Martin;
It was purely by accident that I stumbled across your note on the message board. My grandmother was an O'Prey from Belfast. Her father was Nicholas O'Prey. My mother's maiden name was McDade. She too was from Belfast. Her mother, Catherine O'Prey married John Mc Dade who, I believe was also from Belfast but, either he or his family were originally from Donegal.
Nicholas O'Prey had six children, that I am aware of. They were;
Catherine, Sarah, Christine, Ellen, Lucy and John. I know that Sarah, Christine and John emmigrated to the US.
As a matter of fact, I was in Belfast just this past October trying to find some of my roots. I spent some time in the General Register's Office trying to get birth certificates and also at the Linen Hall Library. I found Russell Street where my mother lived (she would never recognize it today) and the church in which she
was baptized, St. Malachy's. I wish I had more time to spend there but, unfortunately, I only had two days there and had to proceed on to meet a friend up in Carndonagh, Donegal. Altogether, I spent two weeks in Ireland and had a wonderful time.
Rumor has it that Nicholas O'Prey was a seaman of some kind but I have no details on that. My mother, Sarah McDade married Victor Godfrey, also from Belfast (they met and were married here in the US) so I have also been researching the Godfreys. My grandfather, Francis Hamilton Godfrey married Mary Bingham and they had 9 children, all of whom emmigrated to the US.
I would appreciate hearing any information you might have or know of on the O'Preys mentioned above or where I might be able to seek out further info.
Sincerely,
Victor F. Godfrey Sr.
(
vicg636@verizon.net)
New Milford, New Jersey, USA