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Stepping Aboard a Famine Ship

The Dunbrody.   Whenever we travel, especially if we are within striking distance of an ancestral locale, the Hubs and I like to visit historical sites to get a better understanding of where and how our ancestors lived.  It was no different on our recent trip to Ireland. Besides visiting many ancient sites, we also took in several folk parks featuring recreations of past ways of life, a deserted Famine-era village Slievemore on Achill Island, the Dunfanaghy Workhouse , and the Irish Wake Museum (awesome!).  I was particularly interested in sites which told the story of the Great Famine, as I have documented members of my Kilbride kin leaving Ireland between 1846 and 1850, in the midst of what was known as An Gorta Mór—The Great Hunger. 1 Ireland's west was particularly hard hit during this time, and given that some of my Kelly and Ryan records state their County Mayo origins, I know that these families likely suffered greatly before making that heartbreaking ...
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MARIA JANE DARRAGH


 

31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 28, 2022:   Paternal Great, Great Grandmother #4 - Maria Jane Darragh (1850-1903)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

Of all the subjects of this challenge, Maria Jane Darragh is perhaps one I know the least about. I have no photo and few records. I can only see her through the lens of others in her life. 

Maria Jane was the first wife of Charles Francis Cassidy, who together are another set of 2x great grandparents, the parents of Catherine Cassidy and grandparents to our Grandma Gilbride. Sadly, Grandma would never have met or known her grandmother Maria, as she died a full ten years prior to her birth.1

Maria's parents were John Darragh and Dora Elliott, and she was born about 1850 near Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario—a long, narrow bay located on the southwestern end of Georgian Bay, a wing of Lake Huron. It is likely she was actually born in Sydenham or St. Vincent, the nearest settlements, which future research may confirm.2

Maria's birthplace of Owen Sound shown on this 1850 map of Canada. Note the "Indian Reserve" located on the peninsula to the west, occupied by the Chippewa.3

 

Following Maria's marriage to Charles Cassidy in 1883, the couple had four children: Catherine (our 2x great grandmother), Mary Jane (who later became Sister M. Magdalena), Phillip and James.

It appears that Maria became ill in her early 50s—she suffered from "acute mania," for five weeks prior to her death on 23 October 1903. We might recognize this condition as bipolar disease today, though the exact details of Maria's condition and death are unknown. At this time too, it is unknown where she is buried, though the family was living in St. Catharines at the time.4

1903 obituary of Mary Jane Darah Cassidy, wife of Charles Cassidy.5

Until next time...

This post was updated on 16 August 2025.

  

BONUS: Lineage chart from Maria Jane Darragh to me.


NOTES

1 St. Catharines, Lincoln County, Death Registrations, vol. "6", 1903, p. 433, Mary Jane Cassidy (53), 23 October 1903; database with images, "Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q93-C9YJ-GY81 : accessed 28 January 2022); Deaths > 1903 > no 13721-19304 > image 865 of 1730; citing Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

2 Ontario, Office of Registrar General, County of Lincoln, Division of St. Catharines, Marriage Registrations 1869-1911,  Unit "D," 1884, p. 537 (stamped), #25 (inked)/#6676 (stamped), marriage of Charles Cassady and Maria Jane Darah, 20 June 1883; database & images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y39T-XNJ : accessed 27 January 2022); citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Also: William H. Smith, Smith's Canadian gazetteer : comprising statistical and general information respecting all parts of the upper province, or Canada West (Toronto: Henry Roswell, 1849), 156; image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smitrich/page/140/mode/2up : accessed 28 January 2022).

3  Henry Tallis, West Canada (London: J. & F. Tallis, abt. 1850); image, Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/1850_Tallis_Map_of_West_Canada_or_Ontario_%28_includes_Great_Lakes_%29_-_Geographicus_-_WestCanada-tallis-1850.jpg : accessed 28 January 2022). File provided to Wikimedia Commons by Geographicus Rare Antique Maps; this media file is in the public domain in the United States.

4 St. Catharines Death Registrations, Mary Jane Cassidy, 1903.

5 "To Charles Cassidy...", The St. Catharines Standard, 23 October 1903, np, regarding death of wife Maria Jane Cassidy. Image supplied by Niagara Peninsula Branch, Ontario Ancestors, Concord, Ontario.




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