Some idiot has decided to post a bunch of nonsense in this message board area - I believe that I have deleted them all.

Hopefully Jeff will be able to block additional posts from this individual.

Take Care

Fergus

ST. PATRICK?S SOCIETY OF MONTREAL

     The St. Patrick?s Society of Montreal (SPS) is celebrating their 175th Anniversary this year. And, one of their anniversary objectives is to increase membership in the Society.
     The cost is only $ 60.00 per year to become a member of the SPS and you do not have to live in Montreal to apply. One of the benefits is that you receive a regular newsletter with a great deal of information about the activities in the Irish Community.
     For information on the SPS, you can visit their web page at http://www.stpatricksociety.com/home.htm  (there is also a new St. Patrick?s web page at http://www.stpatricksociety.com/2008/en/view_page.php?idpage=6&langue=en ) ?or you can call Erin Matheson at 514-481-1346 or contact her by e-mail at http://office@spsmtl.com
           The Society has supported our St. Columban Cemetery Restoration project since we first started ? so it would be nice if some of our St. Columban members would consider joining the SPS.
           If you require a sponsor to join, I would be pleased to sponsor any of our St. Columban group.

Thanks

Fergus

     

Thanks to all who posted about the Kilkenny connections of St. Columban settlers. I have checked some LDS sources and did find baptisms for the younger children of Richard Blanchfield and Ann Phelan. So their origins are settled.
I'm still looking for the Walsh-Griffin origins. Since the name is so common, the older tombstone doesn't really help. Clues may lie in early Montreal settlement. The Chicago family asked for death notices in Montreal newspapers in 1881.
What ward did the Irish immigrants settle in? Where was Griffintown? Can anyone help?

I will be researching in Salt Lake City the week of Oct. 19. My research has been on hold for years as I volunteered for "Society stuff" and I'm stumped on what to look for.
Apparently our Irish ancestors had first lived in Montreal before being led to the St. Columban area by Fr. Phelan. Fergus' recent photos of Castlecomer reminded me that my Blanchfields had come from Kilkenny c. 1825 on a ship called Ocean but I am still looking for the Walsh origins in Ireland.
Was there an emigration scheme by a landlord that might have sent these people to Quebec? What area in Montreal might I check for other emigrants? I see references to Griffintown. My family was Walsh-Griffin. Might there be a connection in Montreal?

The Church of Latter Day Saints have put out Catholic Parish records of Quebec from 1621-1900. You can see the images of the Birth, Marriage and Death records. Go here scroll down to "Quebec Catholic Parish Records 1621-1900" then find the Town then the Parish and last the church. It takes a bit of figuring out but it's easy when you get the hang of it.
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=4

Hi Everyone;

I just got back from my trip to Ireland and spent some time in the County of Kilkenny - the Castlecomer area, where I think was home to many of the original settlers in St. Columban.

I took lost of photois including some in various cemeteries in the area and will send these to Jeff in the next week since the names (particular the Phelans) are engraved on many tombstones in the area.

In the meantime, I also have some general pictures from the trip that might be of interest to some of you. (I know that it boring to look at other people's trip photos) - but I think that they give a view of Ireland in general. You can view this slideshow at:-

http://albums.phanfare.com/2395381/28052...D=48709543

Fergus

Subject: Ellen Theresa McDonald
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2008 5:40 PM

Fergus,

        Since I last wrote, I have found an additional baptism of a child
of Thomas and Ellen (McDonald) O'Sullivan. Note that this item is recorded
in the registry and indexed as Sullivan.

Drouin

Baptisms

Margaret Ann O'Sullivan

Born: 28 March 1911
Baptized: 30 March 1911 at Ste-Agnes de Montreal
Parents: Thomas O'Sullivan and Ellen McDonald of this parish
Godfather: Michael O'Sullivan
Godmother: Elizabeth Grace


David Reed (dreed@ca.inter.net)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada  


Fergus,

        I also found a marriage entry for Thomas O'Sullivan and Ellen
McDonald. Note that this entry is recorded in the registry and indexed as
Sullivan, the signatures are O'Sullivan.

