McNamara of Crusheen

[M. McNamara]

I’m publishing this to see if it will trigger any memories of readers in the Crusheen area.

My GGF, Timothy McNamara, was born in 1815 (1901 census), possibly in or near Crusheen.. In 1850 he was in Sixmilebridge, renting a house and 10ac. from Henry Butler of Castlecrine (Griffith’s valuation). In 1852, he married Judith McInerney from Moygalla, Sixmilebridge. In 1868, he was renting a house and 80ac. in Sixmilebridge from the Butlers of Castlecrine (Valuation Office records). In addition to working his farm, he was also a land steward for the Butlers, and known as “Faithful Thady”. (Butler estate papers in the National Library).

I am trying to find where my GGF came from and what happened to the rest of his family.

According to family folklore, he was a tenant of the Butlers in Crusheen. He was unpopular with some of his neighbours in that his cattle were turned out onto the road and he suffered some harassment. For his safety, the Butlers moved him to their other estate in Sixmilebridge. He appears to have moved on his own, so presumably he left behind parents and siblings. I don’t know the reason for his unpopularity with his neighbours. The period we are looking at was in or around the time of the great famine so perhaps he was involved in evictions on behalf of the Butlers, or benefitted in some way from evictions or maybe it was something else.

I searched in Griffiths for McNamaras in the Crusheen area (parishes of Inchicronan & Kilraghtis), who had Butler as their landlord. There were 3 in the townland of Carrownacloghy; Henry, Michael & Denis. These were tenants of a James Butler. I then searched for Henry Butler in all of Co. Clare and found that other than Sixmilebridge (parish of Kilfinaghta), he owned land in the townland of Ballyogan, parish of Kilraghtis. He did not have any McNamara tenants but in the same townland one Crosdale Molony had a Michael McNamara as tenant. Interestingly, this Crosdale Molony had two addresses; one of which was in Sixmilebridge.

So, very tentatively, I suspect one of the above four McNamaras could be my GGF’s family.

Are there any avenues of search I missed?
Does the story of GGF’s removal from the Crusheen area ring any bells with local people?

[Paddy Casey]

I’m publishing this to see if it will trigger any memories of readers in the Crusheen area.

I searched in Griffiths for McNamaras in the Crusheen area (parishes of Inchicronan & Kilraghtis), who had Butler as their landlord. There were 3 in the townland of Carrownacloghy; Henry, Michael & Denis. These were tenants of a James Butler. .......

This rang a bell with me. I just found my notes from the Carrownacloghy Cancellation Books and see that an ancestor of mine, James Casey, occupied Plot 8 together with Michael McNamara (valuation book cancelled in 1883). They were occupying the same plot in the next book (no date of cancellation visible, revisions of 1893 and 1894). In the next book Michael McNamara seems to have been replaced by Martin McNamara and then it looks as if the land passed to James Casey and Thomas McNamara and John O'Dea in fee in 1905 or 1914 (the annotations are confusing). Again, in the book cancelled 14/6/1934 James Casey is holding the land "in fee LAP"together with Thomas McNamara but in the final book, cancelled 6/11/1970, the plot is held exclusively by Michael Casey "in fee LAP".

Paddy

[smcarberry]

Really good to see that you have found the estate papers for your target area. Paddy Casey's contribution to knowledge of the people there is even more extensive, as he has managed to skirt the bull and get to the graveyard, where his transcriptions include the McNamara burials. See: Kiltolagh Cemetery
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... parish.htm

You may be able to track down a paper turned in for the school folklore project of the 1930s. Here are the details that can lead to that:
By Nancy Mc Namara, collected from Mr. Mc Namara, Ballyogan, Co. Clare
Schools' Manuscript Collection, done in 1937/38
http://ivrlaprod.ucd.ie/fedora/get/ivrl ... getLayout/

