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Martin Family of Rushestown

Catherine Martin is my great-grandmother. This page sums up the information I have on her family, who resided in the village of Rushestown (civil parish of Killian, Ballynakill DED, District [aka Union] of Mountbellew) eastern County Galway, Ireland.

PARENTS

Download: fan chart of Martin-Ward descendants

FATHER: John Martin (Irish spelling "Martyn")

Born abt. 1821 [6] in Galway. Died at age 91, 1st quarter of 1905 [10]

Occupation. Tenant farmer.

• 1857: The Griffith's Valuation shows the family lived in the Wardsvillage section of Rushestown, where 14 families communally worked 192 acres, paying rent to John N. Gerrard.
• 1866: John was listed as "labourer" (usually meaning land holdings of less than 4 acres) [8].
• 1889: When my great-grandmother Catherine got married [9], he was a "landholder."
• 1901: The census John is listed as a "farmer," living in a "3rd Class" house: 1 room, 2 windows in front, and walls/roof made of perishable material (mud, wood or thatch). There were two outbuildings: a stable and a cow house.

Family. From the Griffith's Valuation (1857), we've inferred that his neighbor with the larger holding was his father Peter Martin.

MOTHER: Bridget Ward

Born. According to a death record in Montbellew, likely to be hers, Bridget was a good deal younger than her husband, born about 1835. Died. Second quarter of 1914.

Family. Nothing is known about the Wards, except that they were among the 4 original families in Rushestown, with their small sub-village referred to as Ward's Village on the Griffith's Valuation maps of 1857.

About the land>>>

CHILDREN

Note that England did not require the civil registration of births in Ireland till January 1864 [1].

Catherine Martin Dunne, 1866-1944

Born. 28 December 1866, her birth registered at Rushestown, District of Mount Bellew. Married 16 Jun 1889 to Michael Dunne, in Newbridge, at the Catholic Chapel in Mount Bellew. Died 25 Nov 1944 of "senile decline" in Ballaghduff, County Galway. (See also Catherine & Her Sisters: annual holiday at Salt Hill.)

Children:

Ellen Dunne Price, John Dunne, Michael Dunne, Bridget Dunne Price, Mary Dunne Stephens, Patrick Dunne, Margaret Dunne Hession, Catherine Dunne Collins, Lizzie Dunne Kilmartin (complete details under the Dunne Family>>>)

Honoria "Onnie" Martin Crehan, 1868-1949

Born 6 Feb 1868, birth registered in Rushestown, District of Mount Bellew. Baptised 15 Feb 1868.

Married: Mark "White" Crehan.

1901 census. Living or staying with father in Rushestown, not yet married. Age listed as 26, a 7-yr difference from birth registration. (She would have been 33.)

1911 census. Living in Rushestown with husband, 2 elder children, sister-in-law Mary Crehan and a nephew John Crehan.

Children:

Kate Crehan

B. 1905. Died at age 16 in about 1921.

"Black" Tommy Crehan

B. 1908. Married: Nora Giblin. Children: Bridget, Mark, Kathleen, John, Matthew, Patrick, Anthony, Peter, Maria, Lawrence. The family moved from Rushestown to Dunboyne in 1951.

Bridget Crehan

B. after 1911. Married: Richard Fitzmaurice

Michael Martin, 1870-1961

Born 1 Sept 1870, birth registered in Rushestown, District of Mount Bellew. [Also recorded as 6 Oct 1869 [4]]. Died: 11 Dec 1961. Buried at Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis MO, 15 Dec 1961 (Section 020, Lot 2320)

1901 census. Living or spending the night with father in Rushestown. Not married. Age listed as 21, at variance with the above. He should have been listed as 31.

Migrated in 1907 to St Louis, Missouri, USA, on RMS Carmania, from his residence in Newbridge, destined for the residence of his Aunt Delia and her husband Thomas Dunne on 2206 S. 12th St, St Louis MO. He had $10 to his name. His niece Ellen (aka Helen) and 8 other residents of Kilkerrin were also on board:

• John Owens (age 20), with Maggie Walsh (age 24, visiting only) both headed for Mrs Owens, NYC, his sister and her cousin.
• Delia Rooney (age 24, visiting her sister Mrs Ryan, Newark NJ), Mary Gibney (age 23, also visiting Mrs. Ryan in Newark)
• Nora Stephens (age 18, headed for sister Lizzie Stephens, NYC, sister of James Stephens (future husband of Michael's niece Ellen. Nora would go on to live in Chicago and marry into the Hession family)
• Catherine Treacy (age 23) and Daniel Connelly (age 23), both headed for cousin Jas Connelly, NYC)
• Patrick Ryan (age 22), headed for cousin Jno White, Chicago Illinois

1911 Married: Bridget T. McHugh, from Headford, Ireland. 1874-1955, buried with her husband in Calvary Cemetery (Section 020, Lot 2320). It appears that she may have emigrated in 1895, on the same ship as Michael's sister Delia.

1910 US Census. Living at 1305 Merchant Court (? writing illegible), Ward 8, Dist. 133, St. Louis MO. Boarding with the widow Delia Burg (age 43), her daughters Honora (age 15) and Margaret (age 11), and son Christopher (age 8), along with fellow boarders Patrick Cummings, William O'Brien, Timothy Connelly. He was working as a motorman on a street car. He could read and write. This record assumed to be the correct one because it best matches Michael's birth date and give his immigration date as 1907.

