Person in this family
Mary O'Shea
about 1905 – 29 November 1975
Mary O'Shea was born about 1905 and lived at Fahan, Ventry, the daughter of Michael Shea, a farmer who was dead by the time she married. On 2 February 1932 she married John Fitzgerald at St Mary's, Dingle; both were entered as of full age and both of Fahan, and both were entered as farmers, which is unusual — the column for a woman more often reads "farmer's daughter". She signed the register in her own hand as Mary O'Shea, while the clerk had written her Shea. Ten children are recorded. She died on 29 November 1975.
Proved by a record
Mary O'Shea was reportedly born at Fahan about 1905 and died at St Patrick's Marymount on 29 November 1975.
Born at Fahan, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland Died at St. Patrick's Marymount (location unverified)
Recorded as: Mary O Shea, Mary Shea
Birth: From our family tree - no record found yet
Death: From our family tree - no record found yet
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Gina D. Cacace’s no relationship found in this archive
Abigail Ann Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s no relationship found in this archive
Kevin Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
Life
Our family tree identifies Mary O'Shea, also entered as Mary O Shea, as the wife of John Fitzgerald. It says that she was born at a place called Fahan about 1905 and lists ten children. This archive does not specify which Fahan is meant.
It is recorded here, without supporting documentation, that that Mary died on 29 November 1975 at "St Patrick's Marymount," whose location is also unspecified. No independent birth, marriage, or death record in this archive confirms these claims.
How we know this: Mary’s details are recorded here, but not yet supported by a document. [1]
Family
Parents
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWork and occupation
- homemaker
Where they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland
- County Kerry, Ireland
- Fahan, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland
- Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
- St Patrick's / Marymount, Queensland
- County Kerry, Ireland
The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.
The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. 2 of the places listed above are recorded only as a county or country, so they are not pinned. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Born
Fahan
From our family tree - no record found yet
Married John Fitzgerald at St Mary's, Dingle
Both of Fahan, Ventry. Her father Michael Shea is entered as deceased; the groom's father is John Fitzgerald, farmer. The witnesses were Thomas Garvey and Elizabeth O'Shea. She signed as Mary O'Shea though the register enters her as Mary Shea.
Proved by a record
Died
St Patrick's Marymount
From our family tree - no record found yet
What the records say
1 record transcribed.
Record exhibit
John Fitzgerald and Mary O'Shea marriage, St Mary's Dingle, 2 February 1932
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Marriage No. 232, 2 February 1932, Roman Catholic Church of St Mary's Dingle, Union of Dingle, County Kerry. John Fitzgerald, full age, bachelor, farmer, residence Fahan Ventry, father John Fitzgerald, farmer. Mary Shea, full age, spinster, farmer, residence Fahan Ventry, father Michael Shea (deceased), farmer. Witnesses Thomas Garvey and Elizabeth O'Shea. Signed John Fitzgerald and Mary O'Shea.
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
Reading Irish Civil Registration
The year 1864 is the dividing line in this family’s Irish paper trail. Civil registration began in 1845 for non-Catholic and civil marriages, but from 1 January 1864 the law required registration of all births,…
Farmers and Labourers in North Cork
Two words in the Cork records—“farmer” and “labourer”—describe different positions in the same rural economy. When John Fitzgerald married Margaret Fraher at Kildorrery in 1870, the register called John, his fa…
What we still don't know
- Which place called Fahan was meant
- Her exact birth and marriage details
- Independent evidence for the listed children
- The location and record of her reported death at St Patrick's Marymount
- [CONFLICT] The 1932 marriage register is an original document and is a strong match: Fahan in Ventry is Mary O'Shea's own recorded townland, the groom is a John Fitzgerald whose father was a farmer named John Fitzgerald, and the district is Dingle. But this archive carries their son Patrick as born on 26 February 1930, two years before the wedding. That date is tree-supplied and unsourced, while the marriage is read from the register — so the likeliest reading is that Patrick's date is wrong. It cannot be tested: the Irish birth index is published only to 1926 under the hundred-year rule, so no birth of any of these ten children can be checked online. Both readings are kept.