Anyone wishing to dig further intp the history of this area (Paddy, I see that your graveyard informant was a Cullinan), check this out:
ENNIS, MAY 1- On Thursday morning last two men were brought into town by the police...one of whom was executed, and the other is still in our Gaol under sentence of death, for the murder of Bridget Cullinan, at Moyrhee, in the year 1818. They have been committed to prison.
THE CONNAUGHT JOURNAL
Galway, Thursday, May 6, 1824
http://www.irelandoldnews.com/Galway/1824/MAY.html

posted by Sharon Carberry
researching Ruan for Lucas only

[Paddy Casey]

Anyone wishing to dig further intp the history of this area (Paddy, I see that your graveyard informant was a Cullinan), check this out:
ENNIS, MAY 1- On Thursday morning last two men were brought into town by the police...one of whom was executed, and the other is still in our Gaol under sentence of death, for the murder of Bridget Cullinan, at Moyrhee, in the year 1818. They have been committed to prison.
THE CONNAUGHT JOURNAL
Galway, Thursday, May 6, 1824
http://www.irelandoldnews.com/Galway/1824/MAY.html

posted by Sharon Carberry
researching Ruan for Lucas only

Hi, Sharon !

There is some more on the fates of Bridget Cullinan and those of her murderers at http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... linan+1818 The topic interested me because the events took place on "my" patch and the stories of the violence associated with illicit distilling in and around Moyrhee and Moyrhee Commons are firmly anchored in the local lore. Why, in summer our family in Moyrhee kept perishables in a limestone cave on the other side of the Moyrhee river which they called a "summerhouse". The cave had earlier been used by distillers because its position on an island prevented the excisemen from sneaking up on it without warning. By the time they arrived on the scene the distillers had dismantled their equipment* and disappeared in a little cloud of dust.

Paddy

* In recent years in rural areas in the West of Ireland farmers who were in the business of illicit distillation used to use the radiators of their tractors as condensers instead of the classical worm. If they caught sight of the police approaching, or got word that they were coming, they would simply reconnect the radiator to the tractor engine and - abracadabra ! - the evidence was gone (the condenser being a key piece of evidence which the law had to show in court in order to obtain a conviction). Of course, since car or tractor radiators contain large amounts of lead from the solder used in their construction, the hooch which dripped out of these makeshift condensers was a cause of lead poisoning in those that drank large amounts of it. The practice largely died out in the '50s and '60s, so I am told, as large parts of the population became wealthy and were able to afford (legal) branded spirits. P.

[Paddy Casey]

posted by Sharon Carberry
researching Ruan for Lucas only

Sharon,

The word 'Lucas' just jumped off the screen.

There was a Mr Lucas who lived in Moyrhee Commons some time back (I can't find the exact date in my notes, but bear with me). I walked through and around the ruins of his house a couple of years ago. Heck, I can even give you the GPS coordinates of the house. He owned roundabouts and other fairground attractions and travelled around to fairs with them.

As you know, Moyrhee Commons is adjacent to Ruan.

I wonder if this Lucas is related to "yours".

Paddy

[M. McNamara]

Sharon & Paddy, thank you both for your input. My investigations continue and I will keep the forum updated with any developments.

Michael McNamara

[irishpads]

I’m publishing this to see if it will trigger any memories of readers in the Crusheen area.
Paddy

Hi Paddy

New member here and total novice. However i may have some infor wrt to the McNamaras of Carrowncloghy.

Based on initial inter family questioning-

Michael on the 1901 census would seem to be my GGG F.

Michael was the father of Martin,

Martin's Children, Thomas Michael and John, Thomas was my maternal GF. as yet i have no infor on Michael the sibling but I know that John died and is buried in Bethune Commom Wealth Grave He was in the Royal munster Fussiliers.

Here is a connection that may be of interest to you thou. Martin was 37 in 1901, Hi Wife was a Mary Casey and apparently died..

It has been suggested to me that it may have been in the "lunatic" asylum, if it was not. My elderly aunt who would have been her neice by marraige remembers a controvery around her death.

This is my next line im gonna follow any help would be fab.


