Person in this family

Maurice Fitzgerald

This entry is about Maurice Fitzgerald (Born 1833; death not recorded). For other family members with the same first and family name, see Maurice Fitzgerald (about December 1870 – 1930), Maurice Fitzgerald (18 September 1937 – 24 May 2012), Maurice Fitzgerald (Dates not recorded).

Born 1833; death not recorded

Maurice Fitzgerald was the widowed farmer of Caheratrant, Ventry, County Kerry, and father of Patrick and Ellen with Joanna Griffin. He could not write his own name: he made his mark registering Patrick in 1867 and Ellen in 1870, and thirty-four years later the 1901 census still recorded him as unable to read, and the 1911 census as Irish-speaking only. That is four independent records across forty-four years saying the same thing, two of them in his own hand — such as it was. This Kerry household must not be merged with the Limerick/Cullane–Ballylanders Fitzgerald group.

Proved by a record

Maurice Fitzgerald was reportedly born in 1833 and was the father of a Caheratrant Fitzgerald family, but these claims remain unverified.

Birth: From our family tree - no record found yet

How is this person related?

Andrew John 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

It is recorded here, without supporting documentation, that Maurice Fitzgerald was born in 1833, married Joanna Griffin, and had five children: John, Bridget, Patrick, Ellen, and Johanna Fitzgerald. The children are associated in the tree with Caheratrant in the Dingle area.

No independent record in this archive confirms Maurice's birth year or marriage. A later record documents John Fitzgerald's parentage, but Maurice's own vital details remain unknown.

How we know this: The family grouping is family-tree and Maurice's own dates are not independently documented in this archive. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Family

Spouse

Children

See this family in the family tree

Work and occupation

  • Farmer

Where they lived

  • 1901: Caheratrant, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland
  • 1911: Caheratrant, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland

Use the place list first. The map below is optional.

Places listed on this page

  • Caheratrant, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland
  • Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland
  • Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
  • County Kerry, Ireland
  • Ireland
  • 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. 3 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

1833

From our family tree - no record found yet

Registers his son Patrick, and cannot sign

He walked in to the Dingle registrar a week after the birth and gave the particulars himself. The clerk wrote his name with a cross between the forename and surname and the words "his mark" above it. Six of the ten fathers certified on that page made a mark — but the four who signed were all farmers, and Maurice was a farmer too. [2]

Proved by a record

Registers his daughter Ellen, and cannot sign

The same hand-made cross, three years later, in the Ventry register. Nine of the ten informants on that page made a mark. [1]

Proved by a record

Caheratrant farmer and widower

Age 66, head of family, farmer, widower, born County Kerry, unable to read and Irish-speaking. [4]

Proved by a record

Retired farmer in son John’s household

Age 78, father of the head, retired farmer, widower, born County Kerry, unable to read and recorded Irish-only. [3]

Proved by a record

Retired, and still in the house

Aged 78 in the 1911 census of Caheratrant and entered as retired farmer, living with his son John, his daughter-in-law Bridget and their three children. He had been the farmer of record in 1901 at 66, when John — then forty — was still only 'farmer's son'.

Proved by a record

Original records

Civil marriage register, John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald, 12 Feb 1889, VentryTap to open a larger copy

Civil marriage register, John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald, 12 Feb 1889, Ventry

Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.

Open the larger document
Original source (irishgenealogy.ie)

What the records say

7 of 8 records transcribed.

Record exhibit

Civil birth registration — Ellen Fitzgerald, 18 July 1870, Caheratrant, Ventry

Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.

Proved by a record

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Eighteenth July 1870 | Caheratrant Ventry | Ellen | Female | Maurice Fitzgerald, Caheratrant | Johanna Fitzgerald formerly Griffin | Farmer | Maurice x Fitzgerald, his mark, Father, Caheratrant | Twenty-sixth July 1870 | Robert Hudson, Registrar

Record exhibit

Civil birth registration — Patrick Fitzgerald, 16 March 1867, Caheratrant, Ventry

Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.

Proved by a record

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Sixteenth March 1867 | Caheratrant Ventry | Patrick | Male | Maurice Fitzgerald, Caheratrant | Johanna Fitzgerald formerly Griffin | Farmer | Maurice x Fitzgerald, his mark, Father, Caheratrant | Twenty-third March 1867 | George Williams, Registrar

Record exhibit

1911 Ireland census — Fitzgerald household at Caheratrant

A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.

Proved by a record

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Mary Fitzgerald | age 8 | Daughter | Scholar | Co Kerry; John Fitzgerald | age 53 | Head | Farmer; Bridget Fitzgerald | age 50 | Wife; Maurice Fitzgerald | age 78 | Father | Retired Farmer | Widower | Co Kerry | Irish Only.

