Monday, April 13, 2015

Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity

Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity


I have noticed that I have developed a certain fondness for the family members that gave me the most trouble (in terms of finding them and their stories), this is the case with my 4th great grandmother Hanorah O'Donnell Garrity*.

When I saw that the theme was your favorite Irish ancestor I knew I had to be Hanorah (obviously week 11 was supposed to cover St. Patrick's Day, so I'm still behind).

Tracking down Hanorah and her family was a challenge. Her daughter Lizzie and August's (my 3rd great grandparents') sacramental marriage record listed her parents as John and Anna Gariety and death record listed them as Patrick Gerrity and Katherine O'Donnell.  This was very confusing. I had know idea which was right. It turns out that neither were completely accurate. The best clue that I had was a list of siblings in Lizzie's obituary: Mary Engle, Sarah Wright, Jennie Davitt, Catherine Hennessy, and Joseph Fitzpatrick. The presence of a brother whose last name wasn't Garrity let me know that at some point her mother must have gotten remarried and some of these siblings were half siblings. I began looking for marriage, census and death records that include these siblings. This is how I was able to confirm the family members and timeline for Lizzie's family. Normally I have not collected death records for all siblings in a family, just for my direct ancestors, however, because Lizzie's mother was listed as Honor, Hannah, Anna, Nora, and Hanorah, it was necessary to collect all documents to make sure I was finding the right person. 

I found the above from Roots Ireland. Other than the name spellings, 
all other details are as they should be to match up with 
what I know about Hanorah and Patrick Garrity.


According to the South Mayo Family Research Center, Patrick and Hanorah's wedding would have taken place at the parish church, a picture of the church that was there at the time of their marriage is above. The picture is from circa 1900. The church is no longer there, a new church was built on the site. 

   

The census record above on the left is Patrick and Hannah Garrity with their children, including Lizzie in 1860. The one on the right is Patrick and Hannah Fitzpatrick in 1870 with Hannah's children from Patrick Garrity and their children together. Hanorah and Patrick Fitzpatrick were married in May of 1862, so Patrick Garrity likely died sometime in 1860 or 1861.  

There is still a lot more I'd like to learn about Hanorah and Patrick Garrity. I have no idea how Patrick died, leaving Hanorah with 5 children and I don't know much about her life with second husband Patrick Fitzpatrick except that they had 3 more children together. 

Hanorah passed away on April 17, 1918 from Lobar Pneumonia. She was living with her daughter Sarah (Sadie) Wright in Indianapolis. She was buried in Muncie, Indiana at Beech Grove Cemetery.