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I am trying to find out the origins of the O’Reilly family of Placentia. I suspect it was Ireland but I have no paper trail. I have gotten back with certainty to ~ 1820 when my GG grandfather William Reilly was born in Placentia. Some suggestion that John Reilly was his father but after that nothing. There was a Garret Reilly on the go in the late 1700s but unclear if he was the first and where he came from. I have been on this for years with no luck getting back any further. Any information would be appreciated – Thanks – Joe Brazil
Joe Brazil We had some new findings lately.
John O’Reilly died in 1863 born in 1780 in Placentia (per newspaper accounts). He had nine children. He married Mary Whelan who was born in 1790 in Placentia-died 1873. Their headstone was at Mount Carmel and a pic of it has been posted.
My grandfather mentioned that his mother Bridget O’Reilly 1860-1943 and a grandchild of John were double first cousins. He also said that Garrett O’Reilly, Margaret O’Reilly who married Humphrey Sullivan, and William O’Reilly who married Margaret Collins were siblings.It was William O’Reilly 1835-1911 who was the double first cousin. He died in Cambridge, Mass in 1911. My grandfather kept in touch with the family til his death in 1989.
William was a brother of Thomas the Magistrate and Mary who married Edward Roche-mother of the Archbishop.His father was John O’reilly lighthousekeeper at Cape St Mary’s. This John was son of John 1780-1863.
The parents of Garrett, Margaret O’Reilly Sullivan and William O’Reilly were William O’Reilly and Bridget Whelan. This information appeared on Margaret Sullivan’s death certificate in Mass. in 1909 that I found recently. It confirmed my grandfather’s story. Hope this helps.
Brenda Young Logy Bay
The children of John O’Reilly and Mary Whelan was provided by Leo O’Reilly from the US. The list is on Family tree maker but needs to be adjusted for the three children who belong to William and Bridget.
There is a lovely obit for William O’Reilly in the Cambridge library archives
Death of Captain O’Reilly.Captain William O’Reilly, for a long time a resident of East Cambridge, died on Tuesday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. E. J. Dorney, on Webster avenue, Somerville. He had been In poor health for the past seven months and for several weeks had been confined to his bed. Death was due to old age. Captain O’Reilly was a native of Plaeentia, Nawfoundland. He came to this country 14 years ago and the best part of this time he has been a resident of this city. He had a host of friends here, as well as in Somerville, which was entirely in keeping with his kindly nature. Indeed, he had a kind word for everyone. Tho deceased had been one of the leading fish merchants of Newfoundland, being known from one end of the country to the other. Many persons remember the prosecution of the Bait Act In Newfoundland. At that time Captain O’Reilly was one of the leaders in the fishing Industry there, and the Newfoundland government, In Its efforts to enforce the law and bar the French from gaining access to the shores, met with much At one time in particular, Captain O’Reilly, while out In his little fishing vessel, the “Hero,” was eepled by the revenue cutter “Fiona,” which bore down upon him. Equal to the emergency, Captain O’Reilly immediately made sail and In the face of a northeast gale outstripped the revenue cutter and was soon safely under the French flag. Those who knew him well always rejoiced In the fact that he was newer caught napping. Captain O’Reilly was a charter member In the Star of the Sea Society and kept his membership therein for 65 years. He ls survived by one son, Patrick O’Reilly, who is employed by the city of Cambridge, and three daughters, Mrs. E. J. Dorney and Mrs. W. Wlllworth, of Somerville, and Mrs Henry T. Green, of Cambridge. Funeral services took place on Thursday morning at St. Joseph’s Church, Union square, Somerville, and tho burial was In St. Paul’s Cemetery, Arlington.
