Hello Ann,
Thank you for both your emails. A couple of years ago I did an extensive search online to see if I could find any information about Annie Sullivan’s sister, Mary, but didn’t find anything about her after the time that Annie and her brother went into the Tewksbury Almshouse in 1876.
I also did some more searching for Mary after receiving your second email this week, but again, found no additional information about her. I wonder if Mary had been adopted? Looking for her may take offline research, such as looking into Agawam town hall records to see if Mary had been, adopted. If so, she may have taken on the last name of her adopted parents, as sometimes was the case.
Concerning Annie Sullivan’s parents, a couple of years ago I found the marriage record for Thomas Sullivan and Alice Clohessy. They were married in the Catholic Parish of Hospital & Herbertstown on 28 January 1862. The witnesses to the marriage were Michael O’Dea and Ann Meehan. The first names of Thomas and Alice’s parents were not recorded on the marriage record. However, Alice Sullivan’s Agawam death record shows that her father was Owen “Cloesey,” as you may already know. The index from the LDS/ FamilySearch website for Alice’s death is below for quick referal:
Massachusetts, Deaths
Name: Alice Sullivan
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 19 Jan 1874
Event Place: Agawam, Massachusetts
Residence Place: Agawam
Gender: Female
Age: 30
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Housekeeper
Birthplace: Ireland
Birth Year (Estimated): 1844
Father's Name: Owen Cloesey Father's Birthplace: Ireland
Reference ID: v 265 p 313
Digital Folder Number: 4221419
Image Number: 336
GS Film number: 960204 = Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915
Citing this Record
"Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N7P2-4YX : accessed 8 February 2015), Alice Sullivan, 19 Jan 1874; citing Agawam, Massachusetts, v 265 p 313, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,204.
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Alice’s death record notes that she was 30 years old when she died, placing her year of birth circa 1844. The death record may be correct or incorrect about how old she was. Many of these old death records can be off by a few years concerning the year a person was actually born.
I decided to see if I could find Alice’s Irish baptism record, circa 1844, plus and minus five years in case the death record is incorrect about her age. We know she was married in the Catholic Parish of Hospital & Herbertstown in County Limerick. If she followed Irish Catholic tradition, she would have been married in her home parish, and so I went to the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) website to see if I cold uncover her baptism in Hospital & Herbertstown. Knowing that her father was Owen Clohessy was a help.
The IFHF homepage, also known as RootsIreland, can be found at:
http://www.rootsireland.ie/I located what I believe to be the baptism index for Alice Clohessy at the IFHF website for County Limerick. The index shows that Alice was baptized in the Catholic Parish of Hospital & Herbertstown in 1841. The index doesn’t give a day or month of the baptism. Her parents are listed as Owen Clohessy and Ellen Keogh:
1 match for the search criteria: Clohessy Alice 1841 Parish: HOSPITAL & HERBERTSTOWN (RC)
Record Type: Baptism/Birth Records for Co. Limerick
Surname: Clohessy
First Name: Alice
Father's Surname: Clohessy
Father's First Name: Owen
Mother's Surname: Keogh
Mother's First Name: Ellen
Year: 1841
Parish/District: HOSPITAL & HERBERTSTOWN (RC)
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I had some credits left over from previous research at the IFHF and so purchased the baptism transcription from the IFHF, which shows that Alice was baptized on 26 November 1841. The godparents (they’re called Informants in the transcription) were Dan. McCarthy and Mgt. McCarthy.
The revised baptism for Alice noting the additional information, follows:
Church Baptism Record
Name: Alice Clohessy
Date of Baptism: 26-Nov-1841
Address: Parish/District: HOSPITAL & HERBERTSTOWN
County Co. Limerick
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Father: Owen Clohessy
Occupation:
Mother: Ellen Keogh
Informant 1: Dan. McCarthy
Informant 2: Mgt. McCarthy
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I also found the baptism index for another child of Owen and Ellen Keogh Clohessy. This is for their daughter Mary. Mary was baptized in the Hospital & Herbertstown Catholic Parish in 1844:
1 match for the search criteria: Clohessy Mary 1844 Parish: HOSPITAL & HERBERTSTOWN (RC)
Record Type: Baptism/Birth Records for Co. Limerick
Surname: Clohessy
First Name: Mary
Father's Surname: Clohessy
Father's First Name: Owen
Mother's Surname: Keogh
Mother's First Name: Ellen
Year: 1844
Parish/District: HOSPITAL & HERBERTSTOWN (RC)
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I next looked for the marriage of Owen Clohessy and Ellen Keogh. I didn’t uncover their marriage in the Hospital & Herbertstown Parish, but did find they were married in the Catholic Parish of Knocklong & Glenbrohane in 1838. The IFHF index of the marriage is below:
1 match for the search criteria: Clohessy Owen 1838 Parish: KNOCKLONG & GLENBROHANE (RC)
Record Type: Marriage Records for Co. Limerick
Surname: Clohessy
First Name: Owen
Spouse's Surname: Keogh
Spouse's First Name: Ellen
Father's Surname:
Father's First Name:
Mother's Surname:
Mother's First Name:
Year: 1838
Parish/District: Parish: KNOCKLONG & GLENBROHANE (RC)
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The Knocklong & Glenbrohane Catholic Parish is just south of the Catholic Parish of Hospital & Herbertstown in Limerick East. You can see both Catholic Parishes on a map from the Irish Times website at:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/li...Thank you again for writing Ann.
Dave Boylan