Ellen Lynch of County Clare

[smorrow987]

I was searching Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota USA looking for various gravesites, when I happened on a monument for Ellen Lynch.
It reads as follows:
Ellen Lynch
Born in Rhynaconaught
Parish of Kilard
County Clare
Died Sep 23, 1882
Aged 59 yrs, 10 mos, 22 ds
The stone is very worn
Also on the stone is a grandson:
J. Francis
Son of J.F. and J. Maloney
Died Jan. 6, 1883
Aged 2 years

According to the 1860 census, Ellen was a widow and earned her living as a washerwoman. She had 3 children living with her at the time: Martin, age 14, Michael, age 10, and Jane, age 4. Jane married James Maloney and they are the parents of J. Francis, the child who died in 1883.

[Paddy Casey]

Rhynaconaught is possibly a synonym of Rhygonaught, a place immediately to the east of Doonbeg Bay and adjacent to a group of habitations called Rayoganagh which are visible on the 1842 Ordnance Survey map (go to http://www.clarelibrary.ie and fire up the Maps page and go to the 1842 maps and punch in Doonbeg Town under "Townlands"; that will take you to Doonbeg; then move up a mile or so northeast and you will find Rayoganagh and, just north of it, a bit of coastline called Rayoganagh Strand). You can also find it in Google Earth by entering "Rhygonaught, Co.Clare,Ireland".

To further confuse matters, the area is marked on the modern-day Discovery OS map as Rinnagonnaght (latitude 52°44'44.79"N, longitude 9°30'20.98"W) and is quite a little metropolis with an estimated population of 1885 residents at the last census.

I wonder what the origin of this name was. The "Rhyn" bit could possibly be "rine", meaning a division of land ("Rineen" is a little division of land; see http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... dix7_r.htm ) but I don't know about the rest. It may also have something to do with "rinn", a headland or promontory, since it is on the coast. Maybe a placenames buff on this forum could enlighten us.

Paddy