Hi Brenda Young & Joe Brazil,
I may have more of a Boston connection for the O’Reilly’s from Placentia. My name is Kevin Sullivan and I am from Boston. I also have the same information in my research on John O’Reilly and Mary Whealan. Their daughter Mary Ann O’Reilly b. 1820 d. April 3, 1895 is my GG Grandmother. She married Richard Wyse possibly around 1835 in Placentia. They had 9 children. Their son Richard b. 1850 in Placentia is my G Grandfather. He married Johanna Doody around 1875 in Placentia. They had 6 children. Some stayed in Placentia but their daughter Bridget married Michael Dunphy and they immigrated to Boston. Bridget and Michael were my Grandparents. I also know that another son Benedict Wyse came to South Boston and possibly one sister came as well. Aloysious Wyse remained in Placentia. You can also find Richard & Mary Ann, Richard Jr, & Johanna, and Aloysious Wyse graves/burial info on the Mount Carmel cemetery in Roots Web – attaching link http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cannf/pbeast_cem_placentia_rc6.htm
So basically the Mary Ann O’Reilly lineage has been here in South Boston since roughly 1910 when the Wyse brother’s immigrated here. I was happy to see this post from you guys. I am very curious to see if I can find anymore information that will go back one more generation from John O’Reilly and Mary Whealan. I look forward to your comments.
Kevin SullivanI’m interested to see that there are other researchers working on the O’Reilly family.
My great-grandfather, Stephen O’Reilly, was born in North East Placentia (Dunville) in 1892. He immigrated to New York in 1914 and lived in the US for the rest of his life.
His parents were Patrick O’Reilly (born 1859 in Dunville) and Margaret Teresa Power (born 1863 in Dunville).
Patrick’s parents were Stephen O’Reilly (born in Placentia or Dunville) and Anne Walsh (born about 1827 in County Waterford, Ireland).
Stephen’s father was Patrick O’Reilly, who was born in Placentia in the late 1700s. We have no information on Patrick’s wife.
I’ve been trying to piece together all of the O’Reilly families. I’ve combed through an enormous amount of records, and I think I’ve figured out how almost all of the families most likely fit together. Some of my connections are based on the circumstantial evidence of Irish naming conventions where children were often named after their grandparents (the eldest son after the father’s father, the second son after the mother’s father, and the two eldest daughters after their grandmothers). There are a few O’Reilly families from nearby towns like Freshwater, Red Island, and Argentia who don’t seem to be related, but all of the O’Reillys from Great Placentia and Dunville seem to trace back to either Patrick, John, Garrett, or William O’Reilly, who all probably would have been born in the late 1700s in Placentia. I think that they may be brothers, possibly all sons of the Garret Reilly who was living in Placentia in 1786 and 1789. Patrick, John, and William all seem to have had large families, but I have only two children for Garrett so far.
Patrick would of course be my ancestor. Based on the naming conventions, I think his wife might have been named Mary. John would be the same one who married Mary Whelan (side note: I’ve never seen any documentation for Mary’s maiden name of Whelan…does anyone know where that came from?) William would be the same one who married Bridget Whelan. I have very little on Garrett, but based on the naming conventions his wife’s name might have been Sarah.
My current thinking is that William O’Reilly (married Sarah Bonia) is a son of William O’Reilly and Bridget Whelan and that William O’Reilly (married Margaret Collins) is a son of John O’Reilly & Mary Whelan.
The 1871 Lovell’s directory of Newfoundland lists 2 William Rieleys: “William, of William, fisherman” and “William, sen., fisherman.” Presumably one of these men is William who married Margaret Collins and the other is William who married Sarah Bonia. Terms like junior and senior in those days often did not imply father-son relationships. Since the William who married Margaret Collins was about 15 years older. he would probably be the William, Sr., leaving William who married Sarah Bonia as the son of William.
It has been claimed in many trees that William (married Sarah Bonia) is a son of John & Hannah O’Reilly (John being the keeper at the Cape St. Mary’s lighthouse). No baptism record exists for William. (I estimate he was born in the timespan 1832 to 1835, and baptism records don’t start until Jun 1835. However, William’s death record from Massachusetts gives his parents as “John O’Rielly & Sarah Bonnair.” This is almost certainly incorrect, as Sarah Bonnair was actually the name of his wife! It’s quite possible that the informant didn’t know the real names of William’s parents. (I’ve certainly seen similar errors many other times.) So John might not be the correct name of his father after all.
Additional evidence that William might not be a son of John and Hannah comes from John’s will (http://ngb.chebucto.org/Wills/oreilly-john-6-298.shtml), which lists only his son Thomas and does not even mention William.
