Help wanted on family for Timothy O’Connell b County Cork (possibly Malow) about 1851

Question

I'd love some help with Timothy Connell's family tree. I have been working backward from my late grandfather John Patrick O'Connell. He died in 1966 and none of my living relatives knew his parents' or siblings’ names, except for one sister, Nellie Murphy.

I found the names of John’s parents on his and Mary Cloonan's marriage record from Brookline, Massachusetts. They are Timothy O’Connell and Kate Murphy. From there I dug through parish records and the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census forms. I did find a census record listing Timothy and Kate Connell with John, Ellen, John, I know John had a sister named Nellie Murphy who lived in Malden, MA. I don't know her husband's name—Jeremiah and Timothy. Nellie had a daughter named Mae (May?) Murphy. I feel pretty certain that her legal name was Mary Murphy. Mae never married.

Timothy Connell’s father could also be Timothy Connell. A tree on Ancestry lists his wife as Joanna Dineen. I found a death record for one such person who died 6 November 1877 in the Fermoy Workhouse at age 70. This would have his birth around 1807.

Any help would be appreciated. And FWIW, if you are looking for a DNA match I was adopted so I don't have the O'Connell or Cloonan DNA in my report. Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Michael,

You currently appear under Timothy Connell's "DNA Connections" so you will need to mark your relationship to your parents as "non-biological" (you can do this from your profile's edit page). This will stop your DNA results from propagating to profiles to which you are not genetically related.

I'll also say that Mai, Mae, May, etc. are indeed usually a nickname for Mary, though I think it can also be one for Margaret.

Comments

Thank you, Fergal. I had my parents, Phil O'Connell (Timothy's grandson) and Mary Cadorette listed as adoptive parents and my biological parents, Richard Hanchett and Barbara Brown listed as such. I'm pretty sure that is how they have been listed for more than a year, but the DNA remains under Tim Connell's DNA profile. Do you know who I should contact for assistance? Thanks!

As for May/Mae, my paternal grandmother's name was Mary. My mother's uncle always referred to her as May. I asked him why once and he said that is how people from Ireland refer to women named Mary. I don't know how true this is, but she never corrected him.