William Moynihan's Other Family -- or not!

A couple of weeks ago, in my post "Sunday Obituary: Jeremiah Francis Moynihan of Ventura, California," I shared the news that my first cousin once-removed, Jerry Moynihan, had passed away.  Jerry's lovely obituary told me a great deal about his branch of the family, and allowed me to conclude that his father, William Moynihan, died when Jerry was quite young, after which his mother remarried.  That got me thinking about William, who is my grandfather's older brother, and it got me searching for records about his life in the United States.

I was puzzled by the first record that I found when searching recently.  It was a record of William arriving in Boston in 1924 with a woman and two children.  I was certain he'd arrived much earlier and single, before World War I.  But the record, as you see, shows that William and his family had been visiting his father Jeremiah at Shountullig.  We know from the Irish Censuses and Aunty Nora's paper that there's only one family at Shountullig (aka Shantullig):  our family.

Have a look at the ship's manifest above.  It certainly looks like William is travelling with his wife Margaret and their children Jeremiah and Margaret.  My great-grandad, Jeremiah, is shown to be Margaret's father-in-law and the children's grandfather.  My father thought he'd heard that William had been married before.  But it seemed strange to me that he would have two sons named Jeremiah:  one by Margaret, and one by Elizabeth O'Connor (that is, Jerry Moynihan of Ventura).  Certainly Irish families reused names, but typically it was when a child died in infancy.  In fact, that's why William had two brothers named Daniel.

So why would William name two sons Jeremiah?  Then I remembered some of the other records I'd seen years ago, researching William:

• first, his earlier arrival in New York;
• second, his World War I draft registration.

Many years ago, when the Ellis Island site was still wet behind the years (and me too, for that matter), I found the record of William's arrival in New York in 1915.  He's not easy to find.  He's transcribed as William Moynehan on the Ellis Island site and William Moyuchan on Ancestry.  I've submitted a correction to Ancestry, by the way. 

TIP:   Sometimes, you need to search by first name.

Because of the transcription error, to find William's 1915 ship's manifest on Ancestry via Family Tree Maker in order to merge his data, I was forced to search for all men named William arriving in New York on the Lapland on June 1, 1915.  It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, but it took a while.

The ship's manifest shows that William was hospitalized on arrival, which would have delayed his arrival at his planned destination, Buffalo, where he was joining his brother Timothy.  Tim's address was given on the manifest as 76 Hamburg Street, Buffalo.  I Googled the address, which today appears to be a rather downtrodden industrial and residential area by the tracks.

So William arrived in mid-1915, single.  But the Jeremiah he travelled from Ireland with in 1924 was born in 1915.  Let's just say that when one considers biology and Catholocism, it seems unlikely this Jeremiah was William's son.

Then there's William's draft registration card, a document that had puzzled me for years.

When I'd first seen this, years ago, I couldn't figure out what sister-in-law he could be responsible for.  As far as I knew, of his brothers:

• Patrick had already returned to Ireland to have his family and was still alive;
• James, Daniel and Tim never married;
• Con and Jeremiah were still alive; and
• my grandad, John never left Ireland and lived until 1978.

TIP:  Periodically go over old conclusions in light of new information.

Then I remembered that I'd recently seen a marriage record for James.  He'd married in Boston, which had surprised me, as I thought he stayed in the Buffalo area after arriving in the States.  But Family Search had the image of the marriage registry and it convinced me I had the right James Moynihan as his parent's names were given correctly.  Guess the name of his bride?

Margaret.  Did you see that coming?

So William's brother James Moynihan married Margaret Daley in Boston on June 18, 1913.  The children that visited their grandfather Jeremiah in Ireland in 1924 were born in 1915 and 1917.  It makes sense that they're James' children.

It appears that James died in late 1916 or 1917, after young Margaret was conceived.  I wonder if he lived to see his little girl.  William and Tim's WWI draft registration cards, which appear to have been completed in 1917, indicate they were living together at 118 Walter St. in Buffalo and both single but responsible for a sister/sister-in-law.  And in the 1920 U.S. Census, we find a widowed Margaret "Mimahan" living at 434 South Division St. with her children Jeremiah and Margaret, her brothers-in-law Timothy and William, and several boarders.