The picture of the Mcnamara grave in Kiltolagh. Bridie, Thomas and Paddy in 2002 is my uncle and granparents.

Additionally i am told that Martin Mary and Michael are intered there as well, i need to investigate this a bit more .

I hope some of this helps and im traveling to Ireland this month to do a bit more digging because i think i can shed light on th O,Dea connection as well

any info you may have would be great


Gary aka irishpads


I searched in Griffiths for McNamaras in the Crusheen area (parishes of Inchicronan & Kilraghtis), who had Butler as their landlord. There were 3 in the townland of Carrownacloghy; Henry, Michael & Denis. These were tenants of a James Butler. .......

This rang a bell with me. I just found my notes from the Carrownacloghy Cancellation Books and see that an ancestor of mine, James Casey, occupied Plot 8 together with Michael McNamara (valuation book cancelled in 1883). They were occupying the same plot in the next book (no date of cancellation visible, revisions of 1893 and 1894). In the next book Michael McNamara seems to have been replaced by Martin McNamara and then it looks as if the land passed to James Casey and Thomas McNamara and John O'Dea in fee in 1905 or 1914 (the annotations are confusing). Again, in the book cancelled 14/6/1934 James Casey is holding the land "in fee LAP"together with Thomas McNamara but in the final book, cancelled 6/11/1970, the plot is held exclusively by Michael Casey "in fee LAP".

Paddy

[Gerry Kennedy]

Hi
I am a local historian, a native of and living in Crusheen. There are two separate issues here which may or may not be linked.
1. The Timothy McNamara query by Michael and
2. McNamara of Carhunacloghy info request by Gary

1. Michael points out that Timothy McNamara, his ggfather was in Sixmilebridge in 1850, married there and then came to a farm in Crusheen owned by the Castlecrine Butlers.
The major part of land owned by the Castlecrine Butlers in Inchicronan (Crusheen) parish was situated in the opposite end of the parish (to Carhunacloghy), i.e. in Toberbreeda Electoral Division. They also owned some land at Carrownacloghy and Carrowkeal townlands where the McNamara’s mentioned by Gary were tenants. I have had a look at my notes on the Valuation Cancellation Books for Toberbreeda ED. I have a record of Timothy McNamara as tenant of a holding of 117A 2R 16P (Map Ref 1) in the 1893 Cancellation Books in Knocknamucky Townland. He did not appear in the original Griffith Valuation or the cancellation Books of 1859 when the tenant was a Patrick Culligan.
This holding was the centre of a major dispute in 1900/01 when a local man, presumably Timothy McNamara, was evicted (by Butlers of Castlecrine) and an agent named Carroll was sent to run the farm. Carroll sent his children to the local school in Drumbanniff (Drumbonniv) resulting in 30 children being withdrawn by their parents in a boycott of the school. The only children attending the school for an approximately 18 month period were those of Carroll and the teacher Francis Enrick. I had never heard of this school boycott until I came across references to it in National Archives while researching an article on education in the parish.
The fact that there was such strong local agitation would indicate that McNamara may have had local connections. Unfortunately no Baptismal or marriage records exist for the parish prior to 1860 and 1864 so establishing relationships is going to be quite difficult.

However, Timothy appears to be a name synonymous with Michael’s family. I then checked for a McNamara family with the name in the area and discovered a Teady McNamara married to an Anne McCarthy in Cullinagh Townland. ( this is in Crusheen ED only a short distance from Carhunacloghy, but in Kilraghtis parish). Teady married into the McCarthy holding of approximately 7 acres and the likelihood is that he was from a nearby townland. Teady died, aged 70, on 16/12/1893; Anne died aged 56 on 28/4/1905. They had five children, Henry, bapt. 24/5/1874; Timothy, bapt. 19/2/1876; Elizabeth, bapt. 14/4/1878; Daniel, bapt. 31/8/1879 and Margaret, bapt. 13/9/1880.
Timothy married a Margaret McNamara , of Carhunacloghy a daughter of John McNamara Carhunacloghy and Bridget Galvin of Knockaclara (Kilraghtis parish) on 6/6/1914. Margaret was baptised in Crusheen on 20/11/1896. Her parents John ( bapt 10/9/1866, FN Pat , d. 14/1/1910,aged 85), MMN Bridget Casey) and Bridget Galvin (FN Denis) were married on 8/2/1896. Margaret had at least eight siblings and some of their descendants still reside in the locality.

