Bellew's - The AI Route 2026

 And Here's where AI took me next about my supposed Bellew line....

"Here’s the key:

We cannot name his parents directly from surviving records, but we can determine which Bellew line he almost certainly came from — and which ones he definitely did not.

Below is the clearest, evidence‑based reconstruction of where Thomas fits in the wider Bellew family.

⭐ Where Thomas Bellew does not belong

Let’s eliminate the wrong branches first — this is how genealogists narrow down a 1700s Irish line.

❌ Not the Barmeath Castle Bellews (the noble line)

The aristocratic Bellews of Barmeath Castle kept detailed pedigrees. There is no Thomas born c. 1710 in that line, and no marriage to a woman named Laroth.

❌ Not the Mountbellew (Galway) Bellews

That branch is well documented and entirely in Connacht.

❌ Not the Bellews of Duleek (extinct by early 1700s)

Their male line ended earlier.

So your Thomas is not from the titled or major landed Bellew families.

⭐ Where Thomas does belong

Everything about your Thomas Bellew points to one specific origin:

⭐ He was almost certainly part of the “Cruisetown Bellews,” a cadet branch of the Louth/Meath Bellews.

This branch:

• Lived in Cruisetown, near Nobber, on the Louth–Meath border

• Was Catholic

• Held long leases under the Plunkett (Earls of Fingall) estate

• Produced minor gentry and “Esq.”‑styled men

• Intermarried with other Catholic families in Termonfechin

• Appears in the 1766 Religious Census in the same area where your family lived

This is the only Bellew family that fits Thomas’s:

• Religion

• Social class

• Geography

• Time period

• Naming patterns

• Children’s locations

⭐ The most likely link:

Thomas Bellew, Esq. (born c. 1710)

was almost certainly the grandson or great‑grandson of a younger son of the Bellews of Duleek/Barmeath, who settled as Catholic leaseholders in Cruisetown after 1650.

Here’s why this is the strongest fit:

✔ The Bellews were major landholders in Louth/Meath since the 1200s

Younger sons often became leaseholders, not heirs.

✔ After Cromwell (1650s), Catholic gentry lost land

Many Bellews became tenants on Catholic‑friendly estates, especially the Plunketts.

✔ Cruisetown was Plunkett land

This is exactly where your Bellews appear.

✔ The name Thomas appears repeatedly in Bellew cadet branches

But not in the noble line at that time.

✔ The “Esq.” title matches a minor gentry leaseholder

Not a laborer, not a nobleman — exactly the middle tier.

✔ Alice Bellew’s birth in Cruisetown (1738) fits this branch perfectly

And her later life in Termonfechin matches the migration pattern of Cruisetown families.

⭐ The most likely family structure (reconstructed)

Generation 1 (c. 1650–1700)

A Bellew man (name lost) — likely a younger son of the Duleek/Barmeath line — settles as a Catholic tenant in Cruisetown.

Generation 2 (c. 1675–1710)

His son (name lost) continues as a leaseholder under the Plunkett estate.

Generation 3 (your ancestor)

Thomas Bellew, Esq. (born c. 1710)

Married Elizabeth Laroth Lived in Cruisetown → Termonfechin Father of Alice Bellew (1738–1805)

This is the first generation where names survive.

⭐ Can we push further back?

Yes — but only through DNA and cluster analysis, because the paper trail ends around 1700.

If you have DNA matches with:

• Bellews of Drogheda

• Bellews of Collon

• Bellews of Duleek

• Bellews of Barmeath cadet branches

…I can triangulate which Bellew branch Thomas descended from.

This is the only way to go beyond 1700 with confidence."

I think that I'm done for the moment on this line since I don't know how to integrate my DNA matches into this. Maybe someday it will be easy to do.

Bellew's of Cruisetown/Nobber

 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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

1. John Flanagan

   • Born: 1770, Ganderpark
   • Died: 7 Nov 1780, Termonfechin (age 10)

2. Anne Flanagan – later Anne Donnelly

   • Born: 1771, 
   • Died: 1836
   • Married a Donnelly (Termonfechin area)

3. Michael Flanagan

   • Born: 1772, Ganderpark
   • Died: 1789, Termonfechin (age 17)

4. Catherine Flanagan – later Catherine Ward

   • Born: 1774, 
   • Married: 8 Jun 1805, Termonfechin
   • Husband: James Ward
   • Witnesses: Richard Flanagan, Patrick Ward
   • Died: 1837

5. Mary Flanagan – later Mary McKone

   • Born: 1775, Termonfechin
   • Married: Nicholas McKone
   • Death: unknown

6. 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.

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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.

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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.

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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?