Patrick Shields

 

I am a descendant of Patrick Shields born 1822/23. As a single, illiterate, Roman Catholic, shoemaker he appeared in Galway County Court on 18 March 1845, charged with stealing a horse. He was sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land for 10 years and sailed on the Ratcliffe in 1845. He served 15 months probation at Wedge Bay on the Tasman Peninsula and finally was sent to Campbell Town where he sought permission to marry fellow Irish convict Winifred MacNamara from Newmarket in 1851. They never left Tasmania. Patrick and Winifred are my great great grandparents. I am keen to know where Patrick was born, whether he lived in Galway or was just tried there.