Mary Maher of Cardiff, Wales

 One of my first DNA matches was a gentleman from New Zealand who was a descendant of a Mary Maher and Samuel Garwood of Cardiff Wales. Census records indicated her birth year as sometime around 1841 and her birth place as Ireland. Her marriage certificate puts her birth year at around 1837 or 1838. And, her marriage certificate lists her father as Patrick Maher. At the time of her marriage, she was living in Wales. 

I share 51cM of DNA and 3 segments (with the longest segment being 25cM) with this individual. This puts us most likely 3rd cousins once or twice removed.  So, where is my match in regards to Mary Maher? Mary Maher was his great-great-grandmother. Ellen Maher was my great-grandmother. We share matches with only one of the descendants of Billy Maher 1835, so my guess is that William (Billy) must've been more distant from Mary Maher than from Ellen. This match also matches the Mahers of Canajoharie (see post on that family)

It is possible that Mary and Ellen were more distant than the DNA would indicate, which is why no match to Billy, or it could be that the shared DNA with Billy is more than usual, but regardless this match from New Zealand matches all of my brothers and sisters, so I'd say the connection is strong. And, it is interesting that Mary Maher's father's name was Patrick. So, this Patrick Maher is my match's great-grandfather x3. Let's consider three scenarios, to see how my match and I would end up.

If this Patrick is the father of Mary and Ellen, then my match and I would be 3rd cousins 1R

We know that Mary's father and Ellen's father both have the name Patrick. If Mary's father (Patrick) was the father of Ellen's father (Patrick) then we would be 4th cousins (less likely than 3rd cousins considering the amount of DNA we share)

If Ellen's father was the father of Mary's father, then we would be 3rd cousins 2R.  Remember Ellen was born approximately 10 years after Mary. So, again, though possible it is not likely.

The most likely scenario is that this Patrick Maher is the father of both Mary and Ellen. It is possible that they don't share the same mother, which would make them half sisters, but at this time the most likely scenario is that Patrick Maher is the father of both women. 

So, when did Mary come to Wales? Was it around the same time Ellen and Bridget came to the US?  I have not been able to find a record of her migration, but perhaps in the future I will. But, the truly frustrating part is that there is no Mary Maher, born to a Patrick Maher in Gortnahoe any time around 1838. However, on the last census before her death she listed her place of birth as a town in Tipperary that  translated means Birmingham. New Birmingham is another name for Glengoole which is most definitely part of Gortnahoe. In fact, the parish is often referred to as Glengoole/Gortnahoe.  You will see several births in Birmingham in the spreadsheet of Maher births in Gortnahoe.