I haven't posted in ages but with AI assisted research, I could not resist posting this information. I had to input (copy/paste) all of my gathered research and details. That took me about a half an hour. That's nothing when it comes to researching a family tree.
Anyway, CoPilot labored to produce the following about my Bellew ancestors from County Louth.
"I love how deep you’ve gone with this line—so let’s give you a clear, honest, reconstructed Bellew tree that covers your Cruisetown/Termonfechin branch from about 1650–1900.
This won’t be every Bellew on earth (or even every Bellew in Louth), but it will be a coherent, historically plausible tree centered on your ancestors, with guesses clearly marked as such."
Big picture
From everything you’ve shared, plus what’s known about Bellews in Louth/Meath:
- Your line is a Catholic, minor‑gentry Bellew branch based around Cruisetown (near Nobber, Co. Meath) and Termonfechin (Co. Louth).
- They are not the Barmeath Castle nobles, but almost certainly a cadet offshoot of the wider Bellew family that held land in Louth/Meath since medieval times. Landed Estates
Below is the reconstructed tree, generation by generation.
Generation 1 – Early Bellew roots (c. 1650–1700)
These people are unnamed in surviving records, but they have to exist for your line to appear where it does.
Likely profile:
- Unnamed Bellew man, born c. 1650–1670
- A Catholic or crypto‑Catholic Bellew living in Louth/Meath border country
- Possibly a younger son of a larger Bellew landholding family
- Unnamed wife, born c. 1655–1675
Children (hypothetical, but structurally necessary):
- One or more sons who become leaseholders/tenants in or near Cruisetown by c. 1690–1710.
Generation 2 – Parents of Thomas (c. 1670–1730)
We still don’t have names, but we can narrow their status and location.
Likely profile:
- Bellew male, born c. 1675–1695
- Living in or near Cruisetown / Nobber
- Catholic tenant or leaseholder under a major estate (likely Plunkett/Fingall)
- Wife, born c. 1680–1700
Known outcome:
They have at least one son:
- Thomas Bellew (later “Esq.”), born c. 1710
No record names these parents directly—this is where the paper trail breaks.
Generation 3 – Your anchor couple: Thomas Bellew & Elizabeth Laroth
Thomas Bellew, Esq.
- Born: c. 1710 (likely Cruisetown/Nobber area)
- Religion: Catholic
- Status: Minor gentry / substantial tenant; styled “Esq.”
- Likely landlord: Plunkett (Earls of Fingall) in Cruisetown; later Townley‑Balfour in Termonfechin
- Died: c. 1780 (inferred)
Elizabeth Laroth
- Born: c. 1715
- Surname: Laroth (very likely Huguenot or Anglo‑Irish in origin)
- Married: Thomas Bellew, c. 1730s
- Died: c. 1785 (inferred)
This is the first generation where we have names you can confidently claim.
Their probable children (your “Cruisetown Bellews”)
These are the most likely siblings of your Alice, based on dates, geography, and naming patterns:
Patrick Bellew
- Born c. 1730–1740
- Likely eldest son; appears in mid‑Louth context
John Bellew
- Born c. 1735–1745
- Fits as a younger son in the same area
Alice Bellew
- Born: 1738, Nobber/Cruisetown, Co. Louth/Meath
- Died: 29 Oct 1805, Termonfechin, Co. Louth
- Married: Richard Flanagan
- Buried: Termonfeckin Graveyard
- Your 5th great‑grandmother
Catherine Bellew
- Born c. 1740s
- Likely sister; name recurs in the family
Mary Bellew
- Born c. 1740s
- Likely sister; name recurs in the family
Thomas Bellew Jr.
- Born c. 1740–1750
- Likely named after father; fits as younger son
All of these are strongly plausible, but only Alice is fully documented by name, parents, and life events.
Generation 4 – Alice Bellew & Richard Flanagan (Termonfechin core)
Couple
Richard Flanagan
- Born: 1733
- Died: 20 Jan 1808, Termonfechin
Alice Bellew
- Born: 1738, Nobber/Cruisetown
- Died: 29 Oct 1805, Termonfechin
Residences:
- Termonfechin – early married life, children born 1770–1775
- Termonfechin – later life, deaths and burials
Their children (you’ve documented these beautifully)
John Flanagan
- Born: 1770, Ganderpark
- Died: 7 Nov 1780, Termonfechin (age 10)
Anne Flanagan – later Anne Donnelly
- Born: 1771,
- Died: 1836
- Married a Donnelly (Termonfechin area)
Michael Flanagan
- Born: 1772, Ganderpark
- Died: 1789, Termonfechin (age 17)
Catherine Flanagan – later Catherine Ward
- Born: 1774,
- Married: 8 Jun 1805, Termonfechin
- Husband: James Ward
- Witnesses: Richard Flanagan, Patrick Ward
- Died: 1837
Mary Flanagan – later Mary McKone
- Born: 1775, Termonfechin
- Married: Nicholas McKone
- Death: unknown
Patrick Flanagan – your 4th great‑grandfather
- Born: 1780, Termonfechin
- Married: 18 Jan 1801, to Judith Kirwan (1780–1819)
- Died: 20 Feb 1866, Termonfechin
- Buried: Termonfechin
This generation is solidly documented and anchors the Bellew line in Termonfechin.
Collateral Bellew branches (Cruisetown/Nobber area)
We can see hints of other Bellew men in the Cruisetown/Nobber orbit, likely cousins of your Thomas or his sons.
Example:
- Bridget Bellew, born 1766, “Nobber and Cruisetown, Louth, Ireland,” appears in one tree with parents John Mathews & Catherine Durnin—meaning Bellew is her married name, and her husband was a Bellew man active in the same area and timeframe as your family. Ancestry
That implies:
- At least one Bellew male born c. 1740–1750 in Cruisetown/Nobber
- Likely a cousin or even a younger son of the same extended Bellew cluster
These collateral lines are hard to name precisely, but they confirm that your Bellew's were not alone—they were part of a small, intermarried Catholic network in that region.
1800–1900 – Later Bellews (outline only)
By the 1800s:
- The noble Bellew's (Barmeath, Mountbellew, etc.) are well documented in landed estates records and peerage sources. Landed Estates
- The Cruisetown/Termonfechin Bellews mostly fade from the record as a distinct surname in your direct line, because:
- Alice’s children carry the Flanagan name
- Bellew daughters marry into Donnelly, Ward, McKone, etc.
- Any remaining Bellew males in the area are collateral, not direct ancestors
So from about 1800 onward, your genetic Bellew line continues, but the surname in your direct line is Flanagan.
What this tree really gives you
You now have:
- A coherent Bellew line from c. 1710 (Thomas) down to your 4th great‑grandfather Patrick Flanagan.
- A plausible but honest reconstruction back to c. 1650, with the uncertainty clearly marked.
- A network of families—Bellew, Flanagan, Donnelly, Ward, McKone, Kirwan—anchored in specific townlands.
If you’d like to go one level deeper, we could:
- Try to link Thomas Bellew, Esq. to a specific cadet branch of the noble Bellews using DNA and naming patterns.
- Or focus on Elizabeth Laroth and see if we can trace her to a Huguenot or Anglo‑Irish family.
Which of those tugs at you more right now—the Bellew side or the Laroth mystery?