By the 1930 U.S. Census, of course, William had married Elizabeth O'Connor and was living with Jerry (of Ventura) and Michael at 17 Woodside Ave., Buffalo.   Tim was still living with Margaret, the kids and boarders, by this time at #2-17 Mariemont St.

Did you notice how I wrote that above?  "It makes sense that" and "it appears that."  To really be sure of the connections I've just laid out, I would need to see the birth certificates of Margaret's children Jeremiah and Margaret to be sure my great-uncle James is their father.  And I'd need to see James' death certificate.  I don't think any of these records are accessible to a relative as distant as I am.

Perhaps one of the descendants of Jeremiah Moynihan, born 1915, and Margaret Moynihan, born 1917, will stumble upon this blog one day soon and get in touch.  Hello, Buffalo cousins!  You've got relatives close by in Ontario, Canada.  Please get in touch:  jimsgirlblog at gmail.com

Looking for Julia Moynihan, Grandad's Sister the Sister

In my usual scattered, "let's see who I can find today" approach -- which I really don't recommend -- I recently became interested in finding out more about my grandfather's older sister Julia Moynihan.  All my dad knew was that she became a Nun in Boston, Massachusetts.  I'd been working on the assumption that because Nun's take a religious name, I'd never be able to track Julia Moynihan, but that may not be true.

Can anyone help me find my grandaunt Julia Moynihan, the Sister?

Here's what I know (or in some cases am pretty sure about):

• 1883 (Dec. 29):  Julia was born in Shountullig, Cork, Ireland to Jeremiah Moynihan and Hanora Harnedy (Source: baptismal record)
• 1901 (Mar. 31):  Julia was 17, literate, living at home with her parents and a "general servant". (Source: 1901 Census of Ireland)  [1911 (Apr. 2):  Julia was not in Ireland.  She was not with her family and no other Julia Moynihan in the Census matches her.]
• 1907 (May 23):  A Julia Moynihan, aged 23, arrives in Boston on the Ivernia.  (Source:  Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists.)  Note:  Given the absence of detail on this Book Index, compared to a full ship's manifest, I don't know this is my Julia. I think it is her given that the age is right and it's the same ship her brother and cousins took the following year.
• 1908 (May 14):  Julia lived at 71 Bartlett Street, in Andover, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. (Source:  ships manifest for the Ivernia arriving in Boston with her brother Jeremiah and her cousins John and Maggie Sullivan)
• 1908 and 1913:  Julia lived at 92 North Main Street in Andover, the same address and Annie (aka Hannah) Harnedy, her aunt.  (Source: 1908 and 1913 Andover City Directories)  Note:  Julia does not appear in the previous city directory in 1904, nor in an alternate 1913 directory nor later Andover directories.

I cannot find any further record that I even suspect is my Julia Moynihan after 1913.  There are some Julias in the censuses, including with the Notre-Dame Academy, however they age is a bit off.  Regarding the Sisters of Notre-Dame, I found the following at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRISH-AMERICAN-OBITUARIES/2006-06/1150336802 :

Lowell Sun Lowell, MA April 3, 1945

Tyngsboro - Rev. Sr. Mary Josephine, stationed for the past twelve years at the Academy of Notre Dame, died yesterday at the academy, aged 60 years, following an illness of one week's duration.

The former Julia Moynihan, Sr. Mary Josephine was a native of Ireland, and had been for 35 years in the order of Notre Dame de Namur. During her years at the academy she was in charge of the sacristy.

I sent an inquiry through the order of Notre Dame de Namur website, they confirmed that this Sister Mary Josephine was actually a Cronin. They had no Julia Moynihan matching mine.

The Poor Clares of Boston have also indicated she wasn't a member of their order.

I have messages in now with the Carmelites and the Sisters of St. Joseph.  I have a list of other convents in the Boston area and I will check with each one.  I must mention that I was surprised how quickly both the Poor Clare and the Notre-Dame sisters responded by email.  I am lucky to live in a time when I can make these long-shot inquiries by email and receive such quick replies.