1920 US Census. He and his family lived on Keokuk St., and he worked as a plumber.

1930, 1940 US Census. The family had moved to Cote Brilliante. Mike continued his work as a plumber throughout his life.

Children

Bridget Teresa Martin Hegedorn

(1912-2005). Lived in Cape Girardeau and is buried in her parents' plot at Calvary.

John Joseph Martin

(1914-1993) Married Agnes Irene Walsh, had several children, and lived/died in Texas.

Mary M Martin Cahill

(1916-1981) Lived and died in St. Louis

Mary Bridget Martin Coughlin, 1872-1947

[This sister always referred to as Mary, but the birth record I have names her Bridget. I'm assuming these are one and the same.]

Born 26 August 1872, birth registered in Rushestown, District of Mount Bellew. Married to Peter Coughlin, at Newbridge, 6 Feb 1893. Peter was a farmer.

Peter Coughlin worked in a local quarry to help make ends meet. He was thought to be a member of the IRA and died in the early 20th century. There was some dispute about whether his death in the quarry was a homicide, due to his political activities. We do know that the two sons(below) were pulled out of their home in Ballygar by British Black & Tans and were saved by their sister begging for their lives. (See story.)

At the time of her son's passage to the US in 1928, she was living at Clomhloher (?), Ballygar, County Galway, according to his ship's manifest.

Children:

Michael Coughlin

Did not marry. Did not emigrate.

Bridget Coughlin

Did not marry. Did not emigrate.

John Joseph Coughlin

Born. 6 Nov 1899 in Ballygar, where he lived till emigrated to the U.S. He worked as a farm laborer in Ireland. Oral history suggests he had served time in jail for political activities during the Irish fight for independence [5].

Migrated to St Louis, Missouri USA on the SS President Roosevelt, 4-11 May 1928, with his first cousin Patrick Dunne. On the ship's manifest he is described as 5'7" with black hair, "fresh" complexion and blue eyes. [Search/Process story]

1930 Census. Living at 5642 Theodosia Ave, St Louis MO with his cousin Bridget Dunne Price and her family. (He moved out in 1932 when her fourth son Patrick was born.) He was working as a carpenter.

Patrick Martin, abt. 1863-1951

According to U.S. Census records,Patrick emigrated from Ireland in 1883, at the age of 20, and settled in Boston. In 1891, he married Delia Crehan, possibly related to the Crehans of Rushestown. They had ten children, three of whom died as toddlers. Pat worked for the railroad as a trackman. His wife died in 1926. He died in 1951.

Peter Martin, abt. 1858-1943

Peter may be the first-born son of the Martin family. He emigrated to the United States in his early 20s, in the early 1880s. He settled in Elyria, Ohio, a town where many residents of eastern Galway settled. In 1889, at about the age of 31, he married Mary Carr, also an Irish immigrant. They had four children. Pete labored as a factory worker. His wife died in 1929. He died in 1943 at about age 85.

Bridget "Delia" Martin Dunne, 1874-1943

Born: 1874, presumed to be in Rushestown, Mountbellew. Died: 19 Dec 1943. Arrived in the U.S. 2 Apr 1895, at age 21. Married 1907, to a fellow migrant from Rushestown, Thomas Dunne (1871-1944). No children.

Thomas Dunne was one of 6 children of Thomas Dunne (1838-abt. 1911) and Honoria Loghan [or Lohan]. Thomas Dunne migrated to St. Louis in 1896 and, after marrying Delia in 1907, sponsored the passage of Delia's brother Michael (see above) and niece Helen (Catherine's oldest child). In 1944, after Delia died, niece Bridget Dunne Price cared for him in her home during his dying days.

Another of Thomas Dunne's sons, Matt, moved with his family from Rushestown to Cooloo (Moylough) , about the same time Catherine Martin Dunne took possession of land there, around 1910.

 

Martin: from Hardiman's "The Ancient Families of Galway"

This family is of early origin in Galway. Their pedigree relates, that Oliver Martin was the first of the name, that settled in Ireland, that he was a follower of Strongbow, and that the name was derived from Martius, warlike. Some antiquaries, however, are of opinion, that they were of ancient Irish descent. O'Brien and Vallancey, say, "they are derived from the belgian firbolg, or Martini, Ir. Mairtinigh, respectable remains of which still subsist, in the Cities of Limerick and Galway." Richard Martin of Dangan or Ballinehinch Castle, Esq. is descended from the eldest branch of this family, and the houses of Curraghmore, Ross, Spiddle and Tullyra are numbered amongst the most respectable in this Province.

Arms. Azure,a calvary cross, on five degrees argent, between the sun in splendor, on the dexter limb, and the moon in crescent, on the sinister. or. Crest. An etoile wavy, of six points. or. Motto. Auxilium meum a Domino.

 

 

Updated 10.20.09, 27 Apr 2019

 

Notes

Most of this information was found in records unearthed by Paddy and Josephine Collins.

[1] Source: James R Reilly CGRS. "Is There More in Griffith's Valuation Than Just Names?" online

[2] Source: from Origins Network

[3] Walter T Price note

[4] ME Price Groark

[5] Coughlin family info

[6] 1901 Census of Ireland, 31 March

[7] Civil Registration Deaths Index, Ireland, 1864-1958

[8] Catherine Martin's birth registration

[9] Catherine Martin's marriage registration

[10] Civil death registration, Mountbellew

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