This is a partial copy of a letter sent to a Joe Mahady from Fife and his brother David from Yorkshire, which was written on Tues.1st.Oct.1996, in response to a letter received from Joe,on or about the 24th.Sept.96'.
The reason for this copy being transferred to Computer format is to enable others of the Mahady Clan,particularly those in Scotland,to be forwarded,by E-mail, a printed copy of some of those death records of the Scottish Mahadys, which were gathered during mid-1995 at the Edinburgh Registrar Office.
Copy typed by Matt Mahady 1st.May 1998.
(To) Mr.Joe Mahady (To) Mr.David Mahady (From) Mr.Matt Mahady 10 South Street, 10 The Hawthorn, 508 Main Road, St. Andrews, Ricall, Wellington Point, Fife KY16 9QU. Nth.Yorkshire YO4 5NZ. Queensland 4160. Scotland England Australia
*?* (Most of the first page has been omitted due to being introductory only)
Dear Joe,
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David said that your phonetic pronunciation of the name was Ma-ha-dee,with this being the same as mine,although I have been showing it as having been Mah-hah-day when writing to others of the Clan, prior to actually talking to them personally on the phone. Yes, I have had a fair number of variations expressed by others, depending on where they live, with Ma-hay-day or Mardi plus a variety of spellings (ten or more) but with Mahady and then Mahedy being the most popular. However, my own personal research would seem to indicate that Mahady is by far the most prominent spelling with the Irish Gaelic being O Moitide and classified as being a rare name in Ireland.
Subject to confirmation, or otherwise, this would tend to give some credence to the possibility that our ancestors may only have arrived in Ireland during the late 1600s to early 1700s, as we are so few in number from that time till now, as in comparison with other Irish Clans, that unless we find our Clan was impotent, or limp-wristed, I have no reason for lesser numbers than one would expect. Yes, we do have a fair number of members of the Clan who have taken up the priesthood but surely not to the extent that would really affect the procreation of our Clan.
Further to the probabilities and/or theories as to the anomaly regarding the actual numbers of the members of our Clan, my own personal experience would seem to indicate that our family did,or should I say may have,arrived from some foreign shore. Now this is based on a certain amount of research, a little helping of theory, a certain amount of information provided, or gathered from an external source, but not proven nor in any way other than sheer supposition,or speculative thoughts,on what may, or may not be ???. How positively negative can one negatively be. Eh !
During my Merchant Navy travels, and in particular, during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956/57,my ship was tied up in the Canal area awaiting the removal of the sunken ships and free passage,or any form of movement,soon after the British and French had threatened to attack Egypt, I decided to go ashore for some reason and as we had armed guards, on and around the ship, seemingly for our own protection but with the veiled threat that we were not free to come and go as we pleased, we had to apply for a pass to enable each individual to leave the ship and go ashore. Every time someone was going ashore the Captain had to issue a new pass and also pay an exhorbitant fee for the hire of a boat to come alongside and take one or more of the ship's crew or off duty Officers from the ship to the wharf. Once ashore a second pass was required, with this being issued by an Egyptian official, and this enabled us to leave the wharf. Your ship pass had a date, plus your name and the name of ship.
My pass was taken by one of the soldiers on duty at the jetty, or landing,and I had to wait for him to return it together with my second shore pass, however, he came back slightly agitated and then asked me to accompany him to the office, which I then did.
I was a shade apprehensive, as we always tried to keep in a group whilst we were ashore, but as the soldier was more apologetic, than aggravated, I continued until we reached the office and met up with the official. He had my pass on the table in front of him and asked me my name, which when I told him, he then asked me if this was my family name and if not then why was I using such a name. I emphatically told him that this WAS my family name and the way I stated it phonetically was how I had always said it and that this was the name of my father, my grandfather and, as far as I was aware, had always been our name. - ??? Gee, how long does this story go on ???
Anyway, he picked up the phone and started yabbering away to someone else on the other end and then asked me what I wanted to do ashore to which I told him that as this was the first time I had been off the ship and ashore I just wanted to do a little bit of sightseeing. He then told me that this would all be arranged and whether I wanted any of my fellow Officers to accompany me and, when I told him that this had been my intention,he made a number of further calls in his local lingo and then asked me to follow him and to tell all of my fellow Officers to come and join us. Now,by this time,I began to wonder what was going on and asked him for his reason for doing this,to which he replied that it was out great respect for my family that he had arranged a guided tour of the area and when I questioned him as to the cost he told that he had phoned his superior, at his head office and he had authorised the tour at no cost to either me or my fellow Officers.