If there are any of the above first names common in Michael’s family, this could be an indication of kinship.

2. Gary has outlined some of the names in his McNamara line. His ggfather Martin married Mary Casey on 27/7/1889. According to the local records Mary was a daughter of Patt Casey and Catherine Howard. She was baptised in Crusheen on 14/2/1866. Catherine died, aged 75, on 4/5/1914.

Martin and Mary’s children were:
Michael Joseph, bapt. 20/11/1890; Thomas, bapt 14/12/1891; John, bapt. 19/5/1893; Martin, bapt. 21/2/1895 and Pat, bapt. 27/9/1900.

His ggfather, Martin, had siblings Mary, bapt. Nov 1860 and Bridget, bapt. 13/1/1863. Father Michael, mother, Mary McGrath.

The John McNamara at 1 above who married Bridget Casey in 1896 is very likely closely connected to the Martin McNamara who was married to Mary Casey. John and Martin are probably first cousins and Mary and Bridget also likely to be first cousins. However those links need further confirmation.

Paddy, you may be able to clarify the Casey connections.

On the McNamara side there is a possibility that Timothy, Michael’s ggfather born 1815, if he can confirm the link to Crusheen, Pat born c.1825 and Gary’s gggfather Michael, born c.1826 were brothers.

Gerry

[irishpads]

Hi Gerry

Thank you for all the information. I have printed it all off and am currently digesting and positioning it within my family.

Im off to Dublin next week to see my aunt Dyphna, who incidentially says she may know you!

Im really hopeful that i will end up with a really full tree, given the wealth of local knowledge out there.

The connection you mentioned wrt Timothy and my GGGF Michael is deffo worth following up.

Though as previously mentioned im a complete novice so im gonna take it slow

Thx again

Gary

[Paddy Casey]

As a first shot at glueing together some of these names see the attached PDF file. In my genealogical database the individuals have unique numbers (UserIDs) to differentiate the individuals with identical names (e.g. Michael McNamara). Those are the numbers (e.g. "600") attached to the names. Thus in discussions I might refer to Michael McNamara-614 to avoid confusion with other Michael McNamaras.

Unfortunately my genealogical charting programme which charts the relationships in a variety of snazzy colours won't include the UserIDs (aaaargh !), hence the attached "1950s B&W TV" version

Descendants of Patrick Casey of Carrownacloghy.pdf

(5.44 KiB) Downloaded 879 times

.

I still can't identify or "attach" the Bridget Casey that Gerry mentioned but his idea that she was closely related to the Mary Casey-603 sounds credible.

By the way, for a number of reasons I'm pretty certain that Catherine Casey, née Howard-606 was from Tubber, that being additional fuel to the idea that at least one Casey family of Carrownacloghy/Carhunaclohe was closely related to the Caseys of Tubber.

Paddy

[Gerry Kennedy]

Casey’s of Carhunaclohe:

Griffith Valuation.
James Casey and Timothy Burns were joint tenants of 41A 3R 39P at time of Griffith Valuation (c.1855) . this was the only Casey in Carhunacloghy at this time. James was also registered as a tenant in the Tithe Applotment records on 20 Oct 1834.

Valuation Office Cancellation Books Crusheen DED.
The Valuation Cancellation Books for 1875 show the following Casey’s as tenants in Carhunacloghy
Map ref 2 James Casey 7A 1R 31P RV £3 (Land) £0 15 0 (Buildings) The tenant was
Patrick Connor at time of Griffith Valuation

Map ref 8 James Casey with Michael McNamara
7A 0R 37P RV £2 12 0 (Land) (£1 6 0 each) £0 (Buildings)
By 1894 the tenants were James Casey while John O’Dea had taken over from McNamara

Map ref 24a Michael Casey 31A 0 R 34P RV £10 15 0 (Land) £1 2 0 (Buildings)
1b Michael Casey (Labrs Hse and gdn ) 0A 0R 35P RV £0 3 0 (L) £0 5 0 (B)
In 1894 Michael Casey was still tenant but was replaced by William Casey
in 1905.

