Finally I found Julia living in Boston in 1900 at the age of 72 and the census record indicated she had been the mother of 7 children and none remained alive by that time. She was living with a niece. Also in that household was the niece's sons, brother-in-law and nephew. It was those people that I needed to tie to Julia (and therefore to us also). Julia's death record indicated her maiden name was McDonough and I actually found her mother in Boston also! It was a big tableful of puzzle pieces that didn't seem to fit together. You keep going back to the table a move the pieces around, but can't quite make the one magical connection that allows all the others to fall into place.
Then I found the puzzle piece (a forgotten census record I uncovered in my paperwork set aside for later consideration) which allowed me to confirm and connect Julia and her niece as "our" Irish family members and open up a whole new group of families--all Irish fishermen, by the way.
And I'm not doing the discovery justice in the telling either--please try to be happy for me and say hello to your new McDonough cousins: the Costins and the Regans of Boston. Let the bells ring with genealogical joy.
Monica Tierney McDonough's death certificate--the McDonough matriarch--Julia's mother