Is there anyone out there who knows more about my grandad's sister the Sister?  Who knew Julia Moynihan?

Wordless Wednesday: The Leahy Place at Gortnamona, County Cork

I took this photo during my trip to Ireland in 1989.  This is the entrance to my grandmother's family home in the Gortnamona township in County Cork.

I know you can't see the house (which I think was abandoned when I visited), but I can look at this photo all day.

X is for X Marks the Spot

Where eXactly was Martha Burrows born?

Let's start with an easier question:  who was Martha Burrows?  She was my sweetie's great-great-grandmother.  We think that she was Martha Perry before marrying James Burrows.  She was born around 1825 and had at least seven children:  Alfred, Samuel, Mary, Emma, James, Ellen and Ann.  She died in 1907.

But where did she come from?  All I can confidently say is that she was born in Somerset, England.  Here's what the census records tell us that she was born:

• about 1824 in Bathaelton, Somerset, according to the 1851 and 1861 Censuses of England, when the information was presumably given by her husband James as head of the household.
• about 1826 in Milverton, Somerset, according to the 1871 Census of England, when she would have given the information as head of the household (she was widowed by then).
• about 1825 in Hurstone, Somerset, according to the 1881 Census of England, information again from herself.
• about 1825 in Wiviliscombe, Somerset, according to the 1891 Census of England, where this time the information as likely given by her son-in-law Henry Cottrell.
• and finally about 1825 in Ashbrittle, Somerset, according to the 1901 Census of England, where the information would likely have been provided by her widowed daughter Emma Parsons.

That's five different birthplaces in six census returns.  When I first started tracing her, I wasn't even sure all these Martha Burrows were one woman, but I believe that they are.

Eventually, I looked at a map.  Hurstone was tough to find.  It doesn't appear to be a village or hamlet but a house or school near Waterrow, not far from town of Wiviliscombe.  The rest are villages and civil parishes forming a crescent moon shape in the far east of Somerset county, England very close to Devon.  All are now part of the Taunton Deane District but were formerly in the Wellington Rural District of Somerset.

I've noticed my West Cork relatives giving a variety of places of birth.  Having been born on a farm in a small townland, they gave the name of a nearby town when asked their birthplace.  I know to expect Bantry, Durrus, Schull and Ballydehob from the Moynihans.  I can imagine that if Martha was born in the country she may have done something similar, giving the name of any of the neighbouring villages.

It is frustrating to know that I may never track down where exactly she was born.  It was before civil records.  I did once find a possible Martha Perry on an index of Wellington District baptismal records.  I'll have to track that down, once I am more certain Perry was her maiden name.

TIP:  Consider the source.

I should take this opportunity to note that genealogists are frequently faced with conflicting information.  When a birthplace is given in a census record, it is considered a primary source when the information is provided by someone who would have first hand knowledge of the individual's birth, such as the person's parents.  Otherwise, it is generally a secondary source.  A spouse, child, in-law or employer may or may not know the correct information about an individual's birth.  Even the individual herself may not know her own birthplace if her family moved when she was very young.  Looking at Martha's six census records, I would tend to put the most weight on the information given when Martha herself was the head of household.  Yet Hurstone (near Waterrow) and Milverton are as far apart as any of her reported birthplaces get.

So, I must confess, X does not mark the spot.  I've spent hours researching and don't yet know eXactly where Martha was born.

Do you know?

W is for the Night of the Big Wind

In Irish, it's called "Oídhche na Gaoithe Móire." The Night of the Big Wind took place at Epiphany in 1839. My great-great-grandparents had been married less than a year and I believe they were living at Shantullig North in West Cork at this time. Epiphany is the feast of the three kings bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus. But in Ireland in 1839, Epiphany was about loss.

From the reports I have read, the severity of this particular storm was due to the convergence of different weather systems. First, the country experience heavy snowfall on January 5th. The next morning, on the Feast of the Epiphany, an Atlantic warm front came in. Temperatures rose and dense cloud covered the nation. The snow of the previous day began to melt. Later that day, an Atlantic depression brought a cold front. When it hit the warm air, severe rain and wind were the result. The winds were hurricane force. Imagine what the countryside looked like after such a storm, with its flooding and wind. Many were left homeless. Roofs were blown off, chimneys collapsed, fires broke out. Up to 300 souls were lost. Many animals died and crops set aside for the winter were scattered and destroyed. The impact on tenant farmer with a subsistence living must have been tremendous.

