We do not have information about Catherine Tumbleton’s birth. If our death information is correct1, then she was born around 1821.
Catherine Tumbleton married John Whelan in the 1840s. Genealogy information from others indicates that Catherine had brought a daughter Elizabeth to the marriage. I have been unable to locate a birth certificate for Elizabeth, however, have added her here based on information from other family trees.
John and Catherine’s first child, John was baptised on 9 January 1849 in Enniscorthy2. Their second child Mary, was baptised 24 January 1851 in Enniscorthy3. Michael, also born in Enniscorthy, was baptised 16 April 18534. This was followed by Thomas 10 November 18555 and Edward 6 February 18611 both also baptised Roman Catholic at Enniscorthy in the diocese of Ferns.
The years of births of her children may give testament to the fact that the Wexford county in Ireland was not as greatly affected by the famine years (1845-1851) as were other counties in Ireland. However, as it appears the first three may not have survived for to adulthood, the famine may have been a factor in their short life.
There is no record of John and Catherine Whelan and their family in the 1861 Enniscorthy Roman Catholic census, although there were Tumbletons and Whelans found. Perhaps the Peter Tumbleton in that census is a brother?
We know that Catherine died before John, as he was listed as a widower on his death in 1885. We also know she was alive prior to the date when the youngest child Edward is born.
The most likely death date we have is 24 February 1864. The death certificate for Catherine Whelan from Irish Street in Enniscorthy, with a husband of John matches information we have about her. She died from Phthisis, or Tuberculosis, after suffering for a year. There remains a possibility, though, that she died between 1861 and 1864 before the civil death records in Ireland began.
Link to Catherine Tumbleton in genealogy.
1Deaths (CR) Ireland. 1864. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 24 February 1864. WHELAN, Catherine.
2Baptisms (NCR) Ireland. 1849. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 9 January 1849. WHELAN, John. http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed September 2019.
3Baptisms (NCR) Ireland. 1851. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 24 January 1851. WHELAN, Mary. http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed September 2019.
4Baptisms (NCR) Ireland. 1853. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 16 April 1853. WHELAN, Michael. https://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634060_144 : accessed September 2019.
5Baptisms (NCR) Ireland. 1855. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 10 November 1855. WHELAN, Thomas. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed September 2019.
6Baptisms (NCR) Ireland. 1861. Enniscorthy, Wexford. 6 February 1861. WHELAN, Edward. https://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634060_193 : accessed September 2019.
