O'May/McAlister/O'Gara/O'Hara

[surfcoastwombat]

In my search for my biological father - Paul Thomas - I have been advised to focus on Antrim, Sligo and Kintyre and look for marriage/connections between O'Mays and McAlisters (and spelling variations on those names). Other key names are O'Gara and O'Hara.

I have discovered one possible link in an article by A.I.B. Stewart called "THE OMEYS" where a James Omey junior was linked by marriage to a Barbara MacAllester.

Any information that anyone can provide would be very welcome.

Regards
JC

[Shona]

Hello, JC, and welcome to the Kintyre Forum. I've got a few wee bits and pieces on these names. How far have you traced the family, please? Do you have access to Ancestry? This will help me when I post a reply.

Shona

[surfcoastwombat]

Hello Shona

I do apologise profusely - for some reason I hadn't seen your reply to my previous post. Plus there have been significant changes to my ancestry project work these past many months.

It would appear that I am a Cummings after all - not a son of Paul Thomas - that was a smokescreen. According to Dr Tyrone Bowes - he believes my line comes from near Tubbercurry in Co. Sligo and it is associated with the surname "May". Also the head of Clan O'Gara in Ireland believes my line most likely started with a relationship between an O'Gara or O'Hara from Sligo and a McAllister from Co. Antrim.

My significant surname matches with my Y-DNA results at FamilytreeDNA are McAllister, O'Gara, O'Hara, O'May and May.

One of my reasonably good Y-DNA matches at FamilytreeDNA is with a John O'May and his family are in Baltimore, Maryland. By some incredible trick of the cosmos, John O'May is the only one of that family not living in the USA - he lives just a few streets away from me in Anglesea, Australia - pop 2400!!

I have been in touch with John's family in Baltimore and they have a tree on Ancestry called the "Barbara Lee Family Tree". Barbara's husband Allan Spath is the genealogist in the family.

I also have an Ancestry account and a tree called "John Cummings Family Tree".

My story can be seen at www.mypaternalsearch.com and just in case, my email address is jc1941@mypaternalsearch.com

Regards
JC
John Cummings
Anglesea, Australia