The Night of the Big Wind was such a momentous event in Irish history, that when the British established a state pension in 1909 and many Irish could not prove their age, for lack of birth or baptismal registration, people were asked if they remembered the Night of the Big Wind. If they did, they were old enough for the pension.

My family remembered the Night of the Big Wind. Stories about it were passed down through the generations. Here's how my dad tells the story of the Night of the Big Wind:

Blowing snow buried houses and people and cattle froze in the drifts. People had to dig their way out from upstairs windows or through the thatched roofs to get out.  I remember my father tell the story of a traveler on horseback lost in the storm, who rode his horse across the Clais na-Broine, that is the high field, westward to the field of the house. The wind having piled the snow level across the trench and then froze over so that the rider never realized what he had done when he came knocking at Granda's door.

I would point out that in West Cork is as far south as you can get in Ireland. The Gulf Stream comes right up along that coast, keeping the weather quite mild year round. It is so mild, in fact, that in West Cork, you will see many gardens with small palm trees. At Shantullig North, they don't get snow every winter, and they never get much at one time. The Night of the Big Wind was certainly an exception.

To learn more about the Night of the Big Wind, you can read more on the following sites:

• Oídhche na Gaoithe Móire “The Night of the Big Wind” on Irish Weather Online
• Night of the Big Wind on Wikipedia
• Ireland's Big Wind: A Freak Storm So Memorable, People Dated Their Lives by It, by Robert McNamara, About.com Guide
• Oiche na Gaoithe Moire by Bridget Haggerty

S is for the Skibbereen Heritage Centre

When I was in Ireland in 2008, my West Cork cousins were kind enough to take me to into Skibbereen town to visit the Skibbereen Heritage Centre. 

The Centre has a Great Famine Commemoration Exhibition.  As you probably know, the Irish famine in the 1840s, known as the Great Hunger, hit West Cork particularly hard.  To quote the Centre's website:

From newspaper accounts of the time, Skibbereen was depicted as being symbolic of the destitution and hardship caused by the failure of the potato crop. Between 8,000 and 10,000 unidentified souls are buried in the Famine graveyard at Abbeystrewery near Skibbereen.

In addition to helping to teach people how our West Cork ancestors lived and died, the Centre provides assistance with genealogical studies.  When I visited, a lovely lady found and copied the Griffith's Valuation and 1901 Irish Census forms for my Moynihan and Leahy ancestors.  Today we're lucky to be able to access them free online.  The Centre also holds parish registers for a number of West Cork Roman Catholic parishes, alas not Schull, and will do lookups.

The Skibbereen Heritage Centre website provides a variety of information, including the following searchable databases:  Loan Fund Database, Graveyard Database, and Townland Database.  There are also links to resources, genealogical or not.

I would encourage you to visit the Heritage Centre if you're in West Cork.  If you're not, and have West Cork heritage, check out the Centre's website.

Before I go, let me share with you what made me do a double-take on leaving the Skibbereen Heritage Centre.

OK, I realise that seeing a blue Honda Civic isn't surprising, even one this old.  Look at the sticker on the hatch, above the lights on the left:

Barrie Honda.  Now Barry is a common Irish name.  Barry's Tea is very popular.  But "Barrie" isn't in Ireland.  It is in Ontario.  I recognised the sticker, because I'd seen it on Hondas owned by my family members, in Ontario, not West Cork.  I still wasn't sure that this car was from Barrie, Ontario till I looked more closely at the steering wheel.  Look.  Left hand drive as opposed to the cars on either side.

Why on earth there was a car from Barrie Honda in the parking lot of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre in West Cork!  Any guesses?

N is for Nora's School Paper

I mentioned in the “H is for Hanora” post that I stumbled upon a piece of my Aunty Nora’s homework once when I Googled “Hanora Moynihan.” Let me tell you more about that.

