Wednesday, June 29 2016
It has been an interesting few days in genealogy-land. I'm preparing for my long visit to Ireland next winter and working on a research plan to get the most out of visits to the National Library of Ireland and the Archives, Manuscript library and other sites.
To decide what to include on the list of goals I allowed myself some diversions from the direct family lines for a while. Sometimes you have to go sideways to go forward. I know that many of the families who lived near Arthur and Eliza Byrne in Throoptown, Ontario had the same names as families who surrounded the Byrnes in Coolross, before they emigrated. How did they all choose the same area to settle? Were some families here first? Were some here from the time of the building of the Rideau Canal?
I might not find the answers to those questions - I'm easily distracted and diverted. You'd only have to take a look at my pile of papers and files to know that I've sometimes, well maybe often, gone off madly in all directions.
For a while - well a couple of hours - I was looking in the Gehan/Gahan connection. One of Arthur's children, Arthur Jr, married Eliza Gahan. After raising their family in Canada, and having the senior Arthur and Eliza living with them, they sold their land and moved to Ogdensburg, NY. It's just across the St Lawrence River which divides Ontario Canada from New York State. The borders were very porous back in the late 19th century. There was work to be had working on the Great Lake steamers and other working boats and Arthur Jr answered the siren call, as did many of his siblings and extended family.
I made NO progress at all other than to find a few records supporting what I already knew of the Gahans. So, I moved on to the Thorpes. Two Byrne sisters married two Thorpe brothers. One couple remained in Ontario and the other moved to Monroe County, New York. Their family had come from Croneyhorn townland, Hot Pot Lane to be specific (yes, that's really the name). Gabriel Thorpe, father of these boys, had married Nancy (Ann) Byrne in the Tomacork Parish, County Wicklow. So far no indication of a connection with our Byrne family.
I pored over records of the Thorpes and found a few more names and parts of more recent generations. That was on Saturday.
Sunday brought an unexpected email from a man on the Isle of Wight. He had found an old book that had been presented to a Catherine Thorpe as a prize for diving in 1908. It appears to have been affiliated with a school in Chelsea, England. Being curious he googled her name and came upon a link to the item I had written about our Byrne folks in Throoptown. Down the list of descendants were some Thorpes. My email address had been attached to the article so he wrote.
I had not thought about the Thorpes in months and the day after I start looking into them, this email pops into my inbox. As it turns out, I can't seem to find any connection to Thorpes in England, although it is an English name. Maybe our Thorpes descended from the English who pretty much took over Ireland so long ago. Maybe they just left England and settled in Ireland for their own reasons.
Well I decided to do some investigating as my previous days' record searching had led me to some Thorpes who remained in Canada - descendants of Henry Thorpe and Margaret Byrne. I began to wonder if there were any Thorpes still around that area.
I went online to Canada411.ca which is the best source of phone numbers for Canadians who have landlines. Lo and behold there was one Thorpe in Prescott and about half a dozen in Brockville. I called the one in Prescott but he was sick in hospital and his wife didn't really seem up to a great deal of conversation so I just wished him well.
The first name in Brockville was my next target. There I got a warm welcome and the next day, Tuesday by now, I drove to Brockville as previously planned, to do a little more searching - but not for Thorpes. I diverted to the home of the Thorpes I had spoken with but it doesn't seem like we are related after all. Their ancestor had arrived in Canada decades before ours, and he was Protestant. He did have an interesting life though. I left what I knew of my Thorpes with this family.
Now I have to gather the courage to call some of the other Thorpes. It's a bit hazardous and can upset people. Cold calls are usually from telemarketers and I'm anything but. Tomorrow I might venture into the phone realm again - but I'll prepare a better introduction.
The reason for my trip to Brockville was to search for information on the Fennells and Fitzpatricks. I have managed to locate the Fennell ancestors in the townlands of Barrowhouse and Monebrock in County Kildare. The Fitzpatricks were according to family information, from County Cavan. Patrick was my great great grandfather. His obituary stated that he had come from County Cavan, first to Bytown which is now Ottawa. Subsequently he arrived and settled in Brockville. I guess Annie Fennell caught his eye because they married in 1852 and became pillars of the farming and church community.
The record of their marriage is in the family bible, held by cousin Mike Whitten in Northern Ontario. It simply gives November 1852 as the date. No parents names are listed. Without the names of Patrick's parents, and no mention of a townland or even a parish, in Ireland there is little hope of finding the right folks. Maybe we are related to some Fitzpatricks who are still there, but unless some obscure source of information comes to light, I'll probably never find out.
There was no mention in the newspaper of that month and year. Land records don't have Patrick's name which means that in 1861 when the agricultural census included concession and lot numbers, he was just renting. Without knowing the concession it would take an incredible length of time to pore through all of the land record books to see if he ever bought any land.
