When did the parents die......date of the obituary?
Did sister Mary marry, and what married name. There might be an enquiry in a newspaper after Martin...ie...."sister Mary **** anxious to hear from you"
What town in Limerick did they live in?
Did older brother John become a shoemaker?........and might be the trade of Martin? [...]
Below...do you mean that you have Martin's name in a baptism record....when and where?
"He also visited Ireland around 1902 when my great-grandma was five years old, as he was her godfather."
His parents died in January 1867 - they drowned in an accident that made a lot of the newspapers, sorry for not clarifying that bit! There's not a traditional obituary for them because of that, just articles on their deaths and subsequent inquest, especially as Catherine was heavily pregnant at the time. I'll include the relevant bit of one of the articles here, I can PM you the rest if you want.
On Saturday night a man named Thomas Fitzpatrick, a shoemaker, residing in Knockbrack, in this County, along with his wife, was accidentally drowned in Canal Lock [...] The deceased leaves three children unprovided for.
They lived in Knockbrack at the time of their deaths, but John and Mary both move a lot between several neighbouring areas - Annacotty, Annaholty, Lisnagry, Richhill, Kishiquirke, Mountshannon. Castleconnell also shows up a lot as all of those towns/villages were in that district.
Mary married Patrick Murphy, RIC, in 1895 and lived in Tipperary afterwards, while John (my grandma's grandad) became a school-teacher. Their relatives apparently sold off the family land after their parents' death so John could train at a Jesuit school - not sure if John is older or not.
Assuming that your great grandmother was not baptised as a five year old, I read this to mean that Martin FITZPATRICK was present on the occasion of the baptism.....which happened where and when?
Martin FITZPATRICK left Ireland after this time (of the baptism) and returned to Ireland about 1902 when your great grandmother was five years old.
Weirdly no, Martin Fitzpatrick isn't on her baptismal record, but my grandma is certain he was her godfather. I've assumed that it was a matter of inconvenient timing and he was an extra godfather - we've had similar things happen in my generation. My great-grandma's (Mary Kathleen Fitzpatrick) godparents on her baptism were Patrick and Mary Ryan, who were maternal relatives of hers.
No mention of where he was in Ireland. Lots of Fitzpatricks in Co Donegal.
The Irish end may ahve some clues.
cheers
Jack Gee
Their family is firmly from Co. Limerick - there's not many other Fitzpatricks in Limerick in the 1800s, which for the most part has made things a lot easier for me. I've got a pretty good idea of what happened to everyone on that side aside from Martin and, to a lesser extent, his parents (but that's normal for pre-Famine records).
That's great Maddys52 
You found him ( the 1940 man)!
I'd say he was more likely boarding AT the the 16 Percival address, which is not necessarily saying the address is a Boarding House per se. Sounds like he was very much involved with the Church, so it could have been an address associated with the Rozelle Church or a member of the Rozelle congregation.
Hi Landlady, man, may have found amongst his belongings, his family address in Ireland to send watch to but had not known or found his parents names for the death cert?
Cheers
AMBLY
That's definitely a possibility! The reason why I listed so many names for their father is because John and Mary tend to use Thomas and Timothy respectively for him, but the newspaper articles of his death use Thomas or Thadeus.
I'll ask my grandma if she knew whether he was involved with the Church or not - I wouldn't be surprised if he was, especially as an unmarried and childless man. Regardless of whether he died in 1937 or 1940, she would've only been a young child, although her story about what happened when he died makes me think 1940 is the more likely one. It sounded a lot like she was talking about something she personally remembered, but I'll double-check with her.
And thank you to everyone so far! I've been really struggling with the lack of census records to consult, so this has been very helpful. I've ordered the death certificate of the Martin who died in 1940 to have a better look - as I understand, Australian death certificates usually include how long someone had lived in Australia for?
I also forgot to mention that John named one of his sons after Martin in 1905, which makes me wonder if that's when he visited instead. Also - looks like there were Garveys in Annaholty, so the connection to Rev. Garvey is very possible.
