Francis Martin was born in 1834 (or 1835) in County Kildare, Allen Parish (near the town of Newbridge), Ireland, according to his military discharge record from 1873. He joined the army in 1852 and served in many places including Malta, Crimea, Greece, Curfu, China and India, where he and his wife had two children (found their baptismal records - yes!). At the time of his discharge he was No 2838 Sergeant, 1st Battalion 3rd Regiment, Foot of the Buffs.
He married Ann Geoghegan from County Longford in 1862 (we think they married in London). After his wedding they returned to County Kildare where they had their first son, Francis (Frank) in 1865 (found the baptismal record from Curragh Camp Parish). The other kids were born either in India or in County Longford, where the couple returned to after his discharge. Francis died in County Longford in 1881 (we have the pension records to his wife Ann).
We cannot identify Francis Martin (Sr.)'s family (parents or siblings). After extensive cross indexing of the baptismal records from Allen, Curragh Camp and other nearby parishes, it seems there are 3 plausible Martin families who could be his parents. One of the families, Henry Martin and Mary Kearns (married 1818 in County Kildare), have a witness at the wedding with the same last name as the witnesses at the baptism of Francis and Ann's eldest son Francis Jr. Trouble is, this couple (Henry Martin and Mary Kearns) had a son called Frank in 1827. Why would they then name their later son Francis, born in 1834 (or 35)? Did the elder son Frank die and they re-used the name? Possible, but couldn't find a death record for the older sibling. I am hoping that maybe other people on here either recognize this Francis Martin as their relative and have more info, or can give me any more clues how to move forward. I've already scoured IrishGenealogy.ie, RootsIreland.ie as well as FindMyPast, MyHeritage, FamilySearch.
To go down the tree, Francis and Ann had 6 children: Francis (Frank), Mary Ann, Ellen (Nellie), William Patrick, Michael Joseph and John Henry. These children flitted back and forth from Ireland to the USA (Philadelphia). Some stayed (like my great-grandfather, John Henry), one ended up returning to Ireland and soon emigrating to Liverpool (Michael Joseph). Apparently descendants of this brother emigrated to Australia.
Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!
Hi everyone. I've posted a few times before and this forum has been super helpful in my genealogy work, especially for my mother's family from Ireland which I was having a very hard time with on Ancestry.com
I was wondering if anyone could help me in finding information on the surnames Scully and Colgan in County Kildare, specifically in the town of Clane. My grandmother, Rachael Scully (1924-present) was born in Dublin, and so was her father William Scully, but it seems her grandfather John Scully was from County Kildare. Here is some information I've managed to find thanks to this forum, in the form of baptism records:
Margaret Scully, living at Mountpleasant, Clane, County Kildare, baptized November 22, 1847 in a Roman Catholic church, daughter of John Scully and Anne Colgan.
James Scully, address Betaghstown, Clane, County Kildare, June 9, 1850, RC, parents John Scully and Anne Colgan.
Several other children all with John Scully and Anne Colgan as parents:
Anne Scully, lives Cockbridge, bapt. April 25 1852,
Thomas Scully, Woodville, bapt. May 7 1854
William Scully, Healeysbridge bapt. January 18 1857
Mary Scully, address just says Clane, bapt. Sept 2. 1860.
The person who sent me this info said they couldn't find a marriage certificate for John Scully and Anne Colgan, so maybe they were from some other town, but this person was looking online so maybe the website just hadn't uploaded it.
A few days ago I googled "Scully Kildare Colgan genealogy" and found a link on Geni.com to a woman named Mary Scully born 1891 in Clane, Kildare who married a Denis Colgan, but no more information than that, so maybe these Scullys and Colgans are the same as mine and the families were socially close with each other?
Here's the link on Geni if it helps in any way.
http://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Colgan/6000000024642167281
So if anyone has information regarding Scully and or Colgan families living in Kildare, specifically Clane, around the 1800's, I would really appreciate help.
Best wishes-
Nick
