Margaret Shea's FIRST marriage — to John Sullivan, 20 Feb 1855, Eyeries

Summary

Roman Catholic church marriage record from Eyeries parish. - Date: 20 Feb 1855 - Husband: **John Sullivan** of **Agroom** (= Ardgroom), Roman Catholic; father surname Sullivan (first name not recorded) - Wife: **Margaret Shea**, Roman Catholic; father surname Shea (first name not recorded) - Witnesses: **Jeremiah McCarthy** and a second person also named **Margaret Shea** (note clarifies: "1st wit. name is Dermot E. Jeremiah" — could mean the first witness's full name is Dermot Jeremiah, or that the priest's full name was Dermot Jeremiah Healy) - Priest: **D. Healy** This is **Margaret Shea's first marriage**. John Sullivan died before 1865; Margaret subsequently remarried Myles Lyne on 9 June 1865 (per the corresponding civil cert). REJECTED HYPOTHESIS (user 2026-05-27): an earlier read of the 1884 Patrick Sullivan + Catherine Murphy cert speculated that Patrick "Tailor" Sullivan was a son of THIS 1855 John+Margaret marriage (and thus Ellen Lyne's half-brother). The user clarified Patrick Tailor is from a different Sullivan line. Any actual Sullivan children of John + Margaret Shea remain unidentified — would require Eyeries parish baptismal-register lookup 1855-1865.

Parties named in the record

• groom
  John Sullivan(= John Sullivan (Margaret Shea's first husband, m. 1855 Eyeries))75

  residence: Agroom (= Ardgroom)

• bride
  Margaret Shea(= Margaret (Shea) Sullivan Lyne (JJM's maternal grandmother))100

People — link detail

• John Sullivan (Margaret Shea's first husband, m. 1855 Eyeries)(as printed: John Sullivan)
  role: groom · family confidence: 75 strong

  residence: Agroom (= Ardgroom)

  Margaret Shea's first husband (= JJM's maternal grandmother's first husband). Distinct from the John Sullivan of Reenavaud who fathered Patrick Tailor Sullivan (per user 2026-05-27). Any Sullivan children he had with Margaret 1855-1865 remain unidentified.

• Margaret (Shea) Sullivan Lyne (JJM's maternal grandmother)(as printed: Margaret Shea)
  role: bride · family confidence: 100 certain

  Same Margaret Shea who later married Myles Lyne (1865) and became JJM's maternal grandmother (mother of Ellen Lyne Murphy).

Also mentioned

• Jeremiah McCarthy · witness
• Margaret Shea (second) · witness

  Second witness also named Margaret Shea — possibly the bride's mother or sister.

• D. Healy · officiating_priest

  Eyeries parish priest in 1855.

Places

• Ardgroom (village + RC Chapel) (primary)
• County Cork (primary)
• Beara Peninsula (primary)
• Eyeries (village + parish + RC Chapel) (primary)

Themes

• irish_american_community

Story threads

• The Pat-and-Ellen Murphy household — Butte 1887 to LA 1980

Tags

• source_primary_family
• evidence_corroborating
• direct_family

Related sources

• 1865-06-09 — Marriage Returns, Superintendent Registrar's District of Castletown — Marriage of Myles Lyne (widower) and Margaret Shea alias Sullivan (widow), 9 June 1865, Ardgroom
• 1884-02-23 — Irish Family History Foundation — Cork South West Roots Ireland — Patrick 'Tailor' Sullivan + Catherine Murphy marriage — 23 Feb 1884 Eyeries (Catherine = JJM's paternal aunt + godmother)

Open questions

• Children of John Sullivan + Margaret Shea (1855-1865) — unidentified in the archive. Earlier speculation that Patrick "Tailor" Sullivan (m. Catherine Murphy 1884) was their son REJECTED per user 2026-05-27. Any actual Sullivan-Shea children would require systematic Eyeries parish baptismal- register lookup 1855-1865.
• John Sullivan's exact death date — somewhere between 1855 and 1865. Eyeries parish burial register would resolve.