We had a fantastic time and on our return the same official was on hand to arrange for my safe return to the ship and told me to call on him should I wish to come ashore again before the Canal was cleared, however, our ship sailed just two days later. I still have not, to this day, found out the true reason for him having arranged things and as we could only converse in some form of sign language, with a smattering of English during our initial short meeting, I was unable to expand my enquiry further.
During the two days, prior to leaving, the soldiers on duty guarding our ship would pass by my porthole, which faced outwards on an upper deck, and just have a look to see if I was in my cabin,I think, and when I walked past them they showed some deference to my presence, which was really unusual,as prior to my shore visit they were either very aloof or had a semi-aggressive attitude to every person on the ship,as though were trespassing or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Real strange !!!
Since that time I have been approached by various persons who have enquired as to my name, my family origins and my religion. After having studied the contents of a number of Library books, especially those by John Bagot Glubb (known as Pasha Glubb), an expert and highly regarded by Arabs, with such books as The Life and Times of Muhammad etc.etc., and in The Great Abbassid Kalifs, there is mention of the great Khalif Mansoor, during the year of 758, sending his eldest son Muhammad (no,not the prophet,although he was related) but surnamed Al Mehedi - the one guided by God - to be Governor of Khurasan.
During my early schooling I read a book about the Sudan and about Gordon of Khartoum fighting the Mahdi, which we had always pronounced as being Maddee or Mardee,however,I now find that the phonetic pronunciation should actually be Mehedi,using the three syllables,and shown as Me-he-dee. They were great warriors,and I could be wrong,but I always thought they were associated with Lawrence of Arabia.
But then again, this could all be sheer fantasy, even though during a trip to the area by an Australian Mahedy family, and pronounced Mardi,they met up with a sheik who found out what their name was and he introduced them to a holy scribe, who is the person who recites the history of the tribes,and he told them that a family of that name had taken up the Catholic faith/religion and had been persecuted to such an extent that they had been forced to flee to the green land far away. With a little itty bitty, or should I say lotsa,lotsa, imagination one could put two and two together,and come up with five, and then perhapssss we come up with .....Ireland.
Could it be the case, that this Catholic Mehedi Family having travelled to this green land was the first of our Clan to settle in Ireland and there found religious sanctuary,but then again how can we tell if this be fact or fable without some form of proof or a record,in something like the Annals of the Four Masters or some such literature. I only provide this information,as the messenger, and apart from thinking that it does not really matter, unless we can prove any of the above to be fact, then I am afraid it must stay out there in Cyberspace until someone,more knowledgeable than I claim to be,finds the answer either in Ireland,or from wherever else we may have come from.
One further mention, which relates to the foregoing, was that about 45 years ago on one of my trips to Ireland, during the school holidays, I recollect being told that our name, "Mahady" was thought to have the meaning "The Chosen One" (or words to that effect) and perhaps we are closer to the truth than we ever thought possible. If,in some future research, by our own children,or even perhaps grandchildren, with the assistance of the latest and greatest form of technology available, we may find the answer to some of these questions.
My policy, throughout all of my research, has been to ensure that each and every piece of information gained,from whichever available source, is only acceptable,if and when, such information has been confirmed from some other source.
Now for the original intention for this letter,which was,Scottish records:-
The following information was gathered during an extremely short visit, in the mid1990s to the Edinburgh Registrar Office, together with corresponding details which were gathered in Ireland,during 1995. A further visit was made to Edinburgh in 1995 but due to the Office preparing to move to a new site, and with restricted access to both records and research space I was unable to obtain further details,other than a few items relating to my own immediate family.
These records are not as comprehensive as I would wish, nor as they could be, due to my not having been able able to gather the full listing at Edinburgh, nor visit any of the locations,named therein. However once again,my standard policy and procedure of copying down each and every form of the Mahady name, from whichever source, has paid dividends as I am now able to pass on the correlation of such names, from both Ireland and Scotland, to other families who may be directly related to some of those persons, within these records below:-
The first batch of names, dates and locations were copied from records relating to the International Genealogical Index and were found, during 1989, at the National Library, Brisbane - Genealogical Section.
Note:- The reference to DD1 or DD2 etc.indicates that in all probability each one of these individuals may be the same person as listed with the same code, as per the records from Edinburgh Registrar Office, on Page 5 of this letter.
