A bit of Galway
The county is on the west coast of Ireland and contains the city of Galway and the towns of Tuam, Ballinasloe, Athenry and Loughrea. The east coast is relatively good farm land. The west, known as Connemara, is rocky and much of it is barren. Aran island lays off its shore.The county was very much affected by the Famine of 1845-7. In 1841 the population was 443,000. Ten years later, it had fallen to 322,000. More than 73,000 persons died between 1845 and 1850. Approximately 11 percent of the populous emigrated in the succeeding five years. By 1891 the census showed 215, 000 inhabitants of the county. Today there are about 172,000.
Most of the county is within the diocese of Tuam, the remainder in Elphin, Kilmacduagh and Clonfert. This information is required to research Marriage Liscenses and Wills.
Poor Law Unions were named after a large town or the city itself. These later became the General Registrar's Districts. These districts are the areas within which births, deaths and marriages were collected.
My grandfather Francis John RYAN (b. Renvile, Galway, Sept 12,1854) and at least 4 of his siblings were born in various sections of the county. His motherSarah Anne O'FLAHERTY was native to the county (b circa 1834)...most likely in the Connemara section,in the far Northwest. Family accounts tell us that John RYAN (a Wexford man) fell in love with his student Sarah (most likely while he was teaching at the Tully school in 1850,Renvyle). Sarah's parents sent her to stay with family in another county (Limmerick?) to escape John's advances, he being 28 and she having been but 16 years old. John did not allow this to dissuade him and followed Sarah, meanwhile convincing her parents of his honorable intentions. This account has been somewhat confirmed in tracing John's teaching records. They were married about 1853 and had 11 children. We have thus far been unable to locate any written records in Ireland re Sarah .
| St Nicholas Parish,Galway | Extracts from LDS filmed copy of RC parish registers |
| Townlands of Galway | All townlands which make up St Nicholas Parish in Galway |
| Griffith's Valuation Rahoon Galway | All FLAHERTY and RYAN surnames of the parish in 1850s |
| Rahoon Parish,Galway | Extracts from LDS filmed copy of RC parish registers |
| Landowners of County Galway | Link to information contributed by Jean Rice,listing all those who owned 1 or more acres of land in County Galway during the 1870s |
| Letterfrack School | Some pupils 1872 to 1915, school rolls maintained at the Nat'l Archives, Dublin |
| Lettergesh School | School roll: April 1879 first 3 grades-names only |
| Eagle's Nest School | School rolls: Dec 1880 Infant Class-complete-names only |
| 1856 Slater's Directory | Galway City, First page of directory |
| East Galway baptisms | Contributed extractions from LDS film #989956 |
| Boston Globe Obits | 2001 obituaries extracted by Larry Murphy from the Boston Globe, regarding Galway |
| Old Galway | Excerpts from the newsaper 'Galway Advertiser' |
| Connemara | Books, geography and more about Galway's ruggedly beautiful west. |
| Galway Advertiser | Newspaper clippings about 'old Galway', Includes the suburb of the Claddagh |
1870 Slater's Directory | Inhabitants and professionals of Galway City and Clifden District |
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Estate Records | Locator for some of the numerous estate records and tenant lists for the County, many 19th c |
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Flaherty Groom Index | All Flaherty grooms and affiliated names, noted in Tuam Marriages 1821-1829 |
| LDS Vital Records Index FLAHERTY | 144 FLAHERTY births in the County, btwn 1865 and 1867 |
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Galway's Graveyards | Location of the county's graveyards |