The “double first cousins” claim is slightly puzzling to me. As far as I can tell, a son of William O’Reilly & Sarah Bonia was a “double first cousin” of a daughter of Garrett O’Reilly & Margaret Leonard. Double first cousins would have all four grandparents in common. Garrett and William could very well have been brothers, but Sarah and Margaret could not possibly have been sisters. Perhaps they were just first cousins, not double first cousins.
The obituary for Margaret Collins O’Reilly (found on the family tree maker site) says that she is the “aunt to the Collins’s and O’Reilly’s of Placentia, and to the businessmen of the latter name in St. John’s.” The O’Reilly businessmen of St. John’s can be none other than the sons of Patrick O’Reilly and Rose Larkin. Patrick O’Reilly is supposedly a son of John O’Reilly and Mary Whelan, so for Margaret to be an aunt to Patrick’s children, William would also have to be a son of John and Mary.
More circumstantial evidence comes from the naming conventions. The eldest son of William O’Reilly and Margaret Collins was John, and the eldest daughter was Mary. (The second son was Joseph, and the second daughter was Anne, which are the names of Margaret Collins’ parents). The naming conventions are less useful for the children of William and Sarah, but William did name his eldest daughter Bridget, which would seem to fit with his being a son of William O’Reilly and Bridget Whelan.
I’m interested to hear what you think of all this.
Kevin Roche
Baltimore, MD, USA
kroche.md@gmail.comHi,
My name is Lena Bennett and my Great Grandfather was Joseph O’Reilly. Born in Sandy Point, St. George’s on 1896 to Ambrose O’Reilly (1863-1922) and Kate Mealey (1859-1889). (http://www.ancestry.ca/genealogy/records/joseph-o-reilly_190895571)
Ambrose O’Reilly was son of William O’Reilly and Margaret Collins.
Joseph O’Reilly married Frances McIsaac (as far as I know her maiden name was McIsaac or could possibly of been Young). They lived in Bishop’s Falls, Newfoundland, and had 6 children. Sons Ambrose, James, Patrick, Michael, an daughters Francis and Lena.
Lena O’Reilly married Michael Wade and they were my grandparents.Joe Brazil please email me as I have some questions that you may know the answers to.
Thank you,
Lena
Hello everyone. I am Brenda Leahey Young-my mother was Marjorie Browne grandfather Bill Browne-his mother was Bridget O’Reilly born 1861 (a twin of Alice) and her parents were Garrett Riely and Margaret Leonard of St Leonard. My grandfather said that Garrett had two siblings that he was certain of -Margaret Riely married to Humphrey Sullivan (they eventually ended up in Cambridge) and William Riely married to Margaret Collins-he wrote it down-I will find.
I have discovered that there is two baptism records at Argentia (online) 1835 and 1837. Shows births of Margaret Riely to William Riely and Margaret Whelan. 1837 shows William Riely and Bridget Whelan.
I have the US death certificate for Margaret Riely Sullivan and her parents are listed as William Riely and Bridget Whelan.
They would make up double first cousins to John Riely (1780-1863) native of Placentia, and Mary Whelan (1790-1873) native of Placentia. Two brothers marrying two sisters. Perhaps once removed in the case of William Rielly who died in 1911. I correspond with this William Rielly family -they have the Bonia history as part of their tree. William Rielly and Sarah Bonia took care of Archbishop Roche when he was a child and his mother was ill. Mary Rielly died when he and his brother John were young. Edward Roche their father also died when they were young.I believe the Mary Whelan info came from Leo Rielly in the US-he provided the original tree for John and Mary Rielly, which has been supported by the nine families and baptism/ burial records.
I went through some earlier records and found the Reily name in Placentia about 1750-60. About 20 years before John Rielly’s birth. Both he and his wife were recorded in their obits as native to Placentia. The list of persons taking oaths in 1786 to Prince William included a number of Rielly and Whelan men (lots of spellings). The Collins family was much earlier around 1720.
