Looking for Mathew O'Brien--1835-1845
Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:36 pm
I am looking for information on one Mathew O’Brien and his wife Mary Scully. Mathew emigrated to America sometime after September 1839 and I believe before 1 June 1840. Subsequent to his emigration and before the rest of the family could join him Mary died.
Based on a research report we received from The Clare Heritage Center the following Baptismals were found.
? BAPTISED 30-12-1833
SPONSORS Patrick Moroney
Thomas BAPTISED 04-12-1837
SPONSORS Martin O’Dea & Bridget Hogan
William BAPTISED 06-12-1840
SPONSORS Mary McMahon”
It is unfortunate that the priest neglected to record the first child’s Christian name for the 1833 baptism.
I think at this point I will interject some discussion about Mathew’s arrival in Virginia and William’s birth date. I have located a Mathew O’Brien in the 1840 Federal Census for Virginia, Bedford County, Southern District. The data for the 1840 census was suppose to be taken as of 1 June that year and the enumerators had 18 months to gather the data. As you can imagine having that much time between effective date of the census and gathering of the data could lead to errors. It is entirely possible for Mathew to be in Bedford County for that census and still be the father to William. If we believe this scenario then Mathew could not leave Clare until late September 1839 at the earliest and must have arrived in the Bedford area of Virginia by late May 1840.
Returning to the Baptismal Registers we can now locate Mathew and Mary O’Brien. The children were baptized in what is today known as the ecclesiastical Parish of Bodyke-Tomgraney which at one time comprised the old Civil Parishes of Kilnoe-Tomgraney. The priest recorded the family’s address as Knockbrack. Knockbrack is a subdivision of the bigger townland of Drummod. Drummod is a townland situated in the old Civil Parish of Kilnoe(Bodyke). If you review an Ordnance Survey map of that time period you will see that Drummod was sited just over a mile south of the village of Bodyke.
Another comment by the researcher was that sponsors were often close relatives of the family and based on that they examined the above listed sponsors in the hope of uncovering a connection between these families and the families of O’Brien and Scully.
In examing those records they found a Connor Hogan and his wife Norry O’Brien who resided at Knockbrack. The researcher believes there is a possibility that Norry O’Brien was a sister to Matthew O’Brien. Additionally the records show a Thomas Hogan whose wife was Mary Scully also residing at Knockbrack. They believe this Mary Scully may have been a relative to Mathew’s wife Mary Scully. Unfortunately the researcher gave no clue as to why they believe this is a possibility.
The researcher also examined the Tithe Applotment Land Records for the old Civil Parish of Kilnoe which were dated 1827. There was no evidence of an O’Brien holding in either the townland of Knockbrack or Drummod at this time. Please note this does not mean that O’Briens were not living in the townland but only that they held no titheable property.
From a study of the Tithe Applotment Books for the area they found just one Scully holding in the Parish as follows:
A John Scully was shown holding 1 acre of 2nd Quality land and 2 acres 2 roods 20 perches of 3rd quality land. This property was situated at Clonmoher, which is a townland situated about 3 miles north of Knockbrack/Drummod. Again without backup information the researcher states “there is reasonable possibility that John Scully listed at Clonmoher in 1827 may have been the father of your great-great-grandmother Mary Scully.”
The last land records evaluated were the Griffith Valuation Books of 1855. This valuation was undertaken to determine the amount of tax each tenant should pay towards the support of the poor within his Poor Law Union. In addition to giving the name of the occupier or tenant it provides the name of the immediate lessor, the name of the townland or city location, the area and value of holding and the value of the house. These records contain the names of every householder and every occupier of land during this period. After reviewing these records they failed to uncover any evidence of an O’Brien holding at Knockbrack/Drummod at this time. There were also no Scully’s holding/leasing property at Clonmoher in 1855.
Based on a research report we received from The Clare Heritage Center the following Baptismals were found.
? BAPTISED 30-12-1833
SPONSORS Patrick Moroney
Thomas BAPTISED 04-12-1837
SPONSORS Martin O’Dea & Bridget Hogan
William BAPTISED 06-12-1840
SPONSORS Mary McMahon”
It is unfortunate that the priest neglected to record the first child’s Christian name for the 1833 baptism.
I think at this point I will interject some discussion about Mathew’s arrival in Virginia and William’s birth date. I have located a Mathew O’Brien in the 1840 Federal Census for Virginia, Bedford County, Southern District. The data for the 1840 census was suppose to be taken as of 1 June that year and the enumerators had 18 months to gather the data. As you can imagine having that much time between effective date of the census and gathering of the data could lead to errors. It is entirely possible for Mathew to be in Bedford County for that census and still be the father to William. If we believe this scenario then Mathew could not leave Clare until late September 1839 at the earliest and must have arrived in the Bedford area of Virginia by late May 1840.
Returning to the Baptismal Registers we can now locate Mathew and Mary O’Brien. The children were baptized in what is today known as the ecclesiastical Parish of Bodyke-Tomgraney which at one time comprised the old Civil Parishes of Kilnoe-Tomgraney. The priest recorded the family’s address as Knockbrack. Knockbrack is a subdivision of the bigger townland of Drummod. Drummod is a townland situated in the old Civil Parish of Kilnoe(Bodyke). If you review an Ordnance Survey map of that time period you will see that Drummod was sited just over a mile south of the village of Bodyke.
Another comment by the researcher was that sponsors were often close relatives of the family and based on that they examined the above listed sponsors in the hope of uncovering a connection between these families and the families of O’Brien and Scully.
In examing those records they found a Connor Hogan and his wife Norry O’Brien who resided at Knockbrack. The researcher believes there is a possibility that Norry O’Brien was a sister to Matthew O’Brien. Additionally the records show a Thomas Hogan whose wife was Mary Scully also residing at Knockbrack. They believe this Mary Scully may have been a relative to Mathew’s wife Mary Scully. Unfortunately the researcher gave no clue as to why they believe this is a possibility.
The researcher also examined the Tithe Applotment Land Records for the old Civil Parish of Kilnoe which were dated 1827. There was no evidence of an O’Brien holding in either the townland of Knockbrack or Drummod at this time. Please note this does not mean that O’Briens were not living in the townland but only that they held no titheable property.
From a study of the Tithe Applotment Books for the area they found just one Scully holding in the Parish as follows:
A John Scully was shown holding 1 acre of 2nd Quality land and 2 acres 2 roods 20 perches of 3rd quality land. This property was situated at Clonmoher, which is a townland situated about 3 miles north of Knockbrack/Drummod. Again without backup information the researcher states “there is reasonable possibility that John Scully listed at Clonmoher in 1827 may have been the father of your great-great-grandmother Mary Scully.”
The last land records evaluated were the Griffith Valuation Books of 1855. This valuation was undertaken to determine the amount of tax each tenant should pay towards the support of the poor within his Poor Law Union. In addition to giving the name of the occupier or tenant it provides the name of the immediate lessor, the name of the townland or city location, the area and value of holding and the value of the house. These records contain the names of every householder and every occupier of land during this period. After reviewing these records they failed to uncover any evidence of an O’Brien holding at Knockbrack/Drummod at this time. There were also no Scully’s holding/leasing property at Clonmoher in 1855.