Record exhibit

1901 Ireland census — Maurice Fitzgerald household at Caheratrant

A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.

Proved by a record

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Maurice Fitzgerald | age 66 | Head of Family | Farmer | Widower | Co Kerry | Cannot read | Irish | house 7, Caheratrant.

Record exhibit

Ellen Fitzgerald birth, Ventry, 18 July 1870

This old record gives information about the person or family named here.

Partly proved

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881: Ellen Fitzgerald, born 18 July 1870, Ventry, County Kerry; father Maurice Fitzgerald, mother Johana Griffin.

Record exhibit

Patrick Fitzgerrald christening, Dingle, 16 March 1867

This old record gives information about the person or family named here.

Partly proved

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881: Patrick Fitzgerrald, born 16 March 1867, Dingle, Kerry; father Maurice Fitzgerrald, mother Johanna Griffin.

Record exhibit

Baptism of Johannes (John) Fitzgerald, Dingle, 7 January 1859

This is an entry in a church book, often naming a child, parents, and godparents.

Partly proved

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

The exact words from this record have not been typed out yet.

Record exhibit

Irish civil marriage register — John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald, 12 February 1889, Ferriter chapel, Ventry

Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.

Proved by a record

Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.

Marriage record for John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald | Party 1 Name: John Fitzgerald | Party 2 Name: Bridget Fitzgerald | Date of Event: 12/02/1889 | SR District/Reg Area: Dingle | Roman Catholic Chapel of Ventry, | Bridget Fitzgerald formerly Fitzgerald
Citation: Irish civil marriage register — John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald, 12 February 1889, Ferriter chapel, Ventry. Held by www.irishgenealogy.ie. View source (irishgenealogy.ie)

Historical context

These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.

What we still don't know

  • His exact birth date and place
  • His marriage and death details
  • Independent records confirming the full list of children
  • His eldest son's baptism at Dingle on 7 January 1859 is the earliest record of him and of his marriage. The marriage itself is still not found — see Joanna Griffin's page for what has changed about why.
  • [THE REGISTERS ARE SEARCHABLE AND STILL WILL NOT ANSWER THIS] With the Catholic parish registers now known to be indexed, both baptisms were looked for. The collection does cover Kerry — it produced the couple's son's Dingle baptism of January 1859. But Fitzgerald and Griffin are the two commonest names in that corner of Kerry, and the searches return a crowd: five plausible Maurice Fitzgeralds baptised 1828–1839, and half a dozen Joanna Griffins including one at Dingle on 18 February 1839 to James Griffin and Joanna Kennedy. Not one can be told from the others without a discriminator this archive does not have. This is the shape of the limit: the unlock works where a surname pair is distinctive in a named parish, as Condon and Ryan were at Ballindangan, and fails where the names are the local wallpaper. What would cut through it is the marriage, which would name both fathers.
  • [CONFLICT] The 1901 age 66 implies birth about 1834–35; the 1911 age 78 implies about 1832–33; the compiled profile says 1833. None has been overwritten.
  • [SEPARATION] No cited record links this Caheratrant/Ventry Maurice to the distinct Limerick/Cullane–Ballylanders Fitzgerald group. Shared name and surname are not kinship evidence.
  • His own baptism and parents are not in the indexed collections. He was born about 1833, before Kerry baptismal coverage becomes reliable in Ireland, Births and Baptisms; the Ventry register itself is the route.

References

  1. [1] Civil birth registration — Ellen Fitzgerald, 18 July 1870, Caheratrant, VentryBack to citation 1a Back to citation 1b
  2. [2] Civil birth registration — Patrick Fitzgerald, 16 March 1867, Caheratrant, VentryBack to citation 2a Back to citation 2b
  3. [3] 1911 Ireland census — Fitzgerald household at CaheratrantBack to citation 3a Back to citation 3b
  4. [4] 1901 Ireland census — Maurice Fitzgerald household at CaheratrantBack to citation 4a Back to citation 4b
  5. [5] Ellen Fitzgerald birth, Ventry, 18 July 1870Back to citation 5
  6. [6] Patrick Fitzgerrald christening, Dingle, 16 March 1867Back to citation 6
  7. [7] Baptism of Johannes (John) Fitzgerald, Dingle, 7 January 1859Back to citation 7
  8. [8] Irish civil marriage register — John Fitzgerald and Bridget Fitzgerald, 12 February 1889, Ferriter chapel, VentryBack to citation 8

See also