My Irish Rose
- but where did they rise from?

I have, proudly, some Irish ancestors but their Irish roots are all hidden. The following families have been entered and you can scan down to the required family by clicking on the name.

A list of family outlines

THE NEENANS

THE NEENANS:
There is my Grandfather John Patrick Neenan and his parents, Peter Neenan and Mary Ann Egan. My mother always said that her father, John Patrick Neenan, was born within days of his family arriving in Tasmania in 1866. But there is no record of such an arrival and I believe that I have established convincingly that Peter Neenan was sentenced at Cork to seven years transportation and that he ended up in Tasmania. I have found no record of Peter and Mary's marriage, but I have the Church Baptism Registers of their five children together with their dates of birth. I still hope to find some lead to help me learn more about their pre-Australian days.
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THE GAVINS:
Great Great Grandfather, John Gavin was also a convict. At age sixteen years he was sentenced to seven years when convicted of being a "notorious pickpocket". But although he was tried in Leeds, Yorkshire, his convict record notes that his birthplace was Ireland. To date I have managed to find some indications of a Gavin family living in Leeds a little after the time of his trial, but have not been able to positively identify him with that family. The chances look good insofar as one of that family is an Irish born gentleman of an age appropriate to have been John's father and two other members of the household were a young man and a young woman, both born in Ireland, and of suitable ages to be siblings of his. I hope to extend this search in the near future.
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THE MOORES:
My Great Grandfather Robert Moore is listed as Irish on his marriage record to Mary Jane Rhodes at Manchester Cathedral. Other records name his father as David Moore and his mother as Mary White. But I have no more backward history than this.
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HO(U)R(R)IGAN and Broughton:
Mary Horigan, to use the most frequent spelling of her name, and William Broughton were supposedly married in South Australia and had their first three children there before moving to Victoria. But there is a great deal of conflict in the few South Australian records which refer to these people. Some evidence suggests that Mary, at least, was probably Irish. I can not establish any firm date of arrival for either of them through shipping or convict records.
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Helen's Irish

THE SMITHS: One of our most elusive Irish families to date has been that of David Nelson Smith. He was born on 20 November 1816 in Northern Ireland and became a mariner, serving from apprentice to Ship's Master. The address we have for him there was Dungonnel, Killead, Antrim, in small cottage which still existed in the 1960's. His residence there might have been at the end of his maritime service. In 1856 at age 40 he married 22 year old Leonie Bracey, in France we believe, and Helen's family always spoke of her as "the French lady". Their first son, was also named David Nelson Smith and followed his father's career, sailing up until the 1920's. Leonie died in the 1880's and David Nelson Smith decided for some reason to move to Australia with a number of his children. His story can be found in the "legends" pages of this family history, and some detail of his maritime career can be found on the "shipping" pages. My interest on this page is simply to outline his Irish roots and to hope someone might help me extend them further.

The vessels he sailed in include the Cumberland, Ann Wise, Malcolm, Napoleon, Orient, Trial and others. More detail can be found in the shipping notes pages.

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OTHERS TO COME:

Thorpe; McFarland;

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and where have they gone?

to be a brief outline of what happened to them in Australia and how their families dispersed. More Irish to come

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My Irish Rose - but where did they rise from?

A list of family outlines

Helen's Irish

and where have they gone?

My Irish Rose
- but where did they rise from?