------------------- DD2? Margaret Mahady married Peter Gaffney on 10th. Aug.1866 in Dundee ------------------------ DD1? Mary B.12th.Aug.1864 Angus,Dundee -Dau.-William Mahady & Rose Reilly Patrick B 6th.May 1857 at Angus,Dundee - Son - William Mahady & Rose Riley DD16 ? Peter B.26th.March 1862 Angus,Dundee - Son - William & Rose O'Reilly Rose B. 24th.Feb.1855 at Angus, Dundee. Dau.- William Mahady & Rose Reillie DD14? Thomas B. 9th. April 1859 Angus, Dundee - Son - William & Rose Riley ----------------------- William Mahedy married Jane McGuire on 4th. March 1862 at Angus Dundee. ------------------------- Note:- All names listed in these records are as exactly as recorded on the Register and provides an example as to how the variations occur in actual names as a direct result of different persons interpreting the name on the basis of phonetic spelling,as per previous research, and generally as a consequence of the provider, in most of the cases,not being able to read or write and not being able to correct mis-spelling. *************** Edinburgh Registrar Office Death Records - Copied by Matt Mahady during 1990 A cross - reference of some of the names has been attempted to show where it is a probability of a direct relationship occuring but due to not having complete records pertaining to each individual, or persons so indicated, then this exercise should be taken only as a guide until such times as more conclusive, or definitive, connection can be made by way of other documented records, or evidence thereof. Death details include:- Name, Age, Where Died, File No.and Entry No. plus a probable year of Birth. For reference purposes,the location and event are coded as follow:- Dundee Death = DD,Glasgow Death = GD,Edinburgh Death = ED (+ person number) --------------------- DD1 Mary Mahady,Age35,St Mary Dundee,(282/3)No.457-1901 born approx.1866 DD1 Mary (Mahady)Clark,Died 7/7/1901 Royal Infirmary. Witness was husband. (Husband Henry-Elevator attendant at Jute factory) See Birth on MahScotGen1. Father-William Mahady-Sacking Weaver. Mother-Rose(Reilly)Mahady.Alive 1901? -------------------------------- DD2 Margaret Mahady(65)St.Clement,Dundee,(282/3)No.93-1901,B.1836.Age50? DD2 Margaret (Mahady)Gaffney(65),(Husband Peter-Jute Repairer),Died1/3/1901. Address-9 Arthur St. Dundee. See Marriage on MahScotGen 1 + Irish Listings. Father-Michael Mahady-Farm Labourer. Mother-Bridget(Reilly)Mahady.Alive1901? -------------------------------- DD3 Margaret Mahady, Age 0, St.Andrew,Dundee. (282/3), No.454-1891 ------------------------------- DD4 Rose Mahady, Age 53, St.Andrew,Dundee.(282/4), No.889-1891. Born 1838 --------------------------- DD5 Thomas Mahady, Age 0,St.Andrew,Dundee. (282/4),No.197-1895. See DD13 ----------------------------- DD6 William Mahady, Age 0, St.Andrew,Dundee. (282/4), No.585-1896. ---------------------------- GD7 Catherine Mahady,Age32, Blackfriars,Glasgow.(644/8),No.109-1902.B.1870 ------------------------------ GD7 Catherine (Mahady)Halligan, Husband Joseph Halligan - Shoemaker. Address - 73 Commercial Rd.,Glasgow. Died Maternity Hospital, Age 32. Father - Andrew Mahedy - Farmer. Mother - Mary Healy. Both dead,as at 1902. --------------------------------- GD8 Roseann Mahadey, Age 74, Govan,Glasgow. (664/21), No. 890-1915. B.1841 ----------------------------- GD9 Bridget Mahady,Age 71, Govan,Glasgow. (646/2), No. 1264-1902. Born 1831 GD9 Bridget (Mahady)Foley, (Husband Charles),Died 23/10/1902, Age 71,in the Govan Poorhouse. Usual Address - 75 Blackburn St., Govan, Glasgow. Father - Michael - Labourer. Mother - Mary Golden Mahady. ----------------------------- ED10 Bridget A. Preston Mahaddie, St.Giles,Edinburgh.(685/4), No.280 -1893. --------------------------------- See also ED11 & 12 for possible relationship to the above,due to having the same File Number and Surnames. No birth date nor other details available. -------------------------------- ED11 Mary Margaret Mahaddie, St. Giles,Edinburgh.(685/4),280-1893. Born ??? -------------------------------- ED12 Mary Mahaddie, Age 39,St.Giles,Edinburgh.(685/4),No. 819-1901. B.1862 ED12 Mary (Preston)Mahaddie, Age 39, Husband John Preston - House Painter. Died 9/8/1901,Royal Infirmary. Address - 259 Cowgate Rd.,Edinburgh. Parents - Father Owen & Margaret (McCann) Preston. ------------------------------- Note:- Both of the following may have incorrect File numbers. However, when checking details,both (685/5? and 282/4?) should be considered. ------------------------------ D?D13 Thomas Mahady Age 0,St.Andrew,Dundee.