He did however, leave a will which was probated. A copy of that will is in the land office. To see it means another trip to Brockville. Who knows what I might learn there - perhaps the location of his land. Most wills don't mention parents of the adult deceased but maybe in a couple of weeks I'll have some time on my hands and desire to incur temporary vision issues by poring over that microfilm.
I think I'll leave the Thorpes and Gahans alone for the time being. I know where to go in Ireland to find the home place of the Fennells. That's one more ancestral family about whom there is probably more information to be found.
My brick walls in Ireland, beyond the Fitzpatricks, are now down to the McGraths of Kilkenny, the Loughnanes of Tipperary, the Walsh and Macdonald families of who knows where. Then there are the Mahers and the Kanes. And oh yes, the "other" McGraths. The Kehoes keep peeking out here and there but I have no idea if I'm being teased or there might be someone behind a glass of Guinness who knows something of the Kehoe heritage and is willing to chat.
For now I'll drift off with visions of evenings in a pub somewhere in rural Ireland when the ghosts of my ancestors all arrive with stories to tell.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, June 13 2016
Well the past weekend was windy and wet and chilly so staring it off with a Genealogy meeting was perfect. Well, once I got inside after stepping my sandalled foot deep into "Lake Inferior" in the parking lot things were fine. Ugh. It was the AGM but the business portion proceeded quickly and efficiently and we're good to go for another year at BIFHSGO.
The Great Moments presented by four members were wonderful and good motivation to keep on seeking. To that end I spend considerable time online pursuing the Irish connection - notably the Byrnes. At times, like now, I think I could work on genealogy 24/7 and still be constantly busy. As it is, a hobby, it keeps me out of trouble.
In all good faith and based on location, right down to the townland of Coolross and the familiar names I started looking more into the family of Whelans who lived in a now-ruined small stone house in what is now a corn field. It is known as Nanny Whelan's place. I was sure this was a related branch but, not so fast ...
Nanny Whelan, whose real name was Annie, was blind yet she was the guardian and substitute parent for her younger siblings. From what I've heard she did a fine job of carrying out her responsibilities. Anyway her parents were Bridget Byrne and Owen Whelan. Head of the household according to the 1901 census was a Michael Byrne. His age and the location had led me to believe he was the son of Michael Byrne and Cath McGuire. On this basis I had assumed Bridget to have been his sister. Well, I was wrong.
Now that so many Catholic parish registers are indexed and online, I decided to look up the marriage of Bridget to Owen Whelan. To my surprise, Bridget's father was Moses Byrne of Coolross. Whoa! That changes everything. So I made the appropriate changes in the family tree, disconnecting them from "our" Michael but leaving the Whelan family intact. Moses' wife was Anne James. So - another question has arisen? Was Moses any relation to our Byrnes? Was it a coincidence of geography to be on the same townland? Byrne is the most common surname in Co Wicklow so this is quite likely to be a coincidence. Anne James is almost certainly the daughter of one of the James family who were tenant landlords in the area. Now I wonder if I should bark up that tree too?
Nanny Whelan apparently would often walk over to what is now Jim Byrne's place at Coolross. Oh to be able to chat with these folks for a few hours!
I found Bridget to have had a brother Michael and a sister Catherine. As far as I can tell, neither married. Catherine had an illegitimate daughter, Mary, who also lived with the Whelans. Having visited the ruins of their home I wonder whether they all slept on hooks on the wall. It certainly was not spacious when you think of so many residents.
So - will I find a blood connection to Nanny Whelan? or her father Moses Byrne? I'm guessing not, as the name Moses was never used in my family nor in Jim's. I suppose we can be grateful for that.
Wandering down other avenues on Sunday I had a lovely chat with Mary and Oliver Harte. They are looking forward to my visit next winter and Mary and I will probably have a few little adventures find the various homes that relatives once occupied. Mary told me of her lovely uncle Patrick, a carpenter, who lived at Three Wells in Aughrim.
A little aside here, a home once owned and probably built by Patrick Byrne, at Three Wells in Aughrim is currently owned by a family of O'Byrnes. In recent times the son, also a Patrick, was arrested and charged for shooting his father. Whoa again. Now I'm happy NOT to be related to that bunch.
Meanwhile, back on track. I also called Tom Byrne at the Rocktavern to see if he knew the name of the missing Byrne brother - son of Luke Byrne and Kate Doyle. The youngest of their sons was James, a seventh son. He was always known as 'the doctor'. I had the names of 5 of his brothers but was missing a name. Tom figures it had to have been Luke as the name was used, and is still used, in the family. What turned up in research was a second son named John - brother to Tom's father John. The two Johns were born a year apart in 1891 and 1892. At this moment I don't recall which was which. But was one of these actually a Luke? or was it an infant death and the second John 'reused' the name. This was not uncommon at the time as my grandmother Agnes McGrath was named for an older sister who had died in infancy a couple of years before her birth.