Map ref 25a Timothy Burns and Patrick Casey
41A 03R 39P RV £14 5 0 (L) £0 15 0 (B), (£7 10 0 to each)
By 1894 the tenants of 25a were Catherine Casey and Mary Burns with Patrick Casey taking over from Catherine in 1905 and Mary Burns being replaced by “Reps of” in 1895.

It is likely that this is the Patrick Casey who married Catherine Howard. He appears to be a son of James Casey. The other James and Michael recorded as tenants in 1875 are likely to be brothers of Patrick.

Birth Baptismal and Death Records:
I then examined my records for other Casey families in Carhunaclohe and the details of the two families in addition to Paddy’s are as follows:

The Death registers show a death of a Mary Casey, widow, aged 80 years from Carhunaclohe on 31 Mar 1878. i.e. born c.1798 and therefore likely to be the widow of James Casey and mother of Patrick Casey . The death was reported by a ??? McInerney.

Michael Casey Carhunacloghy b. circa 1827, d. 3 Oct 1902
+ Ellen McInerney b 1845, d. 2 Dec 1903
Pat Casey bapt. 20 Jan 1868
James Casey bapt. Mar 1869
Mary Casey bapt.21 Apr 1871
Bid Casey bapt. 15 Jan 1873
William Casey bapt. 29 July 1876
Agnes Casey bapt. 11 July 1881

Patrick Casey (Ballyline) b. 1814, d.25 Feb 1889
Anne Casey
James Casey b. 1839, m. 31 July 1871,(Carhunacloghy) d.8 Jan 1920
+ Mary Connors (O’Connor), b. 1848, FN Patrick, d. 15 Mar 1930.
Maria Casey bapt. 24 May 1872 Sponsors Teady Casey and Bid Fogarty
Bridget Casey bapt. 23 Nov 1874 Sponsors John Kennedy and Biddy Cusack
Pat Casey bapt. 8 Apr 1877 Sponsors Pat Casey and Mary Casey
Michael Casey bapt. 4 Oct 1879 Sponsors Peter Barry and Bridget Cusack
James Casey bapt. 3 Aug 1881 Sponsors Patt Casey and Maria Casey
Nora Casey bapt. 5 Apr 1883 Sponsors Michael Byrnes and Bridget Byrnes
Anne Casey bapt. 1 Apr 1885 Sponsors Pat Casey and Bridget Casey
Margaret Casey bapt. 29 Oct 1887 Sponsors Thady Byrnes and Mary Byrnes

It would appear therefore that Michael Casey who married Ellen McInerney is a brother of Patrick who married Catherine Howard
James Casey who married Mary Connors is a son of another Patrick Casey who lived in Ballyline townland ( not recorded in Griffith or subsequent). This Patrick may have been a brother of James who farmed at Carhunaclohe in 1834 -55 but this remains to be proven.

Gerry

[ephorvitz]

I have information on Denis McNamara of sixmilebridge (castlecrine). According to a letter I have, Denis McNamara married Ellen Meany February 27, 1854. they had 5 children Anne b. 1855, Matt b. 1857, Patt 1859, John 1860, andMary 1863. this can be verfied by the County Clare Heritage Centre. Denis had a sister Ellen born 1818. She is my second great grandmother. Ellen asked her Patrick McCormick to send passage money for Denis and his children in Castlecrine to come to the States. He stayed with Ellen for awhile in Washington DC and then left on not very good terms with Patrick McCormick. I have not been able to fine Denis in the census records so far.

Don't know if this is connected to the Denis that you mentioned?