Anite O’Keefe of Placentia has located some lists and documents. One was about 1820- a legal document that shows John Rielly in a bit of trouble for having too many catholics in his establishment? And in the 1830-40s there were documents listing many of the Placentia men sharing salvage rights? and money from the sale of oil. They are on Ancestry. I also have a land sale between William Rielly selling a property and business to Roger Sweetman in October 1830. He describes that land as being next to John Rielly’s land.
And I have done DNA tests and had strong matches with the Sandy Point family-several of their family and ours have matches.
I have met Sister Carmel Wyse who worked in Gander for many years- a brilliant woman. And her nephew Jim.
So it looks like we have another line-Patrick, William and John? And I agree there must be a Garret line.
Our relatives in Cambridge had a meeting with Archbishop Roche and had an account of how the Rielly family arrived in Placentia. It was vague but suggested four or five brothers arrived on their own boat.
They always seemed well educated by the work they were involved in.
Will post again with the land transaction. Give me a few days and I will find the document from Leo Rielly re John/Mary tree.
Take care
Brenda YoungOne more thing. I sorted out the John O’Reilly family from Argentia, because his dates are very similar to John Rielly of Placentia. They do not appear to be related (even through DNA matches)
Argentia John O’Reilly was born in Waterford about 1779 according to his obituary for 1854? in Gertie Crosbie accounts (that is now in Ancestry). His wife was also Mary. Both he and Mary had wills, listing the names of their children. You can follow the family through the Church records.Some of the Placentia family were listed in the Argentia Church records.
Randy Harnett and Derm? Griffin are related to the Argentia O’Reilly’s and are quite knowledgable about Placentia Bay families.
Kevin Roche,
Just checked and William O’Reilly and Margaret Collins were not listed at Sandy Point in 1871 so they may still have been in Placentia. I think William’s obituary gave a nice story about their reason for relocation. This couple lost two children to diptheria about 1859. I believe their names were John and William -there were alot of children buried in the Placentia cemetery around that time so I am cautious in using the naming patterns. My great grandmother Bridget and her twin Alice were born in 1861, but I am not sure if they were the first children, or if other children died in 1859.The Passing Beyond of a Good Woman
At St. George’s on October 30, there died Margaret relict of the late William O’Rielly, fortified by the last rites of Holy Mother Church, of which she was an exemplary member. Deceased was the only surviving daughter of Joseph Collins constable, of Placentia and Anne Brett. She was of her father’s side a descendent of the old English Collins family, and on her mother’s of the sturdy race who fought so valiantly at Vinegar Hill. It was a proverb at Placentia “offend Mrs. O’Rielly and you had her praise;” and if it is a characteristic of the lady to never cause pain or give offence, then Mrs.O’Rielly was a lady in the highest sense of the word. In her home at Placentia, Sunday evenings witnessed a gathering of the immediate neighbors, not to discuss politics or the shortcomings of the absent, but to aid in the spread of devotion to the Adorable Heart of Jesus. This gathering consisted of about twenty members, each of whom received a prayer and a pious practice for the week. Deceased was buried at Sandy Point and had an unusually large funeral, which was attended by a Guard of Honor from the Star of the Sea Society and sixteen pall bearers; and, blessed by the prayers of the Church, all that was mortal of Margaret O’Rielly was laid to rest, to await the summons, ” Arise ye dead, and come to judgement.”
~ from the Western Star which was then printed in Birchy Cove (later Curling) on the Humber Arm
There passed peacefully away on Friday, the 30th ult., Margaret, relict of the late Wm. O’Reilly, planter, of Placentia. Deceased came from one of the most respected and oldest families in the Ancient capital, and was known in her youth as “Handsome Margaret Collins”. She was aunt to the Collinses and O’Reillys of Placentia, and to the business men of the latter name in St. John’s. She was the mother of nine children. Three sons and two daughters survive her. Two sons and one daughter live at St. George’s, one son in St. John’s and one daughter in Boston. Two of her sons are in Government employ; one as inspector of revenue protection, the other, with whom she lived and from whose home she was buried, is Sub-Collector of Customs at St. George’s. Deceased was in her 81st year, and died a most holy death.