So - just when I think I'm solving a mystery another one begins. I wonder where my next investigations will take me.
Well the past weekend was windy and wet and chilly so staring it off with a Genealogy meeting was perfect. Well, once I got inside after stepping my sandalled foot deep into "Lake Inferior" in the parking lot things were fine. Ugh. It was the AGM but the business portion proceeded quickly and efficiently and we're good to go for another year at BIFHSGO.
The Great Moments presented by four members were wonderful and good motivation to keep on seeking. To that end I spend considerable time online pursuing the Irish connection - notably the Byrnes. At times, like now, I think I could work on genealogy 24/7 and still be constantly busy. As it is, a hobby, it keeps me out of trouble.
In all good faith and based on location, right down to the townland of Coolross and the familiar names I started looking more into the family of Whelans who lived in a now-ruined small stone house in what is now a corn field. It is known as Nanny Whelan's place. I was sure this was a related branch but, not so fast ...
Nanny Whelan, whose real name was Annie, was blind yet she was the guardian and substitute parent for her younger siblings. From what I've heard she did a fine job of carrying out her responsibilities. Anyway her parents were Bridget Byrne and Owen Whelan. Head of the household according to the 1901 census was a Michael Byrne. His age and the location had led me to believe he was the son of Michael Byrne and Cath McGuire. On this basis I had assumed Bridget to have been his sister. Well, I was wrong.
Now that so many Catholic parish registers are indexed and online, I decided to look up the marriage of Bridget to Owen Whelan. To my surprise, Bridget's father was Moses Byrne of Coolross. Whoa! That changes everything. So I made the appropriate changes in the family tree, disconnecting them from "our" Michael but leaving the Whelan family intact. Moses' wife was Anne James. So - another question has arisen? Was Moses any relation to our Byrnes? Was it a coincidence of geography to be on the same townland? Byrne is the most common surname in Co Wicklow so this is quite likely to be a coincidence. Anne James is almost certainly the daughter of one of the James family who were tenant landlords in the area. Now I wonder if I should bark up that tree too?
Nanny Whelan apparently would often walk over to what is now Jim Byrne's place at Coolross. Oh to be able to chat with these folks for a few hours!
I found Bridget to have had a brother Michael and a sister Catherine. As far as I can tell, neither married. Catherine had an illegitimate daughter, Mary, who also lived with the Whelans. Having visited the ruins of their home I wonder whether they all slept on hooks on the wall. It certainly was not spacious when you think of so many residents.
So - will I find a blood connection to Nanny Whelan? or her father Moses Byrne? I'm guessing not, as the name Moses was never used in my family nor in Jim's. I suppose we can be grateful for that.
Wandering down other avenues on Sunday I had a lovely chat with Mary and Oliver Harte. They are looking forward to my visit next winter and Mary and I will probably have a few little adventures find the various homes that relatives once occupied. Mary told me of her lovely uncle Patrick, a carpenter, who lived at Three Wells in Aughrim.
A little aside here, a home once owned and probably built by Patrick Byrne, at Three Wells in Aughrim is currently owned by a family of O'Byrnes. In recent times the son, also a Patrick, was arrested and charged for shooting his father. Whoa again. Now I'm happy NOT to be related to that bunch.
Meanwhile, back on track. I also called Tom Byrne at the Rocktavern to see if he knew the name of the missing Byrne brother - son of Luke Byrne and Kate Doyle. The youngest of their sons was James, a seventh son. He was always known as 'the doctor'. I had the names of 5 of his brothers but was missing a name. Tom figures it had to have been Luke as the name was used, and is still used, in the family. What turned up in research was a second son named John - brother to Tom's father John. The two Johns were born a year apart in 1891 and 1892. At this moment I don't recall which was which. But was one of these actually a Luke? or was it an infant death and the second John 'reused' the name. This was not uncommon at the time as my grandmother Agnes McGrath was named for an older sister who had died in infancy a couple of years before her birth.
So - just when I think I'm solving a mystery another one begins. I wonder where my next investigations will take me.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Sunday June 5, 2016
Finally some rain. The area is almost in a drought and the farmers must have been getting worried. It looks quite socked in and hopefully will be an all-day soaking rain. This means there should be no excuses for the indoor activities that are screaming to be done. Well of course there's laundry and cleaning, but I'm thinking more along the lines of scanning photos and working on the story of Aggie.
The main focus of my time in Ireland next Winter will be the Byrne heritage, although I have several other Irish lines to pursue - Fennell, Fitzpatrick, Brennan, McGrath and Loughnane in particular. Then if I get bored I can move on to Walsh, Mcdonald, Maher, Kane/Keane/Cain ...
