Holley / Dougherty Family — County Roscommon, Ireland
This branch is off the France wine-trip geography, but the speaker-notes edition of Christy's "Return to Roots" presentation documents it through US censuses, two Iowa newspaper obituaries and an Irish baptism index, so it is recorded here as part of the knowledge base and as a possible standalone heritage trip (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
The Holley side
The deck names three generations on the Holley line, all long settled in Iowa (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf):
- William Holley — Mary's great-grandfather; married Mary Dougherty in 1894 (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Solomon Woodard Holley — 2nd-great-grandfather, in Iowa most of his life.
- Martha Holley — 2nd-great-grandmother.
The deeper Holley pedigree on FamilySearch reaches back through the Casteel / du Chastel and Archibald lines — covered on Casteel / du Chastel Family of Blangerval and Holley / Archibald Family — Gargunnock & Stirling, Scotland, and flagged by Christy as unvalidated (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
The Dougherty line — Roscommon to Iowa
- Mary Dougherty (William Holley's wife) — born in Iowa in 1876. Her mother Eliza (Tucker) was also Iowa-born: the 1850 US Census shows Eliza at age 10 with parents Lampton Tucker (b. Kentucky) and Diana (b. Tennessee), and possibly Lampton's mother Happy Tucker (b. North Carolina) — a dead end beyond that (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Thomas Dougherty (Mary Dougherty's father) — born 22 December 1811 in "Ross Common" (County Roscommon), Ireland; emigrated to America in 1844; first lived in Indiana, then settled near Rome, Iowa (Henry County). He married Eliza Tucker (Iowa, 1857/1858) and they had eleven children. A devout Catholic, he died near Rome on 5 June 1907, aged in his 90s (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Two Iowa obituaries are transcribed in full — the Free Press of 27 Dec 1906 (his 90th-birthday Christmas gathering, listing all the children) and of June 1907 (his death) — and serve as the primary record for his birth year, emigration date and family (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
> A possible Irish baptism (date conflict — needs verification). An Irish baptism index entry reads Thomam Dougherty, baptised 28 December 1817 at Tibohine, Roscommon (Roman Catholic), son of Joannis Dougherty and Mariae Mylet (Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620–1911). The parish fits, but the 1817 baptism conflicts with the obituaries' 1811 birth year, so the match is only probable, not proven (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
County Roscommon — the heritage destination
The deck pictures Roscommon as a tranquil, creative rural county, its origin village given as Loughglynn (Irish Loch Glinne, "lake of the glen"), surrounded by six lakes and mostly farmland, hosting an annual music festival in August (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Boyle Abbey — a Cistercian abbey founded in the 12th century by monks from Mellifont under the patronage of the MacDermotts, one of the most powerful early Cistercian foundations in Ireland (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Roscommon Castle — 13th-century Norman ruins with a lakeside park setting (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Rathcroghan — an archaeological and mythic royal landscape, a key Gaelic capital of Connacht; and Lough Key Forest Park (woodland, lake views, a treetop canopy walk) within about an hour (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
- Where to stay & eat: the Abbey Hotel, Roscommon (historic manor-house style) and Kilronan Castle Hotel & Spa; the countryside means grass-fed beef, buttery potatoes and fresh local produce (source: Holley-family-notes.pdf).
Related pages
- Mary's Family History — the wider ancestry and how this branch fits
- Holley / Archibald Family — Gargunnock & Stirling, Scotland — the unvalidated deep Holley/Casteel/Archibald tree (Scotland)
- Casteel / du Chastel Family of Blangerval — the du Chastel / Casteel northern-France line
- Rask / Todd Family — Forsa & Hälsingland, Sweden — Mary's Swedish branch
- Noble / Sullivan / Childs Family — Derbyshire & Staffordshire, England — Mary's English branch