Edmond and Catherine Dwyer

The available records show with certainty that our family's Irish ancestors were John Dwyer and Johanna Dee, who married in Ireland in 1833 and later emigrated to the United States in 1851.

The identity of John Dwyer's parents is uncertain but they are believed to be Edmond Dwyer and Catherine Bradshaw.

Parish records for the Solohead & Oola Roman Catholic parish show that Edmond Dwyer and Catherine Bradshaw had children named Ann, Margaret and Michael from 1809 to 1815. The records do not include a son named John but he could have been born before 1809, a period when church records of births do not exist.

It is likely that Edmond and Catherine are the parents of John Dwyer based on the following circumstantial evidence:

1. According to the parish birth records, they lived in Balloughbue, which was a small subdivision of the Solloghodbeg townland -- and John Dwyer and Johanna Dee and their family later lived in the same place.

2. According to land records, Edmond farmed six Irish acres at Balloughbue in 1826. The size of Edmond's farm equates approximately to that of John Dwyer based on land records from the late 1840s.

3. According to Irish naming patterns, it was traditional to name the first born son after the father's father, while the eldest daughter was named after her mother's mother, or sometimes after the paternal grandmother. This naming pattern was not strictly adhered to but was common. Although there are no surviving parish records of a son Edmond or daughter Catherine born to John Dwyer and Johanna Dee, the ship's manifest for the "Oregon" shows that John Dwyer traveled to the United States in 1851 with children including "Catherine" aged 16 and "Edward" aged 13. These names match those of Edmond and Catherine Dwyer who lived in Balloughbue ("Edmond" and "Edward" were interchangeable in 19th century Irish records).

This is, of course, not conclusive evidence, and it is not possible to say with certainty who the parents of John Dwyer were.

Assuming that Edmond and Catherine were John's parents, then he apparently had several siblings: parish records show that Edmond Dwyer and Catherine Bradshaw had children Ann, Margaret and Michael from 1809 to 1815 (see the excerpted record of Ann's birth, above). (John was probably born prior to 1809, when parish records are unavailable.)

There is unfortunately no record of possible parentage for Johanna Dee. Maurice Dee was a neighbor of Edmond’s and may have been Johanna’s father or uncle. [1]

Next chapter: John Dwyer and Johanna Dee in Ireland.

Dwyer Family

Edmond and Catherine Dwyer