Mary Whelan1

#739, (say 1785 - )
RelationshipGreat-grandmother of Estelle Rose Roche
Father*____ Whelan2 (s 1760 - )
Mother*____ _____2 (s 1760 - )

Family

Michael Roche b. s 1781
Children 1.Mary Roche9 (c 1804 - 1856)
 2.Janet Roche10,11 (s 1808 - )
 3.William Roche+1 (c 1810 - c 1866)
 4.Thomas1 Roche12 (1811 - b 1823)
 5.Margaret Roche+13 (1813 - )
 6.John1 Roche14 (1815 - b 1819)
 7.Bridget Roche15 (1817 - 1890)
 8.John Roche+16 (1819 - )
 9.Ellen Roche+17 (c 1820 - )
 10.Thomas Roche18 (1823 - )
 11.Michael Roche19 (1826 - )
The Parish Register of Cappoquin begins in 1807 for marriages and in 1810 for baptisms. Thomas1 Roche's baptism in 1811 is the first of the children's recorded.2 
Mary Whelan was also known as Phelan "The name Whalen/Whelan must be dealt with in conjunction with Phelan, as they are anglicized variants of the same Gaelic surname, viz.Ó Faoláin." See citations.3,4 
Her married name was Roche.5 
Birth*say 1785She was born say 1785 at IrelandG.2 
Marriage*say 1803She married Michael Roche say 1803 at IrelandG.6 
1825She and Michael Roche appeared on the census of 1825 at Camphire, Lismore and Mocollop Par., Co. Waterford, IrelandG.7 
Completing the family of Michael Roche and Mary Whelan:
1. They are known to have lived in Co. Waterford and to be the parents of William, Bridget, John and Ellen (from the Wm. Whelan Papers and St. Louis Cathedral registers).
2. The baptism records for Co. Waterford, parish of Cappoquin, begin in April 1810. In these are found these children of Michael Roache and Mary Phelan: Thomas (1811), Margaret (1813), John (1815), Bridget (1818), John (1819) and Thomas (1823). A baptism record for Ellen has not been found, and Mary and William were born before the Register begins. The first Thomas and John can be presumed to have died young. The ages of Bridget and John, who were in St. Louis with William, match approximately.
3. Mary Roache, the oldest known child (and born before the first Register entry), married, in Cappoquin Parish in 1829, Patrick Knight. The St. Louis records record her death in 1856, as the wife of Patrick Knight. No other St. Louis record has been found for either Mary or Patrick, and there is no direct linkage to her brother William in St. Louis. In the 1850 census, however, in William's household, is Mary Knight, age 18 and born in Ireland. The Cappoquin Register has no records of any children of Patrick Knight and Mary Roche. But this is no coincidence, and it is probable that the young Mary Knight is in fact the niece of William. As her mother died of "general dibility" she may have been institutionalized earlier.
4. Thomas, the youngest, baptized in Cappoquin in 1823, may be the same as Thomas who appears in the household of John Roach (brother of William), recorded as age 25, born in Ireland. John had married in St. Louis in 1843.
5. The Irish records have Phelan, the Missouri records Whelan, but as another note explains, the names may be, if not interchangeable, then elective (as are Roach, Roche and Roache). The "Phelan" documents are all Church documents, and entered in Latin.
6. Still, as noted, Ellen is "unreconciled." She is named as the daughter of Michael and Mary in the St.Louis church marriage register (1839). The age given in the 1850 and 1860 census records would give a birth in 1819 or 1820. But in the 1870 census, she is recorded as age 62, giving a birth year about 1808 (before the Cappoquin Register commences). And as Margaret, born in 1813, has not been found in later records, there is still this avenue to be researched.2,8 
ChartsAncestors of Estelle Roche

