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Maria Jane Darragh's Illness: Researching Acute Mania in 19th Century Ontario

Image by rawpixel.com.     Back in January, I focused on discovering more about my great-great-grandmother Maria Jane Darragh's identity. In the next few weeks, my focus will be on discovering more about her cause of death: acute mania. Jane—as she was known—was not my only ancestress to be diagnosed with a mental illness. Another great-great-grandmother, Catherine Ryan Gilbride, suffered from puerperal mania and was institutionalized in 1881 in Danville, Pennsylvania. 1 Both Jane and Catherine are in my paternal lineage: Jane was my grandmother's grandmother, while Catherine was my grandfather's grandmother. Let's start with an objective and what we already know. Objective The objective of this project is to learn more about Maria Jane Darragh’s cause of death: acute mania. Jane was born about 1852 in Grey County, Canada West. She married Charles Cassidy on 20 June 1883 in St. Catharines, Lincoln County, Ontario. She died on 23 October 1903 in St. Catharines, Ontario,...
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An Irish Perspective on Scranton


You may have heard that President Joe Biden traveled to his ancestral homeland in County Mayo, Ireland back in April. President Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, also the birthplace of several of our Gilbride and McAndrew family lines, who likely also trace their roots back to County Mayo. At least one ancestor, my great-great grandmother Ann Kelly McAndrew, reportedly was born in County Mayo, though her exact birthplace is yet to be discovered.1

While in Ireland, President Biden visited the North Mayo Heritage Centre, dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich heritage of the region. The Centre's April 16, 2023 publication—Mayo Heritage Newsletter—profiled Scranton and its links to Mayo, in honor of President's visit.2 

I asked Centre staff for permission to include this article here, as it is interesting to see Scranton through Irish eyes. Many thanks to the North Mayo Heritage Centre staff for allowing me to reprint their newsletter article. 

If you prefer to read the article in PDF form, click here and download "Newsletter 16/04/23." Find an archive of past newsletters at the same webpage.

Until next time...

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NOTES

All links accessed 16 May 2023.

1 State of Ohio, Department of Health, Certificate of Death 68240, Ann McAndrew, 16 December 1925; database and images, "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PKD-RJM : 16 May 2023); citing County Courthouse, Cleveland.

2 "Scranton," Mayo Heritage Newsletter, Vol. IV, #16, 16 April 2023; digital image, North Mayo Heritage Centre (https://www.northmayogenealogy.com/latest). Images used with permission.

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