(685/5),No.197-1895.See DD5. ------------------------------ D?D14 Thomas Mahady,Age 37,St Andrews, Dundee.(685/5),No.75-1899. B.1862. ---------------------------- ED15 John Mahaddy,Age 71,Newington,Edinburgh.(685/5),No.1326-1902.B.1831 ED15 John Mahaddy, Age 71. Died 12/12/1902, at 43 Gilmore Place, Edinburgh. Home 3 Greenside Road,Edinburgh.Witness (son)Thomas 17 Albert St.,Edinburgh. Parents Father-John Mahady-Labourer & Mother-Bridget (Roderi???) Mahady. ------------------------------ DD16 Peter Mahady, Age 43, St.Clements, Dundee. (685/5?), No.225-1905.B1862 ----------------------------- GD17 William Mahatty, Age 58, Newhills,Glasgow. (685/5), No.59-1908. Born1850. This name has been recorded in the event that some future relationship is found. *************** *******************
Due to Michael and Bridget (Reilly) Mahady being mentioned as the parents of one of the Scottish persons from Dundee,namely Margaret Gaffney,I have now decided to include below the basic birth details, from Ireland, of a family with corresponding details,as they are more than likely to be the same family.
However,even if they they not be the same family,and only sheer coincidence, then it is better that I do include such details for any future comparison,or follow-up ,due to such a possibility rather than not have such information to hand.
Birth details of the family members of a Michael & Bridget (Reilly) Mahady as were recorded during a visit to the Granard Library on 10th. April 1990, as per Granard Parochial House birth records.
Margaret born 1836,Page 63. Dennis born 1838,Pg.95. Michael born 1841,Pg.141. Mary born 1844,Page 185. More specific details, pertaining to each of these births, are available, if required.
By the way,when referring to these Scottish records it should be noted that some of the File Numbers seem to follow a pattern whereby the coding would seem to for some correlation between the surnames of the same spelling,which could indicate direct relationships between such individuals.This aspect has not been followed up,as at this time,however,this probability should always be considered during any future research of any of the names or locations recorded within this transmission.
Should any of the Clan Members perusing these records find any further proof of any such direct connection,between same coded individuals,then I would appreciate it if they would please forward such information,to Kathi,for our Mahady Web Site. This will hopefully enable others to complete some further phases of their research and perhaps,one day,provide the missing link that inter-connects the various sub-clans and in so doing provide a more concise record of our heritage,of not only who we are,but more importantly, ????? "Who We Were"
Once again,please be rest assured that my research is a genuine attempt to find the above and certainly not some form of confidence trick, (surely I could think of a cheaper way to con others,if I were so inclined), and also please forgive me for this long drawn out letter which was initially meant to be of short duration but has now almost tripled. Hopefully,the contents have provided some interesting information amd not degenerated into just boring and repetitive details of Family Research.
How strange life can be when you consider that I had to travel all this way,forty odd years ago to Australia,and to then decide about ten years ago that I would do some serious research on our Family Heritage and of course by now most of the older members of our individual families have passed on and as they were,obviously,the major source of such Family History, which we may never regain completely, then we must resort to either letter writing (this was pre-internet days) or some serious,and of course,time consuming research from each and every known source.
Well,finally,that's all folks so I will now draw to a close and wish each of you all of the best and hope to hear from you again,some time in the future.
Your Scottish,Irish,Australian connection,
Matt Mahady
********* ******* *******
Note:- The latter part of this letter has been curtailed somewhat and had contained some other matters which would not now be relevant. Reference had also been made of a Father Michael Mahady from York,England but since he has not contacted me then the subject matter therein,which related to his family, is of no consequence.
The family of the recipients of this letter originally lived in Dundee.
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Prepared and type-copied ready for transmission on 24th.February1999.
Matt Mahady