A Strong Hunch

Lakeview, Harbour Main in the Beautiful Conception Bay Penninsula

"I have ancestors named Flynn in my Family Tree from rural areas of Harbour Main and Holyrood, Newfoundland." was the message I  received recently from a possible distant cousin.

 Again a connection made through working with Ancestry.com. This time my sister and I were found.  Gerry had also found my Blog "Flynn's Hill" and was aware of my research. If my hunch is correct. this person would be my 5th cousin, I know it sounds crazy but, I think I am on to something here.

I asked Gerry a few questions to find out more about his family line, stating there were several Flynn Families in the area. He listed his relatives going back to his 3rd Great Grandfather Edward Flynn who was born in 1805 in County Roscommon, Ireland. I could see some similarities in the names in his family tree, like Michael, Patrick Martin, George, Catherine, John, Sarah, Mary,and Bridget. Also, I believe my 2nd Great Grandfather Michael was born around that time, the early 1800's.


FLYNN, Edward
Evening Telegram September 29, 1890 (Monday)
Died. On Saturday, after a long illness, Mr. Edward Flynn, a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, aged 85 years; funeral to-morrow (Tuesday), at 2.30 p.m., from his son-in-law's (Mr. Jas. Buckley), Hoylestown.

I shared with him what Uncle Ray had told me, when he was here to visit March of 2011," as a young boy, he remembers being told a story, that there were Four Flynn Brothers that came from Ireland and settled in Newfoundland", he was not sure where they had all settled though.

The evidence gets stronger, I reviewed the 1835 Voters list for Harbour Main showing, Edward, John and Thomas ( no Michael though). And I reviewed the Release of Land written by my Great Grandfather Stephen Flynn Sr describing "a piece of land on the South Side of Harbour Main bounded by Thomas and John Flinn "

Hmmmmmm? Could Edward, John, Thomas and Michael be the Four Flynn Brothers who came from Ireland?

I don't know much about my 2nd Great Grandfather Michael,  I don't know where or when he was born, where or when he died only the brief mention of him in the "Release of Land" by my Great Grandfather. My 2nd Great Grandmother Elizabeth Dunlae came from Ireland as a young girl in the early 1800's. Michael and Elizabeth's first child was born in 1845 ( Stephen Sr) in Harbour Main. Gerry and I have agreed to stay in touch, to see if  our individual research can help make this connection.

Local land records that are not on the Internet may help in this mystery. Searching records in Roscommon County, Ireland may reveal more information. Hearing the stories from Great Uncle Martin through 2nd cousin Joe Flynn could be helpful!

It has been an amazing week for Flynn Family connections!

More Cousins!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd Cousins - Susan Flynn, Dorothy Flynn ( wife of Roy Flynn) Linda and Rosemary ( daughters of Roy Flynn )

A few months ago, I was working on Ancestry.com and I came across the Flynn/Francis Tree.  Curious, I took a look, discovering the person who was researching this tree was a descendant of Patrick Flynn Sr. ( brother to Stephen Flynn Jr., my grandfather). I knew Patrick had moved to Hamilton, Ontario, and that he had 10 children, but really did not know much more than that.

I sent the message out, and waited, checking my message board from time to time. Last week, the day after I made contact with my second cousin John Flynn, I received a message from my second cousin Susan Flynn.  We immediately started sharing information, she was just as excited as I was, I could tell, even over the Internet.  She shared family history as well as family stories.  We plan to get together sometime soon, I checked on the I PAD, we are only a 10 hour drive away from each other.

Susan sent me several photos and even corrected some information I had wrong. For example the Patrick Flynn I had in my entry "My Great Uncles" was actually his son Patrick Jr. But now I have a photo of Patrick Sr and his children and some of his grandchildren. She was able to confirm, the photo of the 2 young women I was thinking were my Great Aunts Betty and Mary Ellen and sent me another photo of Aunt Betty. Patrick Flynn did have 10 children, 4 of whom are still living Nell ( Ellen), Sister Bernadette (Genevieve), Dolly ( Madeline) and Gertrude. Susan told me she was planning to get together with her Aunts in August and will ask them for any information they could share about Patrick Flynn Sr.

Thanks Susan for sharing your family stories.

One Step Closer

Me with 2nd cousin John Flynn abt 1967 at my Granparents house in Lakeview, Newfoundland

This as been an amazing week as far a Flynn Family connections. There is so much information to share, that I will need to make several entry postings to explain everything.

I will start with the first connection I made early in the week. My cousin Wayne, gave me our 2nd cousin once removed Sheldon Flynn's e-mail information in order to get a hold of his father John (brother to Joe Flynn, son of William).

I was searching for Joe Flynn's information regarding the  "Christmas Card" he sent to my mother years ago.  He mentioned a visit with Great Uncle Martin in New York and that he had taped his visit for his Dad William who lived in Lakeview Harbour Main Newfoundland.  He states "I found Uncle Martin to be a pleasant old man full of stories of home." I wanted to talk to my second cousin Joe about his visit and just maybe, just maybe he still had the tape recording of his visit. (See Blog entry of 12/11/2011 " A Christmas Card")

So Sheldon gave me his father John's phone number and I placed the call.  He shared highest regards for my mother, stating she was a very intelligent woman, always concerned about family and went out of her way to stay connected.  He told me my mother was his Godmother, I did not know that. So after catching up a bit, I explained my Family History Project and that I would like to get a hold of his brother Joe. He promised he would get Joe's information for me and in our next phone conversation would share a story or two about growing up on Flynn's Hill.

He ended the call by saying, "You need to get home to Newfoundland, so I can have a look at you".  I told him I will be there as soon as I could.

This phone call  was an connection that made me one step closer to finding more information about the Flynn Family.

There is so much more to share, so check back in a couple of days.