Curran of Carrowdotia House

[pwaldron]

John Curran (Curren in some newspaper articles) was born in either Dublin (1911 census) or Clare (1901 census). He was a saddler and harness maker. In 1866 Q2 in Ennis PLU (v.9, p.137), he married Jane Pilkington. Jane was a daughter of John Pilkington of Termon East. Whether her mother was John's first wife Maria Lillis (m.12 Feb 1843) or John's second wife Marcella Blackall (m.28 Nov 1848) depends on whether one believes her age in the 1901 census (50) or in the 1911 census (68). I have not yet obtained a copy of the 1866 marriage certificate, which should give a more reliable estimate of her birth date, which does not appear to be included in the Kilkee Catholic baptismal register, where several children of both of John's wives are recorded.

According to the 1911 census, the Currans had seven children born alive, four still living. I think I have identified the three who did not survive: A first Edward (1869-1873, bur. Old Shanakyle); John (1872-1885) and Mary Alice (1879-1893). I have identifed two, and possibly three, of the four who survived.

1. William T. (1877-1952), unmarried living with his parents in 1901 (Market Square, Kilrush) and 1911 (Carrowdotia House). Did he ever marry or have children? His death notice is typicallly uninformative for the time:

Irish Independent
Monday, February 11, 1952
Page: 1
CURRAN (Killimer) - Feb 10, 1952, at
his residence, Carrowdotia House, Killimer,
Co. Clare, William T. Curran; deeply
regretted. R.I.P. Mass to-day at 10 o'c.
Funeral to Shanakyle at 12 noon.

The Curran tombstone in Shanakyle does not appear to have been updated since 1873!

2. Edward Thomas, M.D. (1874-1945) who emigrated to New York and led an interesting life. He is mentioned frequently in the New York Times archives, including the following obituary:

The New York Times 30 Mar 1945
`Edward T. Curran,
Attorney 38 years
Dr. Edward T. Curran, first
president of the Kings County
Lawyers Association and a spe-
cialist in Workmen's Compensation
cases, died of a heart attack
Wednesday afternoon while attend-
ing the Terminal Theatre, Fourth
Avenue and Dean Street, Brook-
lyn, with his wife. He was 69
years old.
Born in Killimer, County Clare,
Ireland, he came to New York at
the age of 19 and received an
M.D. degree from Long Island
College Hospital in 1905. His law
degree came from the Brooklyn
Law School in 1907.
He was a veteran of the Spanish-
American War and of the Boxer
Rebellion. Later he became na-
tional president of the Veteran
Voters' League. He occupied of-
fices at 320 Broadway in Man-
hattan.
Besides his widow, the former
Mary F. A. Fitzpatrick, of New
York, whom he married in 1902, he
leaves a daughter, Mrs. Frederick
B. Reilly, and a brother William,
of County Clare, Ireland.'

There was also a regular death notice:

The New York Times 30 Mar 1945.
CURRAN - Edward T., M.D., suddenly on
March 28, 1945; beloved husband of Mary
F. A.; devoted father of Mrs. Frederick B.
Reilly. Reposing at Walter B. Cooke, Inc.,
Funeral Home, 50 7th Ave., Brooklyn, until
Saturday, 9 A. M.

... and some belated announcements in the Irish papers, including:

Irish Independent
Thursday, April 26, 1945
Page: 1
CURRAN (New York) - March 28, 1945,
Edward T. Curran, M.D., son of the late
John and Jane Curran, Carrowdotia
House, Killimer, Co. Clare; deeply re-
gretted by his brother, nephew, nieces,
and aunt Bridget. R.I.P. Immaculate
Heart of Mary, pray for him.

Who were the nephew and nieces and "aunt Bridget"? Why were his wife and daughter not mentioned in the Irish death notice? Were there any grandchildren?

His photograph appears at http://ancestorarchive.com/bimages1/020091.jpg

3. "Curran Martin Dr. Carrowdotia House, Killimer 27 Apr 1940 Death" is listed at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ionc10.htm
The nearest match in Irish Civil Registration Indexes is in Galway in the previous quarter, and this appears a more likely match:

The New York Times, 18 Apr 1940:
DR. MARTIN J. CURRAN
Special to The New York Times
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J., April 17
- Dr. Martin J. Curran, World War
naval surgeon and a practicing phy-
sician at near-by Chatsworth, in the
Burlington County pines section, for
the last twenty years, died today of
a heart attack at the age of 73.
Dr. Curran served from 1918
through 1921 on board troop trans-
ports and at one time had a sana-
torium in New York.

U.S. Census returns for 1920 and 1930 both show that Dr. Martin Curran was born to Irish parents in New York, where the family may have lived briefly between the parents' marriage in 1866 and the birth of the first Edward in Kilrush PLU in 1869.

4. I have yet to identify the fourth living child mentioned in the 1911 census. Can anyone out there fill the gap?

I'm also not sure whether the Curran children were born in Carrowdotia, as suggested in Edward's obituary, or in Kilrush.

Hugh Weir's Houses of Clare confirms that Moneypoint power station was constructed on the demesne between Carrowdotia House and the River Shannon, on the road between Kilrush and the Killimer-Tarbert car ferry.