~ from The Evening Telegram, a St. John’s newspaper
Name: John Rielly
Gender: Male
Event Type: Death
Birth Date: Abt 1780
Death Date: 7 Jan 1863
Age at Death: 83
Reference Date 1: 27 Jan 1863
Source: Gazette (Royal Newfoundland Gazette) 1807-; Courier (Morning Courier & General Advertiser, Morning Courier) 1844-1878; Times and General Commercial Gazette 1832-1895; Public Ledger 1820-1882 (issues available begin 1827); Express (Newfoundland Express) 1851-1876
Notes: Deceased was a native of Great Placentia.THis is the account of John O’Reilly of Placentia-wife Mary Whelan. He had many obits. I had originally included twelve children in his family-incl Garrett, William and Margaret-as I had alot of correspondance indicating that my grandfather and John’s grandchildren were cousins. Just recently I confirmed that John had a brother William with a wife named Bridget Whelan.
In reply to Brenda Young re. children of William and Margaret buried in Mount Carmel in Placentia. From my notes: Headstone in Mt. Carmel, Placentia reads “Sacred to the Memory of John and Thomas sons of William and Margaret. John died May 4 1859 age 10 yrs This headstone is next to Garret and Margaret (Leonard) Reilly’s headstone. From Garret’s headstone it is determined he was born in 1816. Because of proximity of the headstone, he may be closely related.
Hello Brenda:
Just catching up on your posts and they are most illuminating. If I understand it right, John(b.1780) had a brother William. John and William married 2 sisters Mary and Bridget Whelan. William and Bridget had my William (b ~ 1820, d 1897 Sandy Point). Please let me know if I am interpreting it correctly. I have a bit more information that could be used to help as well. Last year my cousing Stephen O’Reilly had his DNA analysed using FamilyTree DNA. While the results were not as definitive as we would have liked they seemed to point to a possible Cork, Ireland connection.Hello again. In 1999 I had correspondence with Dr. John Mannion of MUN. He had studied habitation patterns in the Placentia area and had this to say about Garret Reilly “From John Mannion (!999) “Garret is the oldest Riely I have for Placentia. Born before 1750, with a house and garden in Little Placentia in 1772. By 1786 he is recorded with a large family. He took the oath of allegiance from Prince William Henry that year. He was also a substantial planter, dealing with Saunders and Sweetman (1789). ”
Also he provided the following “….the names of other adult males in the Greater placentia area who were born probably before 1800. They include Edward 8 in the family; James, 1810, 1820; Pat 1786, 1803, 1807, 1822-26, 1838; Thomas 1801, 1807, 1820, 1838; William 1788, 1815, 1820-24, 7 in family 1833.”Hello to Joe, Brenda, Kevin, and others in this thread,
My ancestors also came from Placentia – James Walsh married to Catherine Flin (Flynn) – parents of my great-great grandfather Patrick Walsh, born in Placentia in 1865. Recently I started to extract all Walsh and Flynn mentions in the Catholic baptismal records for Placentia and I see that they married O’Reillys at times throughout the years. There is also a possibility that there is some connection to Archbishop Roche as my grandmother talked about him, however, I don’t know in what context, whether she was saying we were related to him or whether she just knew him. I have been reading Dr. Mannion’s articles on the Placentia Historical Society site and so I was interested in Joe Brazil’s mention of him. I was wondering if anyone knows if Dr. Mannion has an online database anywhere that lists the names of Placentia people he came across in his research. Also, I have a website for my Newfoundland ancestry – Marshalls from Burin, St. Croix and Bishops and others from St. Mary’s and Walsh and Flynn from Placentia. If it can help anyone, they can see it at http://www.pbalkcom.com/marshall-o If anyone has done any Walsh or Flynn research from the area, I would be greatly interested.
Thanks,
Pat BalkcomHello Patricia. I am not aware of Dr. Mannion’s database being on line but I will keep an eye out. As for Walshes, I only have a few records which I expect you already are aware of but just in case here they are. There is a record of a jury trial on Sept 12, 1807 of a ‘Walsh vs. Green’. Garret Reily was a juror. Ann Walsh and Stephen Rily had a Patrick Rily in 1859. Johannah Walsh and Thomas Rily had a Patrick Joseph Rily in 1859.
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