in working on my own family tree for the past two decades, I have often clung to less common names (first, middle, last), to try and make breakthroughs.
Family research, especially for those of us who contend with limited documents (as is the case with the Irish experience in Ireland), means often flip flopping along different sides of the ocean, to seemingly unrelated families, with the hopes of possibly finding connections, or more information about the names. This warrants a few posts.
Carragher.
This name is either the one of my 2x, or 3x great grandmother and probably has caused me the most frustration of all. I can't correctly document my 2x great grandmother....this isn't that far back really, 1850s, but the cusp of official registration in Ireland, a seeming marriage of Catholic and Protestant, misspellings - Kellar in one of the death certificates of one of my 2x ggmother's children in Scotland. I feel Carragher was most likely her mother's name, that she was the more common (and frustrating to search) O'Brien.
But here we are.
My Carraghers hail from the Crossmaglen and environs area of Armagh, Northern Ireland. Could they have also been from Louth or Navan? Possibly.
There were branches of Carraghers who went to the US and changed their name to Callaghan (likely the customs officer changed it?). More than one of these former Carraghers are genetic genealogical matches (weak but there).
There were branches that went to Canada, I have yet to find genetic connections here, but worth spending more time here.
And there are those that remain in Northern Ireland, in the places known to have at least some connection to my Carraghers - Cappagh, Crossmaglen, Lisseraw (Liseragh, Lissera). These places have links to the Troubles.
They were primarily RC, though it looks like my ancestor married a protestant.
How easy it is for names to be lost - Carragher to Kellar on a child's death record....
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