M is for Munster

Ireland is divided into four provinces:  Munster, Ulster, Connacht, and Leinster. Munster makes up the south-west corner of Ireland and includes the following counties:  Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford.

My dad is a Munster man.  He was born in Munster.  And his surname, Moynihan, means "Munsterman."  I was going to tell you all about the name Moynihan today, but I will have to save that for another day.

L is a Limerick

There once was a girl named Kate,
who had a discouraging trait:
no matter what makeup
or perfume or hairdo,
she couldn't find someone to date.

By Katherine Moynihan
(who, as you know, managed eventually to find someone great to date)

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.

I is for Irish Censuses

In a number of previous posts, I have mentioned the Irish Census of 1901 and 1911.  Wondering why I haven't mentioned earlier censuses?  Censuses were taken in Ireland every ten years starting in 1821, but very little of them survive.  This page from the Irish National Archives tells you which counties have some (I repeat "some") remaining early censuses.

Because so little is available, many Irish family historians rely on census substitutes such as the Griffith's Valuation which list the heads of households of virtually all the households in Ireland.  The information in the Griffith's Valuation is certainly helpful but it does not give you a full list of inhabitants nor any indication of dates of birth.

As such, for those of us whose ancestors left Ireland late, the 1901 and 1911 Irish Censuses offer a gold mine of information.  The data varies somewhat between the two censuses, but I've found wonderful information such as:

• Occupations -- My people were mostly farmers, but I learned that between 1901 and 1911, cousin Patrick Moynihan in Caherolickane became a shopkeeper as well as farmer.
• Who could speak Irish -- My great-grandfather Jeremiah Moynihan could, so could my great-great-grandfather Patrick Leahy.
• Who was blind -- Patrick knew Irish but could no longer read it, as he was blind at age 80.
• At what age my grandparents' generation learned to read -- My grandparents were four and five in the 1901 census.  They couldn't read yet but their siblings over age 7 could.
• How many children a woman had -- The 1911 Census tells me that my great-grandmother Hanora (Harnedy) Moynihan had ten children but only 9 were still living.

Perhaps the best thing about the Irish Censuses is that they are available free online.  The Irish Archives partnered with Library and Archives Canada to digitize the 1901 and 1911 Censuses.  I love this line from the Irish Archives site:   "As a fellow national archival institution,  Library and Archives Canada share our values in relation to preservation of, and access to, our documented heritage."

Yay Canada!

Inspiring Blog Award

This week I received the Inspiring Blog Award from  Deirdra Eden-Coppel at A Storybook World.  Thank you very much, Deirdra!

I would like to share the award with the Finding Kline blog I discovered from yesterday's Geneabloggers post. Courtney at Finding Kline is researching her Kline grandparents, who along with a daughter were killed in a car accident in 1965.  Courtney's dad and uncle, who were just preschoolers at the time, survived the crash.

Finding Kline is truly an Inspiring Blog.

H is for Hanora

Hanora... Hanora? The usual reaction to that name is: H is for Huh?

If you don’t have Irish connections, you may never have seen or heard the name Hanora. You might think it’s a misspelling. It isn’t. But it is often misspelled. Even by the people who knew and loved Hanoras.

My great-grandmother was Hanora Harnedy. I would like to order her birth certificate to prove that is the spelling of her name. In the 1901 Irish Census, her husband recorded her name as Hanoria. In the 1911

Census, he wrote Nora. When she herself registered her son Con’s birth, she gave her nickname Nanno. When her son James married in Boston, her name was typed up Honora on the register, but that may have been a matter of the typist "correcting" the spelling. And when Con was married the second time, he gave his mother’s name as Julia Harnedy. Julia?! He must have been nervous and gave his paternal grandmother’s name with mother’s maiden name.

I've sometimes wondered if Hanora might have been an Irish version of Hannah.  On the contrary, I have found more than one family in the Irish censuses with daughters named Hannah and Hanora.  In the search I did, in the 1901 Irish Census, there were 5,213 Hanoras across Ireland.  By 1911, there were only 3,436.

My aunt is named after Hanora Harnedy in accord with the standard Irish naming pattern: as first-born daughter, she was named after her paternal grandmother. But she has always gone by the name Nora. Generations back, there was a Hanora Mynehane who was known as Norrie-of-the-Hill.

Recently, I googled “Hanora Moynihan” my great-grandmother’s married name. To my great surprise, I found:

1. A poem titled “Hanora Moynihan” by Francis Duggan.  Mr. Duggan writes about a spinster named Hanora Moynihan he knew near Millstreet in County Cork. You can find the poem here.
2. My Aunt Nora’s school assignment from 1936-37 about her townland of Shountullig North. Come back Saturday, April 16 for “N is for Nora” for more on this.

Ever come across a Hanora?