Google took me to the Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive and the "Schools' Manuscript Collection - My Home District / Bailiuchan na Scol - Mo Cheantar Féin" from 1936-37." The collection description says, "this sub-collection consists of a series of selected essays by schoolchildren from participating counties in Munster and Connacht entitled 'My Home District', a topographical description of their own locality which they were encouraged to write."

The children were encouraged to consult their parents and elders in the community and write up some of the history of their areas. I’ve looked at a few in the collection – and unfortunately, unlike what we’ve gotten used to with some other digitized collections like on Ancestry, you cannot browse this collection. You can however search in two useful ways. If you search by family name, you will get results either for the child who was the author of the paper, or sometimes for the adult who provided the information. You can also type in the name of a townland of interest and see if a paper was done on it. It is hit and miss. It would appear that a few children per school were selected, so not all townlands in Munster (Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford) and Connacht (Counties Galway, Mayo. Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon) were covered. I did however find a full list of the papers included in the collection here.

My Aunt Nora’s paper, titled “My Home District,” lists the families resident at Shountullig, allowing us to compare the information to the previous censuses (which I will do in a future post on Shountullig). She was 12 when she prepared the paper. Here is the text:

“The name of my townland is Shountullig. It is in the parish of Schull and in the West Division of West Carbery. There is a population of about forty-six people in it. There is one Cullinane family, one Sullivan family, three Levis families, one Donovan family, one Moynihan family, one Hayes family, one Hodnett family and one Copithorne family and one Hegarty man in the townland. There are four Protestant families and seven Catholic families in it. There is but one person over seventy living there. She is eighty-three years of age. Her name is Mrs. Moynihan.

Houses were more numerous in former times. The old ruins were knocked down and drawn away. Some people sold their farms and went to live in America or Australia and other countries.


Nora Moynihan,

Shountullig,

Dunbeacon,

Durrus


Obtained from my father, John Moynihan, 40 years”

Perhaps you didn’t realize that in the Republic of Ireland there were so many Protestant families, over forty percent in this townland. In West Cork, the Catholic and Protestant families lived and worked closely together. It was only a year or so ago, when I was studying the 1901 and 1911 Censuses, that I realized that the Levis family that my dad had spoken of with such regard was a Protestant family.

Aunty Nora’s paper leaves us with one mystery.

Who is the eighty-three year old Mrs. Moynihan? There was only one Moynihan family in the townland, my dad’s. Their grandmother, who would have been a Mrs. Moynihan, had died in 1933. Who was this Mrs. Moynihan? Perhaps she was a mother-in-law living with one of the other families? We haven’t figured it out yet. Dad very young in 1936 and doesn’t remember. He called Aunty Nora in Ireland and she couldn’t recall either. Would you remember the details of homework you did seventy-five years ago?

P.S. Wasn’t her handwriting lovely?

K is for Katie Leahy

This is Katie Leahy, my grandmother, with her father Dick Leahy.  The photo was taken in the early 1900s, likely at their home in Gortnamona, in West Cork

The other day, I mentioned Irish naming patterns.  I was named after Katie because I'm the first-born daughter in my family.  I have three cousins named Catherine for the same reason (though one is the second-born girl -- one day I have to ask about that).

Katie died in 1959, shortly after my dad came to Canada... years before I was born.  She had had a series of strokes that had weakened her before her death.  That's about all I know about her.  Recently, dad mentioned the his mom used to crochet -- baby clothes and things.

My girl, the Bean, is also named after her paternal grandmother, who also died years before she was born.  Her Baba was Helen Kazuke.  We don't have a lot of pictures of Baba, but there are two in the family room, where they should be.  And we tell the Bean lots of stories about her Baba.

I think a girl should know who her grandmother is.  My grandmother and the Bean's both crocheted.  So do the Bean and I. 

What do you have in common with your grandmother?

J is for Jeremiah

It is fitting that my grandparents were Hanora and Jeremiah.  Both names are somewhat peculiar to West Cork and both have a few variations.

The Jeremiahs in my family have been known as Jerh or Jerry.  You will occasionally find Jer.  And when I was in Ireland in 1989, I met a colourful fellow known by the short form Miah. 

