A reader is looking for more information on her 3x-great-grandfather Lawrence McCann, who emigrated to North America probably in the mid- to late-1830s.
What little information I have is as follows:
Lawrence McCann was born in Ireland about 1811. His wife Ann O’Reilly was born in Ireland about 1814. Did the couple marry in Ireland? or in North America? This I don’t know. But it appears their eldest known child, Bernard McCann, was born in the United States about 1838. Five more known children (Mary; Frances Ann; Bridget; Michael John; and James) were born in Canada, at or near Cornwall, Stormont County, Ontario, between about 1843 and 1856. By 1871, the family had moved to Perth, Lanark Co., Ontario — but daughter Frances Ann McCann can be found in Perth as early as 1861, where she is enumerated (Census of 1861) in the household of Michael Hartney (abt. 1830-1890) and his wife Bridget McCann (1832-1922).
What was the relationship between Frances Ann McCann (1846-1883), daughter of Lawrence McCann and Ann O’Reilly and wife of Richard Tovey, and Bridget McCann, daughter of Michael McCann and Elizabeth Murphy and husband of Michael Hartney? Was Frances Ann McCann a niece of Bridget McCann? or perhaps a cousin? This, too, I do not know.
But both women had close (probably familial, though I’ve yet to figure this one out) ties to my McGlade/Dunn 2x-great-grandparents, John McGlade and Bridget Dunn, who emigrated from Co. Armagh to Counties Leeds and Lanark, Ontario in the late 1840s to early 1850s. Frances Ann McCann served as godmother to Ann (“Annie”) McGlade, daughter of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn. And Bridget McCann, wife of Michael Hartney, served as godmother to Michael James McGlade, son of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn; and also as godmother to John Michael English, son of John English and Ann McGlade (daughter of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn, whose godmother was Frances Ann McCann).
So: given the above-mentioned connections of daughter Frances Ann McCann to my Armagh ancestors, as a county of birth for father Lawrence McCann, husband of Ann O’Reilly, I would certainly start with County Armagh.
Any further information would be much appreciated.