Johanna Ann Sheehy (1851-1929)

With the arrival of a marriage record from 1892, I can now place Ann Newman (1851-1929) among the children of Edmond Edward Sheehy (1825-1893) and Bridget Frawley (1826-1905). They were my maternal great great great grandparents.

This post follows up on a post published two years ago. This is how long it took to receive the record from the State of New York.

Joanna was baptized in 1851 in Limerick, Ireland. Her parents were listed as Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.

In the 1870s the family moved from Ireland to Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, United States. The children were older and most, including Joanna, were not recorded in the census with Edmond and Bridget.

I followed a woman named Johanna Maloney in the 1875 and 1880 census enumerations. This person remarried to William P Newman and became known as Anna or Ann Newman until her death in 1929.

To link Joanna Maloney or Ann Newman to my Sheehy/Frawley branch, I sought the marriage record for her to William Newman to see if her parents were listed.

According to the marriage record, Ann Agnes Maloney was the daughter of Edward Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.

Below are the records.

Johanna Anna had at least eight children. If there are any cousins out there descended from her, send word.

More Children for Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, Ireland to New York

Some DNA matches caused me to delve into my mother's Sheehy branch and find a lot more cousins.

Bridget Sheehy (1857-1916) was my mother's great grandmother. Her death certificate provided the names of her parents, Edward or Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley of Ireland.

Through newspapers, census records, Irish baptismal records, and help from other researchers, Bridget Sheehy's origins were traced to Limerick, Ireland. Five other siblings were identified. They had immigrated to Dutchess County, New York.

Some recent DNA matches traced their origin to James Sheehy (1855-1934). He married Mary Moore (1862-1897). Their first identified child, George Edward Sheehy, was born in New York in 1884.

Similar to the situation with the other siblings, I cannot link James to his parents, Edmond and Bridget, in New York. James is buried in Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Amenia, same as Edmond and Bridget.

In the online baptismal records for Clarina in Limerick, is an entry for James (called Jacobus in Latin). He was baptized March 25, 1855. His parents were Edmund Sheehy and Brigid Frawley. Sponsors were Thomas Leahy and Mary Sheehy.

Newspapers for the area of Amenia in Dutchess County, New York are available (for free) on FultonHistory.com.

Searching the cemeteries online via FindAGrave lead me to Anna Sheehy (1851-1929), called Joanna in earlier census years. Again, she is not with her parents, Edmond and Bridget, in New York, though she is also buried at Immaculate Conception Cemetery. On the same microfilm roll as the other siblings is the baptism of Joanna, daughter of Edmond and Brigid, on May 4, 1851. Sponsor was Margarita Sheehy.

In New York, Ann Sheehy is first found in the 1875 New York State census in Pine Plains. She is Johannah Maloney, wife of Jeremiah Maloney. They have two children, Mary and John.

After Jeremiah Maloney died, Ann remarried to William Patrick Newman in 1890. He was not enumerated in her household in the 1900 census. Ann had at least two children with William: James and Patrick.

Ann's obituary in 1929 states that William Newman was lost at sea in 1905.

I ordered a copy of Ann's marriage record from 1890. Her parents may be listed, which would provide a more definite link to Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley.


The third newly discovered child is the earliest one yet of Edmond and Bridget.

John Sheehy (1849-1926) was baptized February 9, 1849. Sponsors were Jacobus (James) Sheehy and Margarita Frawley.

John first appears in New York in the 1880 census in Amenia with wife, Nora Cleary (1856-1926), and daughter Alice, born in December of 1879.

John was buried at Saint Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in nearby Millbrook.


An additional DNA match could land us the generation beyond Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley. The maternal grandmother of this DNA match was Margaret Gorman (or OGorman), born about 1874 in Ireland. Margaret's mother, according to her marriage record in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was Mary Sheey. This Mary is not the daughter of Edmond and Bridget because they already have a daughter named Mary (1853-1897) who is accounted for. (She married Thomas Ahearn.)

It is great to take a DNA match and trace back until the Sheehy connection is found.

Thus far I have identified nine children of Edmond Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, born between 1849 and 1866 in Limerick, Ireland. Further research and DNA connections will solidify or modify this construct.

Bridget Sheehy was my great great grandmother.
She married John D Preston (1857-1928).

Microscopic View of Irish Origins

Some additional insight into the place of origin in Ireland of my Sheehy and Frawley ancestors. We have come a long way from merely stating Ireland.

Bridget Sheehy (1857-1916), my great great grandmother, was baptized in Lurriga (also called Patrickswell), in Limerick in 1857.

The baptismal record of two potential siblings are on the same microfilm roll as Bridget, except that Ancestry.com calls the place Clarina.

My (probable) cousin in Ireland helped clarify for me that my family was actually from Corcamore and that all these places are within a larger area called Clarina. He also assured me that Irish ways of designating and naming places are confusing.

Clarina, Kilkeedy, Pubblebrien, Limerick, Ireland.
Is that how I should write this?

Location of Corcamore within Clarina.
Any Sheehy and Frawley cousins still living there?

Corcamore is only about two square miles. It would be great to find additional records, if any exist.

The Baptism of Bridget Sheehy in 1857 in Limerick, Ireland

Someone from Ireland (possibly a cousin) wrote to me about my Sheehy and Frawley ancestors of County Limerick. He had seen my blog post about trying to connect my second great grandmother, Bridget Sheehey (1857-1916), to a Sheehy family living in Dutchess County, New York, USA.

He had located the baptism record of Bridget, daughter of Edmund Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, on the microfilm for Lurriga (also called Patrickswell), in Limerick. The date was January 4, 1857. According to the death certificate of my Bridget, her parents were Edmund (or Edward?) Sheehey and Bridget Frawley of Ireland.

Bridget, daughter of Edmund Sheehy and Bridget Frawley, baptized January 4, 1857.
Sponsors were Timothy Sheehy and Bridget Flannery (more possible relatives).

You can view these church records for free through the National Library of Ireland. The site is also an excellent resource for detailed maps of divisions within the counties.

Can I finally fit Bridget into this family?
Created in Family Tree Maker 2017

Bridget Sheehy does not show up in Ancestry.com's index for this microfilm. However, Margaret and Ellen, possible sisters of Bridget, do show up in the index. But Ancestry.com calls this place "Clarina," not Lurriga or Patrickswell.

So I continued forward on the roll (online) from Bridget in the year 1857 to the year 1864 and found the entry for Margaret. Same place, Lurriga, same name, Sheehy. Another clue that there is a connection.

Margaret Sheehy baptized November 13, 1864 in Lurriga, Limerick, Ireland.
Sponsors were John Galvey (?) and Margaret Cosgrove.

Clarina is not listed as an alternate name for Lurriga. It could be. (Researching old New Jersey place names is hard enough.) But I was looking for Bridget in Clarina and not finding either when Bridget was indeed baptized in the same location as her supposed sisters near the birth date I have for her.


Neighboring parishes may also have records on the family, if the records still exist (another roadblock in Irish research).

Note: "Sheehy" and "Sheehey" are used interchangeably here.