Irish Ancestors

Kelly’s 3x Great grandparents on the Swaney side was John Blair and Rachel Wilson.  They were from Armagh, in northern Ireland.  They came to America before the Irish famine, arriving in Philidelphia in 1810 and settled in Seneca, Ohio.

Loretta’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Gittens.  Three of his grandparents were all from Donegal County, in the north of Ireland. The McGittgans and the Kerrigans traveled together to Minnesota in 1856 two years before it became a state.  They took a train to Galena, Illinois and then took a riverboat north and settled in Dresbach, Winona, MN.  The riverboat sunk in the Mississippi and families lost their possessions.

Loretta’s Irish roots landed in Minnesota in Dresbach, near LaCresent, Minnesota.

McGittigan:  Joseph’s Great Grandfather Marice McGittigan was a resident of Aughnish, Donegal, Ireland.  He married his wife Mary O’Brian.  They had six children and the family came to Amercia before 1850 and settled in  Williston, Chittenden, Vermont.  While in America they shortened their name from McGittigan to Gittens.  Three of the sons including Josephs’s Grandfather are listed in the census records as laborers.  Peter would marry Mary Walsh in 1853 in thd Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in Burlington Vt.  She may have come to America on the Meteor arriving in New York in 1848 from Liverpool.

Walsh:  At this point, we do not know the name of her parents.

McCauley:  Thomas McCauley was born in 1825 in Ireland, the sone of Thomas McCauley and Mary. O’Flannigan

Kerrigan:  The Kerrigans were also from Donegal, County, irelandsBridget arrived  on July 27, 1852 in New York from Liverpool.  James Kerrigan married Hanorah Gillespie.  They had five children including, Bridget, Andrew, James, Patrick and Anna.

The McGittgans and the Kerrigans traveled together to Minnesota in 1856 two years before it became a state.  They took a train to Galena, Illinois and then took a riverboat north and settled in Dresbach, Winona, MN.  The riverboat sunk in the Mississippi and families lost their possessions.