The Lineage Of Martin Bolger And Bridget Jordan

Purpose    

then all this work wasn't wasted. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rory O'Hare Bolger, for his book, "A Thousand Kin: The Bolgers Of Shamrock", it was the catalyst that started this whole search. Much of the data relating to his side of the family is from Rory's book.

A Little Background

Renfrew, Ontario. Martin was born c.1809, and married Bridget, born c.1811, prior to 1832. Together they had five children.
   After Bridget's death in 1861, he married Ellen Madigan nee Mulveyhill(Mulvihill?) in 1869. They were married in St. James Catholic Church, Eganville, Ontario. (Thanks to Nora Elliot for this information) According to Martin and Ellen Madigan's marriage certificate, Martin's parents were William Bulger and Ellen (Eleanor) Murphy.
   Martin and his brother Philip, (who died in Ireland) both named their first born sons William. "Big William", who was Martin's son and "William the younger", who was Philip's. The practice at the time was to name your first born son after his paternal grandfather.
   William the Younger emigrated to Canada with his widowed mother sometime after the death of his father Philip in the Autumn of 1843, and settled in Shamrock with his Uncle Martin.
   There is also speculation that Martin had two sisters. Elizabeth, born c. 1816, died 16/May/1880, who married James Murphy and Jane, who according to the 1851 Census of Canada, at age 35, lived with Martin and Bridget in Shamrock. There is no mention of Jane in the 1861 Census.
    There is also mention in other records of a Joanna Bolger, born c. 1806 and
d. 16/Apr/1886. It is possible that she is also a sister of Martin.
   The same Census of 1861 lists a Julie Bolger, age 30, b. Ireland, living with James and Elizabeth (Bolger) Murphy. It is unlikely given her age, that she is a sister to Martin. Her exact relationship to any of the Bolgers living in Shamrock is unknown. In the 1881 census, there is a Julia Bolger, age 70, still living in Shamrock. If it is Julie, she aged rather quickly.
   The 1851 Census shows Martin as being 42 years old and Bridget being 40. The 1861 Census has Martin as 55 and Bridget as 60. While Martin aged 13 years, Bridget aged 20. Their children aged only 7 to 9 years over the 10 year span of the census.

you are reading. The name Bolger is closely associated with south-east Leinster and is rarely found elsewhere. It is that of a sept which supplied many physicians to the chiefs in that area. There are many references to the name in the 15th and 16th centuries, of tenants, jurors and clergy as well as medical men, mainly in Co. Kilkenny; in the 1659 census it is recorded as a principal Irish name in three baronies of Co. Kilkenny, two of Co. Carlow and two of Co. Wexford. In the 17th century they are more prominent in Co. Wexford than elsewhere, as is the case today. The Family was well represented in James II's Irish army and, after the Jacobite defeat, in the Irish Brigade in France.

A Little More Background

as it was the county seat at that time and all applications for land grants had to be made there. Source:"A Thousand Kin: The Bolgers Of Shamrock"
   I have visited the area in which the homestead is situated, and while it is a very picturesque landscape, the land is tree covered, hilly and with many outcroppings of rock. It must have been a very daunting task to begin to farm such land. I do not know the reasons why Martin left Ireland, but with most immigrants from Ireland, the reasons were poverty, persecution, or just a chance for a better life.
   Martin and Bridget's children: (Click on the name to be taken to their page)

Some Links For Information