Although we believe we’ve cracked great-great-grandmother Mary Quigley’s origins – at least back to the 1760s – tracing her husband William’s ancestors is proving more problematical.
Mary was born in Barrowhouse, technically in Co. Laois but close to the border with Kildare and the town of Athy. No doubt it was as tiny a place in 1790 as it is today, but the Barrow branch of the Grand Canal, completed when Mary was 1, no doubt attracted strong young men seeking work. Perhaps her father worked on its construction after his marriage in 1787.
We can only surmise that when she was old enough, Mary took off for Dublin, following the example of most young women from poor households. She would later be followed by her younger sister Ellen, who married from the Downes house in Clontarf in 1827. Our guess is that Mary was working as a servant for a wealthy family in the parish of Booterstown at the time of her marriage in 1817. Alternatively, she may have married from the home of a family member. Was William working as a gardener for the same or a nearby family, or did he meet Mary through mutual friends or family?
A search for William’s background has proved less clear-cut. We know that he died on 20 April 1868 and that the age given by his daughter Eliza was 74, which may or may not be accurate. The 8 William Downes birth records found so far (with estimated age in 1868) are:
November 1817: William and Mary marry in Booterstown
June 1822: Barrowhouse, Athy, baptism of (assumed) 1st child Mary.
June 1824 to April 1840: known to reside in Clontarf, where the next 6 children are born.
April 1834: Daughter Sarah I dies, address given as Clontarf.
December 1840: Son Edward dies, address given as Killester.
Before December 1865: William, Mary, Eliza and Sarah II known to reside in Balla, Mayo. William is a gardener at Athavallie, the Lynch Blosse family estate.
July 1863: Son Thomas marries Jane Lacy in Kilquade, Wicklow, where he is working locally as a gardener.
December 1865: Mary Downes dies in Balla, aged 75.
October 1866: Marriage in Balla of Sarah II and birth of her son, William.
December 1867: Birth in Balla of Thomas and Jane’s 1st child, Jane. Eliza is godmother.
April 1868: William dies in Balla, age given as 74. Eliza registers his death.
November 1869: Birth in Balla of Thomas and Jane’s 2nd child, Eliza Junior.
1869: Sarah and husband James emigrate to Chicago.
March 1872: Thomas and Jane return to North Dublin, where their 3rd daughter, Catherine, is born in Cloghran.
Research continues but a multitude of questions remain unanswered. We don’t know whether North Dublin was William’s home territory – there were quite a few Downes in the Clontarf and Cloghran area in the first half of the 19th century. They may have been incomers, but query whether Thomas still had relations there when he returned to Cloghran in 1872, or whether he was working locally. Pettigrew & Oulton (1840) lists a Wm. Downes in Killester Road, Howth: Wm. Downes, vintner & provision dealer. Black Quarry is next to the Howth Road in Killester, and is where William & Mary's 2nd son Thomas was born in April 1840. Killester is the address given for Edward Downes, their 1st son who died young in December 1840. We know that between 1824.and 1840, the family was living in Seafield Avenue, Clontarf, a kilometre or sc from Black Quarry.