need help with parishes and workhouse boundaries

[vickiofmcnamara]

Hello all. I hope someone can help me. I am trying to trace my gggranmother's (Margaret McNamara) roots in Ireland but I have never been there which makes it hard for me to appreciate the way boundaries have been formed over the years. What I have read is becoming very confusing, what with all the different areas- poor law, civil, RC, townland, barony, province etc.

MArgaret came to Australia in 1850 as part of the EArl Grey Orphan Scheme on board the Thomas Arbuthnot. (There is a very good account of their journey and arrival in Australia and subsequently to Yass and Tumut in NSW in 'A Decent Set of Girls').Emigration records have her aged at 15yrs, parents as MAry and Michael (both deceased) and coming from Scarriff. BAsed on this I have estimated her birth date about 1835. Up to now I have assumed she came from the workhouse at Scarriff (being an orphan and part of the Scheme) but her death certificate reports her as coming from Killarney, Ireland. I understand Killarney is in County Kerry. Apparently there is also a place called Killeany (in the barony of Clare, Galway COunty). Is it possible that family here have confused Killarney and Killeany? I have checked the Griffiths Valuation and there is a Michael McNamara listed in Killeany but no McNamara's in Killarney. Is it possible that this could be her father despite emigration records listing him as deceased by 1850? WOuld parents have put their children down as orphans in order to have them admitted to a workhouse?

Are there any connections here at all? Can some places be eliminated as not likely? I realise that transcription errors probably play a big part here, but I am stuck and don't know which direction to go. I do apologise if I have still got my COunties etc confused!
Many thanks
Vicki

[Paddy Casey]

.......I have never been there which makes it hard for me to appreciate the way boundaries have been formed over the years. What I have read is becoming very confusing, what with all the different areas- poor law, civil, RC, townland, barony, province etc..........

The boundaries needn't be confusing, Vicky. The Clare Library site at http://www.clarelibrary.ie is filled with maps of parishes, townlands, etc. together with simple and concise explanations of their origins (see, for example, http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... parish.htm or http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/archiv ... unions.htm ). An hour or two browsing there will tell you all you need to know.

Paddy

[mcreed]

Vicki, death certificates by their very nature should be treated with caution with regard to the birthplace of the deceased, particularly if the deceased person died far from home and had lived to a good age. McNamara was indeed the most common name in Clare recorded on the Tithe Applotment Books (1820s to 1840s) - http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... tithes.htm.

As for children being put into the Workhouse in the guise of being orphans, there is an interesting article on the Clare Library site which states

"While many of the children were unaccompanied when entering the workhouse, not all were orphans. Large numbers had been abandoned. The abandonment of children was often a question of necessity and in many cases only temporary. Leaving children was often part of a planned emigration strategy, though contrary to strict Poor Law rules. Once parents had established themselves abroad and saved a portion of the children’s fare, the guardians usually payed the remainder thus ridding the union of the cost of maintaining them. This seems to have been the reason for the abandonment of the O’Brien and Doherty children present in the Ennistymon workhouse in 1850. On the 20th of September of that year: the guardians voted £1 each to four Doherty children and two O’Brien children to help them join their parents in America. Unmarried mothers or deserted wives were often forced to abandon their children to the workhouse in order to survive themselves. The separation lasted only for as long as it took for the women to eke out a livelihood and provide for them. In Ennistymon in 1851 a most rigorous campaign was carried out to discharge children whose parents were living outside and at work within the boundaries of the union. Over 50 children registered as orphans were found to have parents living and working in the area. These parents were not necessarily callous and uncaring. Abandoning their children may have been the only way of coping with the appalling conditions prevalent throughout the country in the immediate aftermath of the Famine." From http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ldwork.htm

Regards,
Mike

[vickiofmcnamara]

Very many thanks to you both, Paddy and Mike. I checked out the recommended sites and managed to unscramble some of my confusion. Of course, it just opened up even more doors to me - were MArgaret's parents really deceased, did she have siblings?

Well,something for me to dive into and keep busy with over the next few years, I guess!!

Again, very many thanks
Vicki

[KatieClár]

I would just like to point out that the Mcnamara name would be very common in County Clare and I reckon it pinpoints Clare and not Kerry. People did not travel very far to get married in those days so many family names can eliminate certain counties etc.

[caoilte]

Two possibilities suggest themselves here. "Killarney" may very well have been a phonetic attempt at either Kilclaran or Killanena. Both of these townlands are in the parish of Feakle, Co.Clare. And both were in the Poor Law Union of Scarriff until 1850 when Killanena was transferred to the newly-formed Union of Tulla. The surname Mc Namara was widely distributed in the parish of Feakle and it is clear from the Tithe and other 19th century records that there were a number of Mc Namaras in Killanena townland throughout that century.
I would suggest that your search should now focus on the baptismal and other records of Feakle parish. A good way to begin might be by making a call to clareheritage@eircom.net (the Clare genealogy Centre at Corofin).They have computerised records of baptisms and marriages for the whole county.

Caoilte

[vickiofmcnamara]

Caoilte, very many thanks for your reponse. I've been sidetracked on other family lines and haven't got back here for a while. I was thinking that 'Killarney' might have been a transcription error but your suggestions have pinpointed more than I expected. Feakle kept cropping up on my radar but didn't feel I had enough info to support that line of thinking. Again Thanks
Regards
Vicki