I like the idea of naming a girl Jeremiah and calling her Miah for short.  Wouldn't that be cool?  My Sweetie didn't think so.

Did you know that Dermot is a form of Jeremiah?  From what I've read, there was a period of time when the Catholic Church operating in Ireland tried to Latinize names.  You'll see this also in some old Sault Ste. Marie Catholic records where the Italian Marys I know were baptized Maria.  It's less obvious to Latinize Irish Gaelic names. Apparently, Con and Connor became Cornelius.  And Dermot and Diarmaid became Jeremiah.  Another form of Dermot, and hence Jeremiah, is Darby.  We refer to our original Moynihan ancestor (as far back as we have been able to take the tree) as Big Darby Mynehane.  You'll find him called Jeremiah Mynehane on some Ancestry trees online.

One last thing.  In case you don't yet have the song running through your head, let me share what inspired this post:  "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog."

No he wasn't, he was my ancestor.

E is for Ellis Island

For many North Americans, particularly those of us of "ethnic" stock, our quest for our ancestors leads us to Ellis Island.  In our collective consciousness, Ellis Island is THE point of entry for our European ancestors.  But is it really?

"From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor."  Ellis Island - History

Actually, Ellis Island was only the entry point for a limited period of time, for those going from Europe to New York.  Many of those immigrants were not necessarily planning to settle in New York, or even elsewhere in the United States.  Many immigrants (certainly several of my Italian relatives) came through Ellis Island with a planned final destination in Canada.

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was founded in the early 1980s to raise funds to restore and preserve both the Statue of Liberty and nearby Ellis Island.  In addition to that work, the Foundation opened the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in 1990 and, in 2001, the Foundation's Family Immigration History Center® made Ellis Island records available both on site and online.  I encourage you to go to ellisisland.org to search for your immigrant ancestors.

On the Ellis Island site, you will find a searchable database with links to individual ships manifests and pictures of those ships.  During the period when Ellis Island operated, many of the ships manifests were very detailed two-page documents. 

TIP:  When you are looking at original records, have a look at the page before and the page after.  They may contain important information.

If you find your people, be sure to view both sheets, where they are available, as they typically include important information such as previous address and final destination and with these you often get the names of relatives at each location.  These details can help you confirm you have the right person, for example when you already know his or her parents names at home.  Alternatively, they can identify new branches of the tree.  Remember my first post about Patrick Moynihan?  I learned that Patrick was going to Andover, MA to his Uncle William.  Before that, I didn't even know my greatgrandmother had a brother.  Later, searching for Uncle William turned up documents that confirmed my great-greatgrandparents' names.

The Ellis Island site allows you to view the ships manifests after free registration, but you cannot save the images to your computer as you can with an Ancestry subscription.  You can however order large format printouts of the manifests ($29.00 for an 11x17" or $39.00 for 17x22") or archival quality certificates for $29.00.  A warning on the certificates, they will mirror any errors in the transcription and indexing of the record. 

Let's just say that the quality of the handwriting varies from ship to ship.  These records would have been very challenging to transcribe accurately.  The searchable database will offer spelling variants for the names you search, which can help you find your people.  But the last place of residence will show up as transcribed, accurately or not.

TIP:  As you look through search results on indexed databases, keep a very open mind.  Think of how the handwriting may have been mistranscribed.

Once your eyes get used to in, you can easily read "Sankry" as Bantry or "Duness" as Durrus, both in West Cork.  And remember that your rural relatives may well have given the name of a nearby town as their birthplace or last residence, rather than that of a smaller community.

Here are the two pages of the ships' manifest for Patrick Moynihan's younger brother Daniel's passage to America.  If I'd been put off by "Duness" as his last place of residence, I wouldn't have found him.  He's the second passenger on the list.

TIP:  Keep looking, and not just in the same place.
Don't despair if you can't find your immigrant ancestors coming through Ellis Island.  Research immigration patterns and consider alternatives.  Perhaps your ancestors came before Ellis Island opened; they may have gone through Castle Garden in New York..  Where else might they have gone?  Many Irish sailed directly to Boston, where there was a large Irish community.  Or did your people they sail directly to Canada, into Quebec City or Halifax?  Who might they have travelled with?  Sometimes, particularly when the transcriptions are inaccurate, your ancestors may be invisible, but you might find them travelling with others from the same town.  It's worth picking another surname from the ancestral home and looking for your people travelling along side.  The Ellis Island site offers additional tips for searching its database.

