RootsChat.Com

I guess I missed part of your message.  Thanks for covering it again.  I also didn't read all of the messages in the other thread as directed by the moderator.  Sorry.  I just wanted to write to you right away to say: don't give up!  And don't waste money.  I know there are experts that do this for a fee.  But part of the joy is the journey.  It is a bit like fishing, but use lots of fishing poles and good bait.  I have "met" so many nice people doing this, and while looking for my own family, I still try to help other people find theirs.  I guess that is what I mean by bait.  Have lots of messages out there for people to find, and in the process, make friends and help others.  Someday the right person will read your message and know exactly who Mary KENNEDY CARNEY is, or her daughter Mary CARNEY FURGUSON and contact you right away!  Your grandmother was a devoted Roman Catholic and she probably learned that devotion from her mother.  There has to be some record of that Kennedy family in one of the RC churches around Newry.

You may be right about the hairdressers being related.
Hold on to that idea.  And try to find out more about your great-grandmother.  Another fishing analogy:  Cast a wide net.  Look for as many names as possible. 

Bye for now,
Ruth

Hi again Elizabeth,
I think that Mary KENNEDY was the name you should be looking for, not Mary Carney.  It may also be a common name but you may find her listed as a mother giving birth to a girl child, unnamed as of the reporting of the birth.  Usually there was a christening date recorded that was a date just as important as the birth, and the christening date was sometimes the only date reported.  Can you tell me if the family was catholic or protestant?  You might find out more from church records. 

Here is a link to the area around Newry.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/MAPS/NewryTownlands.htm

See if any names of the towns look familiar.  Mourne isn't the name of a civil parish, but there is a catholic parish called  Mourne Lower.  The Mourne Mountains are between Rathfriland and the sea.  Part of Newry is in County Armagh.

The Mourne Mountains are beautiful when viewed from Rathfriland and surrounding towns.  I know, I have seen them!  Your ancestors, and mine, lived in a beautiful place, even if life was hard and food was scarce.  After my three week visit I really learned why they found it so hard to leave.

Good luck to you. 
Ruth

Hi all,
I have been trying to connect my Dickson/Mawhinney family to this one:

1.  Andrew2 Dickson  (David1)  He married Ann Jane Boomer 14 January 1862 in Dromore Unitarian Church, daughter of James Boomer.  She was born in Gervaghy.

Ann Jane BOOMER is also listed as BOWMAN in some documents.  Maybe that is where yours are too.

Hope it helps...
Ruth

Hi David,
Maybe we have a match...  ?

Ruth

1. Thomas Campbell
      m. ?

   2. Thomas Campbell (Annahunchigo Lough)
        m. Sarah Green b. 24 Apr 1825
       
        3. James Campbell
             m. Mary Ann Mawhinney on 17 Oct 1890

        3. Hugh Campbell
             m. Margaret Mawhinney (sister of Mary Ann)
                      on 11 Jul 1889 (witness Mary Ann)