Mary McSheffrey, was born in CarndonaghCounty Donegal, Ireland on 7 Feb 1851 to parents Michael McSheffrey and Margery McLaughlin
1881 – Mary McSheffrey married Michael O’Connell on July 31, 1881.
Michael was 35, and Mary was 20. Michael, from Milford, Co. Cork, was a serving member of the Royal Irish Constabulary stationed at Trillick Barracks, Co. Donegal. Michael had enlisted in the RIC in 1864, when he was just 18. Enlisting at this young age required a dispensation unless another family member was already in the force. One more thing for me to try to track down…in time… Michael was transferred to Fermanagh three months after the marriage, and in 1884 he was transferred again to Cavan until he was pensioned in 1894. In Fermanagh, he opened a general store.
Michael left the RIC having attained the rank of Sergeant, and he moved his family back to his home county of Cork.
Mary McSheffrey
When Mary McSheffrey was born in 1861, her parents had already mourned the loss of their two-year-old daughter Catherine the year prior.
Mary exchanged vows with Michael O’Connell in July 1881. Their witnesses were John O’Neill and James McKenna. By this time, Mary had witnessed her elder brother, also named Michael, embark on a journey to New Zealand, and he never returned to Ireland.
Everyone described Mary as being ‘a real lady’ and stories say that Michael loved her very much and was always buying her presents long after they were married.
It must have felt like a perpetual cycle of farewells for Mary McSheffrey, as she bid goodbye to one family member after another. Over the following years, she stood by as
- her sister Catherine and brother James followed Michael to New Zealand.
- on 3 April 1898 her sister, Bridget died of Typhoid in Belfast
- In 1905, her nephews James, George, and Michael, along with her nephew James McElgun, set sail for the United States. This was followed in
- 1922 by her sister Madge, and finally, in
- 1924, her brother George departed with his wife and remaining children. George returned to Ireland twice after leaving in 1924 but I have no evidence that he visited Mary in Cork or that she travelled to Donegal.
QUESTION: I have found two McSheffreys in the RIC, Daniel and John but I don’t know if or how they may be related to Mary’s family.
Michael O’Connell and Mary McSheffrey’s first child, James O’Connell was born in Bunagee in 1882. QUESTION: I wonder if they were living together in their own house or Michael was living in the barracks?
At the time of James’ birth, his father was still in the RIC. James was baptized in Bunagee, Parish of Culdaff, Co. Donegal, on July 9, 1882. Sponsors were George McSheffrey. QUESTION: (this George is hardly his uncle who would only be 12 at the time?… Wonder if his grandfather had a brother named George?) & Madge McSheffrey (his aunt or his grandmother?]
Their second child, also a son, they named Leo O’Connell was born in 1884/85. It must have been heartbreaking for Mary when, at the age of 13, Leo left Ireland with his father Michael through Londonderry on the ship “Anchoria” bound for New York. Once through Ellis Island, they traveled on to Wheaton, Kansas, to visit his uncle, James W. O’Connell. Leo’s father went back to Ireland, leaving Leo with JW and his wife. Michael arrived back in Queenstown on November 13, 1897, aboard the “Etruria.” In the years that followed, Leo traveled back to Ireland several times to visit his mother and siblings. Leo’s returning dates to New York that I have found are:
- 1907 – July 6 arrived in New York aboard the ship “Campania” from Queenstown, Cork. He was 23 and single.
Michael and Mary moved from Fermanagh to Cavan (Swanlinbar) where Mary Frances O’Connell was born in 1889. She was baptized in Swanlinbar, Parish of Kinawley, Co. Cavan, on October 25, 1888. Sponsors were James McKenna & Kate McKenna. James McKenna had also been a witness at their marriage in Bunagee.
Also in 1888, Mary’s sister Bridget married another RIC constable named Patrick Casey, stationed at Dristernan. They had 6 children in 10 years, but tragically, Bridget died of typhoid fever in Belfast on April 3. 1898, at 2 Cavendish St., Belfast, County Antrim. She was 29.
Some time later, Michael inherited the family farm in Laragh, Milford, Co. Cork and he moved the family back to Cork. He sold the farm to his cousin Tadgh and built ‘The 98 House’ (a pub) in Milford. I often wondered how they came to name the pub/shop “The 98 House.” Doubtful it was to commemorate the rising of 1798, so was it in memory of Mary’s sister, Bridget, who died in the 1898 typhoid fever epidemic in Belfast?
O’Connell Mary, baptism Swanlinbar 25 Oct 1888When Michael died on June 12, 1913, probate was granted to his son, James. In the probate listing, his effects total stg 235 14s 9d (£235 in 1913 is equivalent in purchasing power in 2023 to about £34,692.51 ) and it says it is “in England”……
It must have been quite frightening for the widowed Mary in the years around and following 1916 to be the widow of an RIC man, particularly in November 1920 when a column of the Irish Volunteers attacked and burned the RIC barracks in Milford.
The following are the family trees of the descendants of Michael O’Connell and Mary McSheffrey