To this end I had written (emailed) to the Archives in Sheffield England which holds the largest collection of Fitzwilliam records and manuscripts. Their holdings include rental records for every year as far back as the mid 18th century. I'm hoping to find clues to when Arthur Byrne started renting there and possibly who his father was. In parallel, I'm looking into the ancestors and descendants of Michael Byrne whose descendants still live at Coolross. My working theory is the Arthur and Michael were brothers.
Well the query brought an answer. There is a wealth of documentation to be pored through. Thinking that paying a researcher might be less expensive and more productive than doing it myself, I asked for a quote. Yikes! Cost is 13.50 GBP per half hour. It can take half an hour just to browse through a manuscript to find one name, even knowing the name and location you are seeking. The report that is produced is merely a recounting of what was found. If you want a digital image of the page the cost is 15 GBP. Holy smokes!
If you go in person to search, and they are open Saturday, Monday and Tuesday only, there is no cost to do your own research and you can take digital images of what you find, also at no cost. Hmmm - I'm now re-thinking the possibility of finding a suitable flight on Ryanair from Dublin to Leeds-Bradford on a Friday and returning the following Tuesday night or Wednesday. The air fare is quite cheap if booked far enough in advance, bus fare from the airport to Sheffield is cheap and I'll seek reasonably priced accommodations. It will probably work out to be less expensive and will give me another peek at the area my maternal grandfather came from.
I still have not figured out when exactly to leave for Ireland but I think it will be soon after Christmas with a return in mid to late April. That should allow for a little break in Portugal for the Genealogy in the Sun conference in Albufeira at the end of March. I'll probably stick around for a bit afterwards and do a bit more sightseeing and enjoy the sun. It won't be hot but pleasantly mild will do nicely for looking around. If I'm feeling a bit richer maybe I'll go as far as Barcelona.
So, now that the day is fully underway it's about time I made myself some breakfast and enjoyed a cup of coffee. I'll ponder my options and must include some laundry and perhaps force myself to do some vacuuming while the clothes are getting clean. After that - the siren call of genealogy will be answered.
Finally some rain. The area is almost in a drought and the farmers must have been getting worried. It looks quite socked in and hopefully will be an all-day soaking rain. This means there should be no excuses for the indoor activities that are screaming to be done. Well of course there's laundry and cleaning, but I'm thinking more along the lines of scanning photos and working on the story of Aggie.
The main focus of my time in Ireland next Winter will be the Byrne heritage, although I have several other Irish lines to pursue - Fennell, Fitzpatrick, Brennan, McGrath and Loughnane in particular. Then if I get bored I can move on to Walsh, Mcdonald, Maher, Kane/Keane/Cain ...
To this end I had written (emailed) to the Archives in Sheffield England which holds the largest collection of Fitzwilliam records and manuscripts. Their holdings include rental records for every year as far back as the mid 18th century. I'm hoping to find clues to when Arthur Byrne started renting there and possibly who his father was. In parallel, I'm looking into the ancestors and descendants of Michael Byrne whose descendants still live at Coolross. My working theory is the Arthur and Michael were brothers.
Well the query brought an answer. There is a wealth of documentation to be pored through. Thinking that paying a researcher might be less expensive and more productive than doing it myself, I asked for a quote. Yikes! Cost is 13.50 GBP per half hour. It can take half an hour just to browse through a manuscript to find one name, even knowing the name and location you are seeking. The report that is produced is merely a recounting of what was found. If you want a digital image of the page the cost is 15 GBP. Holy smokes!
If you go in person to search, and they are open Saturday, Monday and Tuesday only, there is no cost to do your own research and you can take digital images of what you find, also at no cost. Hmmm - I'm now re-thinking the possibility of finding a suitable flight on Ryanair from Dublin to Leeds-Bradford on a Friday and returning the following Tuesday night or Wednesday. The air fare is quite cheap if booked far enough in advance, bus fare from the airport to Sheffield is cheap and I'll seek reasonably priced accommodations. It will probably work out to be less expensive and will give me another peek at the area my maternal grandfather came from.
I still have not figured out when exactly to leave for Ireland but I think it will be soon after Christmas with a return in mid to late April. That should allow for a little break in Portugal for the Genealogy in the Sun conference in Albufeira at the end of March. I'll probably stick around for a bit afterwards and do a bit more sightseeing and enjoy the sun. It won't be hot but pleasantly mild will do nicely for looking around. If I'm feeling a bit richer maybe I'll go as far as Barcelona.
So, now that the day is fully underway it's about time I made myself some breakfast and enjoyed a cup of coffee. I'll ponder my options and must include some laundry and perhaps force myself to do some vacuuming while the clothes are getting clean. After that - the siren call of genealogy will be answered.
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