‘Genealogical Brick Walls’, Instead of Going Through or Over, I have had Luck Going Down the Road that Leads Around Them. The Road goes through Tummery, Tyrone, Ireland, to the Barrett Family.

Rt- A32 Tummery Road
Tummery, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland



My 2nd Great Grandfather Thomas McQuaid 1837-1905 and his wife Mary McQuaid 1835-1901, first appear in US records on the 1880 Census, in Monson Massachusetts. Besides their children, Rose Barrett, sister-in law, is also listed. That brought up the question, is Barrett my 2nd Great Grandmother’s maiden name or was it Rose’s married name? I found from Mary’s record of death, in Monson Ma., that her maiden name was Barrett. Her father was Denis Barrett and her mother was Margaret Gallagher. This was verified after I found Roses record of Marriage to Patrick  Mc Bride, in 1886, in Wales Ma. Knowing Rose’s married name lead me to her record of death, in 1907, in Wales, Ma., which also lists her father as Denis Barrett and her mother as Margaret Gallagher.


It was passed down, through the family, that the McQuaid’s came from Tyrone, Ireland. All of the Census data states they arrived in 1880. I have not found any source documents for their arrival.

I decided to try to find evidence of Thomas McQuaid and Mary Barrett in Ireland.

Baptism and birth records were recorded in different ways over the years in Ireland. Prior to 1864 the only place Catholic births or marriages were recorded was in church parish registers. Starting in 1864, civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was required by the government, and were organized by registration district and volume. The registration districts where the Poor Law Unions (PLU) , comprised of the Townlands within the PLU. Note that the Civil registration dates do not match the Church registration dates. Either this was a subtle show of discontent with the Civil law or the date of registration was used instead of the actual birth date.

With the 1864, Civil Registration Date, and the Census data showing that five of Thomas’s and Mary’s children were born between 1864 and 1975, I decided to look for records of their birth, in Ireland. Using https://www.familysearch.org/. I found the Baptism records for four of their children, including my Great Grandfather Thomas John McQuaid B1871. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F5W4-KDZ, Not in Tyrone, but in Irvinestown, Fermanagh, Ireland. Going to GOOGLE Maps, I found that Irvinestown is on the boarder of Tyrone. Further research indicated that, at the time, the Catholic Church Parish in Irvinestown covered Townlands in Tyrone. Some Townlands in Tyrone, were also in the Irvinestown ‘Poor Law Union’.

This is where I hit the ‘Brick Wall’ I cannot find further Genealogical evidence for my ‘Direct  Ancestors’, in Ireland.
This is where I tried a new tactic. I would ‘Go Around’ the Brick Wall, instead of through it. I decided to do searches on https://www.familysearch.org/, using only the last names of McQuaid, Barrett and Gallagher. My thought was that most Irish Catholic families of this time period, had big families. The possibility was high that I should find a sibling of Thomas McQuaid or Mary Barrett, that had children, during the same time frame that they did, 1864-1875, in Irvinestown.
I found the following records;
The Baptism and or Birth Records for;

• Bernard Barrett, Baptism date 12 Nov 1869, Irvinestown No 2, Ferm, Ireland, Father John Barrett, Mother Rose Gallagher, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FPYC-7FM
• Patrick Barrett, Baptism date 18 Dec 1870, Irvinestown No 1, Ferm, Ireland, Father John Barrett, Mother Rose Gallagher, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F5K1-VX1
• Daniel Barrett, Baptism date 20 Feb 1872, Irvinestown No 2, Ferm, Ireland, Father John Barrett, Mother Rose Gallagher, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FPT1-5M2

The Marriage Record for;

• John Barrett and Rose Gallagher, 26 Nov 1868, Dromore, Ireland, Grooms father Denis Barrett, Brides father Bernard Gallagher, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FGZ4-T5Y

Could John Barrett be Mary Barrett’s Brother? The name of their father is the same, ‘Denis Barrett’. John’s mother’s name is not listed. His wife’s name is Gallagher. Could it be that he married a girl with the same last name as his Mother? Mary’s Mother’s name was Gallagher. GOOGLE MAPS shows me that the ‘Perish’ of Dromore is in Tyrone and boarders Irvinestown.


I decide to start a separate Ancestry.com Tree for John and Rose. Entering in their three known children and their fathers. There is an existing Tree. The names, dates and places all match for the people on my tree. It also includes 15 children of John and Rose, their first 3 match my findings exactly. Their date and place of marriage match. It also states that all of their children were born in Tummery, Dromore, Tyrone, Ireland. And several of their children and descendants are listed as living around Boston Ma.  Tummery is a Townland in Tyrone that boarders Irvinstown. The Tummery Road goes from Irvinestown to the Town Of Dromore in Tyrone.

But, I do not have evidence linking John and Mary. I decide to open and look at every source document in the found Ancestry.com Tree. When I come to John and Rose’s daughter Rosanna B1877, I find that she arrived in Boston on 29 May 1899, SS Norwegian,Out of Galway, she is from Tummery, Ireland, Destination Ware Mass. to see her sister Maggie, passage paid by her sister. http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=8745&iid=MAT843_31-0777&fn=Rosanna&ln=Barrett&st=r&ssrc=&pid=470888 ,Ware Mass. is were my Great Grandfather and Grandfather lived and died. My Father and I were born there. But in 1899 the McQuaid’s were in Monson Mass. I do a search of the Ware 1900 Census and find two families of Barrett’s living next to each other. But that story is for another post. (Hint Mary and Rose’s father Denis had brothers) Here I’m looking for the link between John and Mary.

On to a search of Rosanna’s sister Maggie. That would be Margaret Barrett B1875, in Tummery, Ireland. There is no arrival info in the tree. I do the search and find a record. Arrival May 11, 1898, Boston, Massachusetts  on SS Scandinvian out of Londonderry on 29 April, 1898, destination Monson Mass to see Brother Bernard. Passage paid by Uncle Thomas McQuaid. http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=8745&iid=MAT843_27-0616&fn=Margaret&ln=Barrett&st=r&ssrc=&pid=384945 , Pay Dirt!!! The link between Mary Barrett and John Barrett.


This opens a whole new family line, with living descendants in the US and Ireland. I have contacted the Ancestry tree owner and he has graciously offered to put me in contact with cousins in Ireland.

I have added the Barrett Descendant Chart and Family Group Sheets to the Genealogy Reports Page .