One of my favorite researchers contacted me the other day. He's sending me information about our Maxwell family. The fact that he is also a McLaughlin makes it even more interesting. I definitely need to write a post about the Maxwell-McLaughlin marriages since there were at least two.
At any rate, he advised that the Mahardy's may not be relatives of the McLaughlin's after all. Another one of my favorite researchers has indicated that they may in fact be related. There is no doubt that the Mahardy's and McLaughlin's knew each other and were close friends who probably did treat each other like family. I have information indicating that the Mahardy's (or Mahady in Ireland) were probably neighbors in County Longford. I have McLaughlin's living in and around Ringowney, Parish of Edgeworthstown, Longford, Ireland. I have found the Mahardy's there too.
I have, in fact, a researcher in Ireland who went to try and find my McLaughlin's in Ringowney. She found the marriage of Michael Mahardy to Bridget McLaughlin. The snag on the tree is that Bridget may have been married before. She may have been married to Patrick and Michael McLaughlin's brother, making her a McLaughlin by her first marriage. Since we don't know who all of the family member's were for the first generation of the descendants of Thomas McLaughlin, it is hard to know for sure.
My Irish researcher has found that the historical society for Edgeworthstown has disbanded and is no longer. How sad is that? I know that maintaining a historical society takes time, volunteers, sometimes a little bit of money, and a desire to forge ahead. I suppose that not everyone is a historian, genealogist, researcher, librarian or even a record keeper.
Again the more I research, the more questions I come across. Hat's off to my McLaughlin researchers, one of which is a Maxwell too. They have spent hours researching history, our family tree, records, and maintain the best records they can with their knowledge. Questioning things is a good thing. It gets us all to look a little harder at what we've found. I am prepared to look a little harder if the information can present itself. Someone must know something about the McLaughlin's of Ringowney, Parish of Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland, circa 1780-1820. They did not all get up and leave Ireland, I'm sure.
Actually, I am sure. The McLaughlin name is still prevalent in the Edgeworthstown area. My Irish researcher, who is a Flanagan and a Duffy, told me so. Hat's off to her, too!
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