Drouin

Marriage

Nellie McDonald & Thomas O'Sullivan

Married: 21 Apr 1909 at Ste-Agnes de Montreal
Groom's Parents: late Denis O'Sullivan and Bridget O'Sullivan
Bride's Parents: late Lawrence McDonald and Mary Grace
Witnesses: Lawrence McDonald, brother of the bride and Denis O'Sullivan,
brother of the groom

I did not reply to Tim as of yet - perhaps someone with updated Slattery family information could send him some information?

My Name is Timothy Patrick Slattery, My fathers, Name Is Raymond Joesph Slattery, His brothers, Was Bill , william Slattery, James Slattery, Or Raymond Slattery, With the new Generation, commming soon. Is there amyway possible to find out If yo Knoow this is real!!!!!!!!

Tim Slattery  -  TPS8663@yahoo.com

Mr. Keyes,

My name is Rachael Rogers.  My g-g-great grandparents were James and Mary (Keyes) Madden.  Until recently I knew they had been born in Ireland, went to Canada and ended up in Iowa but I did not know where in Canada they had come from.  I found on ancestry.com that they were from St. Columban.  I was pretty excited to find where in Canada they had come from!  I found their marriage record there and the baptismal records for their children.  I found your website which is wonderful.  James' parents were Patrick and Ellen Madden who died at St. Columban.   I found their death records on ancestry.  Mary's parents were Patrick and Honora Keyes.  Your website was very helpful when it came to them.  I saw that you wanted any information on families from St. Columban.  I don't know a lot about James and Mary but I'll give you what I do know.  According to the cemetery records from St. Joseph's Prairie Catholic Cemetery in Dubuque county Iowa James was born in 1807.  Mary was born in 1817.  According to his declaration of intent paper they came to Iowa in June of 1848.  They settled at Table Mound Township in Dubuque county Iowa.  There they farmed.  Mary died August 16, 1880 from acute peritonitis.  James died in 1894.  I don't know if this is the kind of information you are looking for.  If you have any questions please let me know.  Look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Rachael
gffr73@msn.com  

Thank you so much for all the great information!  When you write of the different districts of St. Columban as Cote St. Nicholas, Cote St. George what does the Cote refer to?  Is that just ways of dividing the town up?  From the different baptismal records I found on the Madden's I think that Hugh Madden is James' brother and Patrick Madden is his father.  I'm not sure about William.  Thanks again for the info.  I have your website bookmarked so I will look back often!
Thanks
Rachael Rogers

Ron Hurley, a long time supporter of our St. Columban descendants group has asked us to pass along this information with a request for a prayer for Emily....

Dear Friends of the Town of St. Columban,

I want to ask your special prayers for our grand daughter Emily Lusignan and her Mom, Alison, her Dad Mike, and little brother Noah.  Emily, 7 years old, was diagnosed Thursday, July 31, 2008 with a brain tumour which turns out to be a very aggressive cancer.  Emily had surgery at CHEO on Wednesday August 6, 2008 and is still in CHEO recovering from that.  Her Mom anfd Dad are to talk to her today to explain her situation.  Emily faces a long period of standard treatment ( 9 months ) of chemotherapy and radiation.  She was to start grade 2, in September but ths is now when the treatment will start.  She was to make her first communion this year.  Because the cancer has spread to the spine, her life is in jeopardy.  Emily is a very pretty and bright child.  Her parents have also been offered some clinical trials for Emily's condition.

In doing the ancestry of my McEvoy relatives who came to St. Columban about 1826/27, I've learned a lot about the first settlers of St. Columban and so many similar horror stories that they faced with the children they brought into this world.  I would ask then, that the descendants of St. Columban pioneers pray for my grand daughter Emily, her mother and my daughter Alison, her father Mike Lusignan and her little four year old brother Noah.

Thank you for this,

Sincerely,

Your friend, Ron Hurley