate her family in the Canadian census of 1851. I did find a Catherine Brennan of the right age working as a servant in the Bytown area so she may have come alone or with other relatives, perhaps siblings. Unfortunately I have not been able to dig up any information that would give me a clue as to what parish or townland they were from in Kilkenny. The obituaries for both Michael and Catherine simply give the county. The marriage register at Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa gives their parents names and the names of their witnesses. I would love to have some suggestions as to where I might start looking for their families in Kilkenny. I'm quite aware this is a daunting task and might not lead to any more information than I have now. Ann Burns Ottawa ON Canada

Ann, Here is a link to a web page that I started to put together after my trip to Ireland a couple of years ago. http://normconnors.net/pics/Callan%20Cemetary/index.htm Be sure to click on the last picture on the page which is a picture of Tommy's house and has a narative of my visit with him. I ran into a Tommy McGrath (pronounce mac-graw) while attempting to track down my great-grandfather. It turns out that I was on the wrong trail but my experience with Tommy was priceless. See the site for the details and feel free to ask me anything you like although I don't kknow much more than what I state on the site. Norm Connors ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Burns" <ann.burns@rogers.com> To: <IRL-KILKENNY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 1:23 PM Subject: [KILKENNY] Seeking the families of Michael McGrath and CatherineBrennan > Hello, I'm new to the list and hope that someone might be able to point me > in the right direction. > > My maternal gg grandparents were Michael McGrath (1817 to 1901) and > Catherine Brennan (1836 - 1881). Both were born in County Kilkenny and > emigrated to Canada, most likely around 1847. Michael was the son of > William > McGrath and Mary Meagher. Catherine was the daughter of John Brennan and > Helen Walsh. All were Roman Catholic. > >>From what family information I've been able to find, I believe that >>Michael > emigrated alone, or at least not with his parents. He settled in or around > Ottawa, ON Canada - then known as Bytown. I think Catherine must have > emigrated with her family because she was only 18 when they married in > 1854. > However, I have not been able to locate her family in the Canadian census > of > 1851. I did find a Catherine Brennan of the right age working as a servant > in the Bytown area so she may have come alone or with other relatives, > perhaps siblings. > > Unfortunately I have not been able to dig up any information that would > give > me a clue as to what parish or townland they were from in Kilkenny. The > obituaries for both Michael and Catherine simply give the county. The > marriage register at Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa gives their parents > names > and the names of their witnesses. > > I would love to have some suggestions as to where I might start looking > for > their families in Kilkenny. I'm quite aware this is a daunting task and > might not lead to any more information than I have now. > > Ann Burns > Ottawa ON Canada > > > > ====IRL-KILKENNY Mailing List==== > Add/check your County Kilkenny surname at: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/Kilkenny/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRL-KILKENNY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message