JOHN FOLEY AND MARY BRIGID SHEA
| NAME OF CHILD | WIFE OR HUSBAND | CHILDREN | ||||
| Anne Foley | Timothy Dowd | Katherine Dowd Colgan, Timothy Dowd, Jr. |
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| Ellen Foley | Michael Sullivan | none known | ||||
| Julia Foley | Willliam Morrow | Edwin, John, Katherine, William, Charles, Mary Ellen, Robert, Josephine, Stephen | ||||
Anne Foley was the oldest of the family, and came to the U.S. and lived with her father’s sisters in N.Y. She was engaged to Timothy Dowd who was from County Kerry also.
Because of a misunderstanding, her father banned Tim from the house. He thought he was consorting with the British tax collector. Tim decided to come to the U.S. His cousin had a ship which sailed from Ireland to New Orleans. When he arrived in New Orleans, he was employed helping to build the Cathedral. He saved his money and with a friend traveled to Ohio to buy a stone quarry. Somehow that did not work out, and he went to Peru, Indiana.
Meanwhile Nancy was very unhappy at her aunt’s, She really missed Tim. She became friendly with a girl who came to visit a neighbor, and the girl convinced her to go back to Indiana with her, and become a governess. She was walking with her friend one day and passed a street corner where some men were standing. One of them came running after her--it was Tim. They were married in Peru. Tim opened a trading post and operated it with Chief Godfrey of the Miami Indians.
Ellen came to the U. S. and lived with her sister. She married Michael Sullivan, who was an engineer and they moved to Chicago. I have no further record of this family.
Julia, my grandmother, was born in the area near Castlemaine. Her birth records are at the rectory at Castlemaine. She was baptized in April of 1843. Her godparents were Dennis Griffin and Anne Sullivan. While you may know your parents were both born in the U.S., do you know where all of your grandparents were born? If any one of them were born anywhere in the geographical island of Ireland, you may be able to claim Irish citizenship through them rather than through your spouse. It is currently taking a year to process these Foreign Births Registrations. You will need original or certified copies of your grandparent's long form Irish birth certificate, their civil marriage certificate, their death certificate, your parent's current ID/death certificate, birth and marriage certificates, and your current ID, birth and marriage certificates. The fee to register your birth in the Foreign Births Entry Book is $187 for those over age 18 and $75 for those under age 18. There are currently over 500 foreign birth registration applications at the Consulate. Once your birth is registered, you can submit a passport application for the fee of $87.