Have a look at the Ellis Island site.  Tell me who you find.



C is for Caherolickane

I think I've mentioned before that the background on my blog is a photo I took in West Cork in May 2008 when I was lucky enough to stop in Ireland to visit family on my way to a conference for work.  Specifically, the photo was taken in the townland of Caherolickane, where my cousin has a home.



Caherolickane.  It looks a bit intimidating, that word.  Let's break it down:  CA-her-uh-LICK-an-uh.  At least, that's how I say it.

The Griffith's Valuation for County Cork was completed in 1853, according to a web source I'm having trouble finding again.  (If someone has better info and a source, please share.)  At that time, the following were living at Caherolickane:

• George Moss, junior
• George Moss
• John Minahane, junior
• John Minahane
• John Sullivan (Laure)
• John Minahane (Tailor)
• John Minahane
• Denis Minahane
• Catherine Coughlan
• John Sullivan (Laure) -- again
• John Sullivan (Baroul)
• Denis Connor
• Daniel Minahane
• Michael Harrington
• Timothy Sullivan
• Joanna Harrington

In the Griffith's, if there were two men of the same name in a townland, they were typically distinguished in some way, such as indicating their professions (e.g., tailor) or appearance (e.g., red).  I wish I could tell you what Laure and Baroul mean, but I haven't found a meaning yet.  Does anyone know?

By the time of the 1901 Irish Census, there were far fewer households in Caherolickane:

• John Moss
• John Sullivan
• John Daly
• Bridget Harrington
• Dan Sullivan
• Bridget Hegarty -- Bridget was a widow, 90 years of age, described as a "retired farm servant"
• Mary McCarthy
• Pat Moynihan
• Tim Sullivan

The census tells us that many of the women of about 50 years of age were unable to read.  And those who were head of household often signed the census sheet with an X.  Men and women of this age, however, typically spoke both English and Irish.

In 1911, the following households were in Caherolickane:

• John Sullivan
• Bridget Harrington
• John Daly
• Daniel Sullivan
• Bridget Sullivan
• Cornelius Moynihan-- his father Patrick had died since the last census
• Mary McCarthy
• John Moss

In 1911, many of the families had unmarried children at home in their late twenties and early thirties.

I had a look at my tree on Family Tree Maker (FTM) to see exactly who Patrick and Cornelius Moynihan were to me.  Well, Patrick was my first cousin, three times removed and Cornelius was my second cousin, twice removed.  I'll explain the cousin thing in another post.  Between the details dad gave me on the family and what was on the two census forms, it was easy to match Patrick and Con to people in my tree.  But the census allow me to confirm birth dates and names.  It's always good to have another source.  Patrick was known as Little Paid (pronounced Pawd) and Cornelius as Conn Paid.  The census data also allowed me to clarify a question mark I had in the tree.  I had Con's wife as either Marg Ellen or Eliza Sullivan.  The 1911 census tells me Con was married to Eliza, but it also tells me that Eliza had borne no children and been married only ten years.  The children in the household, all over 10, appear to be Con's children from a previous wife, Marg Ellen perhaps?

The West Cork parish registers will be available online later in 2011 and they should help me track down exactly who Con's first wife, mother of the three children was.  I'll let you know when it comes online.

Design Changes at the Jim's Girl Family History Blog

If you're back for a repeat visit, you will have noticed that I've changed the design of the blog.  I set the blog up last week, in the early hours of last Saturday morning, using a simple blog template.  Literally, it was called "Simple."  Having viewed a few other blogs, I wanted something a little more personal for my blog.  This morning I was able to spend some time personalizing the design.

I hope you like the new look.  If you're wondering about the picture, it's a shot I took in Ireland in 2008 from my cousin's property in Caherolickane, a townland in West Cork.  Wouldn't you love to see that sunset every day?