Citations

  1. [S56] Gabriel Drouin, compiler, Drouin Collection: Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records (Montreal: Institut Généalogique Drouin, after 1940), St-Louis, Mariages 1828-1840, St. Louis Old Cathedral, 7 Aug 1838, img. 53/96. [margin] Wm Roche & M Ann Casey. [entry] "William Roche son of Michael and of Mary Roche, and Mary Ann Casey daughter of Andrew and of Ellen Casey" joined in matrimony "before several witnesses" [not named], by Jos. A. Lutz, priest.. Online Ancestry.com.
  2. [S520] VWH.
  3. [S1470] Whalen Family Online, www.whalen-family.org, Whalen Family History, citing www.goireland.com (not an active site).
    The name Whalen/Whelan must be dealt with in conjunction with Phelan, as they are anglicized variants of the same Gaelic surname, viz. Ó Faoláin, which itself has variant forms such as Ó Faoileáin and Ó hAoláin.
    Whelan is more numerous than Phelan; it alone stands seventy-ninth in the list of the hundred commonest in Ireland; with Phelan added the name takes forty-fourth place, with an estimated population of about twelve thousand persons.
    In the last year (1960's) for which such statistics are available 214 births were registered for Whelan and 93 for Phelan. Eighty per cent of the latter belonged to Counties Waterford, Kilkenny and adjacent areas; while Whelans exteneded further into Wexford and Carlow.
  4. [S1471] Araltas Internet Heraldry Store, online www.araltas.com, " Ó Faoláin is the name of an important Irish sept prominent in the southeast of the country. The name is derived from the gaelic word "faol" meaning a wolf, "faoláin" being a diminutive form (little wolf). The original Faoláin from whom the surname is derived, was nineteenth in descent from Fiacha Suidhe, a younger brother of Conn of the Hundred Battles, who reigned as High King for thirty five years until his death in A.D. 157. This makes the O Faoláin sept of the same origin as Commisky and Ó Bric. It is said that the Irish names Ó Faoileáin and Ó hAoileáin (Hyland) are simple variant forms of the same name that arose as members of the sept spread beyond the original territory. Many Irish names have been anglicised into a wide variety of forms and this is true of Ó Faoláin. The earliest anglicised forms were Felan and Faelan, with many similar variants. This evolved into Phelan mainly in Waterford, Kilkenny and adjacent areas and Whelan, also in these counties, but spreading into Wexford and Carlow. Whelan is the most prevalent form in modern times."
  5. [S56] Gabriel Drouin, Drouin U.S. 1695-1954, marr record of Wm Roche and Mary Ann Casey.
  6. [S56] Gabriel Drouin, Drouin U.S. 1695-1954, marr. record of Wm Roche and Mary Ann Casey.
  7. [S1680] Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837, image viewed online http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie and FamilySearch.com, Box No. 121, Lismore and Mocollop Par., Cos. Waterford and Cork. imgs. 40 and 74 (amended)/129. Camphire Townlands. Michael Roche, 52 acres, value £1 per acre, annual tithing £3 6s. Note: record is certified 27 Nov 1825.
    Others in Camphire: Byrne, Callahan, Carty, Condon, Deale, Hearn, Hickey, Hogan, Keefe, Keily, Lamstand, Leary, Lyons, Mahony, Meligan, Mulcahy, Murphy, Noonan, Nugent, O'Daniel, Power, Stack, Usher.
  8. [S1253]  William Whelan Papers, correspondence and documents, McAllister Collection, Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Collection summary, p. 4, Series I (1811–1841): "letters from William Roche, a dry goods merchant in Missouri. The first...describes Roche's trip from Philadelphia to St. Louis as well as the state of the markets there....The next was written to Roche's parents in County Waterford and explained where he had established himself 'after all my perambulation.' The letter is also signed by his siblings John, Bridget, and Ellen, who were living and working with him..."
  9. [S56] Gabriel Drouin, Drouin U.S. 1695-1954, St Louis Old Cathedral Burials 1853-1870, 1856:356: Mary Night (Roche) consort of Patrick Night aged 52 years, interred 14 Jan 1856.
  10. [S1464] Cappoquin Parish Marriage Register 1804-1871, Waterford and Lismore Diocese, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, Ireland (National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland), p. 60, microfilm 02467/05, img. 35. "Jacobus Knight et Janetum Roche." James Knight and Janet Roche, marr. 14 Feb 1832, by [Rev.] Coram; witn. Patrick Phelan and Joanna Phelan; stipend 6s 5p, online http://registers.nli.ie
  11. [S1381] William Whelan Papers, correspondence, Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, William Roche, St. Louis, to his parents in Ireland, 12 Aug 1837. Page 2, "To Mr. Knight and James also, myself and John have been considering for some time what to say but we have come to the conclusion to advise you and father & mother to content yourself and fully make up your minds to stay at home." Page 3, relating that his brother John says "To Mr. P. Knight and Mr. J. Knight and families, Mr. Patrick Whelan, Mr. Keily, Mr. Shea, Mr. John Whelan & also Thomas, all the Whelans." It appears that both are speaking to their immediate family, and to their sisters through their brothers-in-law (Patrick and Mary Knight would, in fact, later migrate to St. Louis). Later William sends "all our sincere respects, dear Brother and Sisters etc. and you our Dear Parents." Note, extant baptism records begin in 1810.
  12. [S1472] Cappoquin Parish Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, Ireland (National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland), p. 15, img. 11/295. [Latin] Thomas, son of Michaelis Roache and Mariai Phelan, bapt. 17 Nov 1811; sponsors Jacobo [James] Colebert and Marico Doody, online http://registers.nli.ie
  13. [S1472] Cappoquin Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese: p. 25, img. 16/295. [Latin] Margarita, dau. of Michaelis Roache and Mariai Phelan, bapt. 17 Mar 1813; sponsors Patritio Phelan and Mariai Dunne; stipend 3s 4p.
  14. [S1472] Cappoquin Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese: p. 40, img. 23/295. [Latin] Joanne??, of Michaelis Roache and Mariai Phelan, bapt. 27 Jun 1815; sponsors Michaele Whelan and Catherina Carthy; stipend 3s 4p.
  15. [S65] Archdiocese St. Louis Cemetery Records, online https://cemeteries.archstl.org/Burial-Search, Bridget Whalen, age 72, is buried in the Roche Family lot (Sec 002, Lot 011) in Calvary Cemetery, one of 11 interments in the lot. See also marriage record.
  16. [S1472] Cappoquin Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese: p. 70, img. 38/295. [Latin] Joanne??, of Michaelis Roache and Mariai Phelan, bapt. 25 Jun 1819, by E. Power; sponsors Joanne [pres. John] Phelan and Catherina Power; stipend 3s 6p.
  17. [S56] Gabriel Drouin, Drouin U.S. 1695-1954, St Louis Old Cathedral Marriages 1828-1840 [img 70/96 Ancestry]: Jeremiah Murphy, son of Patrick and of Nancy Murphy, Ellen Roche, dau. of Michael and of Mary Roche; [signed] Francis B. Garrison; no witnesses named.
  18. [S1472] Cappoquin Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese: p. 109, img. 58/295. 19 Jan 1823, [in Latin] Thomasen, of Michaelis Roache and Mariai Phelan "de Moonerire." bapt. 19 Jan 1823 by P. Sexton; sponsors Thomas Austin and Maria Austin; stipend 2s 6p.
  19. [S1472] Cappoquin Baptism Register 1810-1870, Waterford and Lismore Diocese: p. 143. Michael Roache [sic], son of Michael Roche and Mary Whalen, bapt. 26 Jan 1826 by J Walsh; sponsors William Finehanposs. and Mary Whelan.