Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Mon May 27, 2019 9:12 am

What was the crime for which Thomas McNamara of Glandree was a suspect? In the first quarter of 1882, there were so many arrests of suspects from the Tulla district that it was necessary to first determine what crimes Thomas McNamara was not a suspect.

County Clare got off to a quick start with Coercion Act suspects Michael Flynn [5] and Michael Quigley [6] arrested in March 1881, but then there was a period of calm. The next arrests from the Tulla district were not until June 1881. "Arising out of the fatal affray at Bodyke, in which a farmer named John Molony was killed [by a policeman], four men were arrested late last night by the constabulary and lodged in the county Limerick Jail this afternoon. The accused, Edmond Stewart [174], of Caherhurley, Bodyke; Michael Hussey [175], of Coolreagh; John [172] and Michael [173] Callaghan, of Ballinahinch, county Clare, are young farmers. The charge against them is for riot and assaulting the constabulary" (The Freeman's Journal, 24 June 1881). "The Bodyke Affray" occurred just a few days prior to the speech at Tulla by Anna Parnell, President of the Ladies Land League. She started her speech by saying that she "would not allude to the very distressing thing that had occurred at Bodyke the other day more than to point out from it how necessary caution was for all of them at this moment" (full speech on page 17).

The next arrests from the Tulla district in County Clare were John McNamara [222] and Frank McNamara [223] on 12 October 1881. In my prior posting I stated incorrectly (since deleted) that these two men would have been at Kilmainham Prison at the same time as Charles Stuart Parnell [224], but, in fact, these two McNamara's were imprisoned at "Galway and Limerick" according to the March report to Parliament. Also, it is important to note that "Tulla district" appears to encompass other parishes than Tulla such as Bodyke and O'Callaghan Mills. Another day, I'll find out more about the story of John McNamara and Frank McNamara and where they were from.

Again a few months of relative calm until January 1882 when tensions increased in the Tulla district. As previously mentioned (see page 16), Andrew Sheedy McNamara of Glandree was arrested on 20 January 1882 for protesting the arrest of Bridget McCormack of the Ladies Land League. Neither of these arrests was under the Coercion Act. They were arrested by Mr. Clifford Lloyd, R.M., described as "the most active of the special Magistrates" by a British newspaper. "Hand me down my coat of mail, says the bold Clifford Lloyd, And I'll fill each Irish jail says the bold Clifford Lloyd" was from a poem written by Miss Frost who was dismissed as a teacher on its account (see page 16 for the complete poem). Clifford Lloyd, R.M., had a brother Wilfrid Lloyd, R.M., who was very lucky to survive an assassination attempt as he traveled from Scariff to Bodyke on the evening of 13 February 1882. This attack on his brother might explain why Clifford Lloyd went around wearing a coat of mail:

OUTRAGE ON MR. LLOYD
(SPECIAL TELEGRAMS)
Limerick, Monday.

Immense excitement was caused in Limerick today by the receipt of an official telegram from Mr. Smith, county inspector, Clare, stating that last night an officer of the 40th Regiment - a company of which is at present quartered at Scariff - and Mr. Wilfred Lloyd, brother of Mr. Clifford Lloyd, R.M., were driving from that place to Bodyke, about four miles distant, they were fired upon by an armed party who lay in ambush on the roadside. A policeman who was seated behind on the car in charge of the two gentlemen was shot in the chest, but not mortally, and later accounts say that he is progressing favourably. Mr. Lloyd and the officer fired in the direction from which the shots came, but owing to the darkness which prevailed they are unaware if any of the shots took effect. Mr. Clifford Lloyd, R.M., left Limerick today for the scene of the outrage accompanied by a large escort of police.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 14 February 1882

Fourteen men from Tulla and Scariff were arrested on the 15th of February 1882 suspected of involvement in the shooting of Mr. Wilfred Lloyd and are identified in the below newspaper article. I could trace them [see number in brackets] all back to the "Return of all Persons who have been or are in Custody under The Protection of Person and Property (Ireland) Act of 1881, up to 31st March 1882", except for a Michael Bolton. The report to Pariliament states that the men were arrested on the 1st of March; but this might be their "remand" date? It was at first challenging to find "Edmond Stewart" and "Michael O'Callaghan" listed by the newspaper. "Edward Stewart" and "Michael Callaghan" were prior Coercion Act prisoners who has been released from Limerick Prison on 14 January 1882 and 3 February 1882, respectively. The two men had been arrested for the aforementioned "Bodyke Affray" of June 1881. Unlike the other men listed who were sent to Kilkenny Jail, Edward Stewart was sent directly to Clonmel Prison and Michael Callaghan to Kilmainham Prison.

http://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/ ... age/455269

REMOVAL OF SUSPECTS
(Special Telegram)
Ennis, Wednesday

The fourteen men arrested in the Tulla district on the 15th of last month, and who have since been confined in Ennis Jail on remand, charged with complicity in the shooting at Mr. Wilfred Lloyd, R.M., were this morning transferred to the various jails open for the reception of suspects on warrants charging them with being reasonably suspected of treasonable practices. Twelve of the number, viz - John McNamara [832], Michael Mullins [831], James McGrath [829], Michael Collins [826], James Whelan [824], P J Frost [830], Pat Frost [828], John Molloy [833], John Moloney [825], James Liddy [835], Michael Bolton [not listed?], and Daniel Hussey [782], were sent to Kilkenny Jail; while Edward Stewart [174 , "Edmond"] and Michael O'Callaghan [173, "Callaghan"] are to be detained in Clonmel and Kilmainham, respectively. The Feakle and Bodyke prisoners, seven in number, who were arrested on Monday last under warrants charging them with intimidation, have also been removed from here today, their destination being as follows - John Cudmore [783] and Michael Wiley [787], Clonmel; Michael Hussey [786] and Patrick Nugent [785], Naas; James Moroney [788], Limerick; Dominick Stewart [780] and Edward Malone [781], Kilkenny. There are still thirteen men in the local prison on remand in connection with the same outrage.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 2 March 1882

Two of the men arrested for the shooting of Mr. Wilfrid Lloyd had the surname "Frost". Perhaps related to the Miss Frost who wrote the poem about his brother Clifford Lloyd? In the 1901 Irish census, there were only 145 people named "Frost" living in County Clare.

The above article also mentions seven men arrested for "intimidation" including "James Moroney" who I had mentioned in my prior posting. While James Moroney was transferred to Kilmainham Prison on 1 June 1882 at the same time as Thomas McNamara, the timing was only coincidental.

The Freeman's Journal also stated that an additional thirteen men were in local prisons for the "same outrage", which I assume means the shooting of Mr. Wilfred Lloyd. I could find nine of them from Scariff and Tulla listed on the March 1882 Coercion Act report to Parliament:

From Scariff: Martin Scanlon [818]; Martin Crotty [819]; Michael Minogue [820]; John Clune [821]; Michael McNamara [822]; Matthew O'Brien [823]; From Tulla: Michael McNamara [827]; John Gregg [834]; Thomas Ryan [836]. Also, Thomas Rochford [784] who was arrested for intimidation. However, there appears to be some question as to the accuracy of the reporting on this last group of names, as per article below that refers to a report dated 1 April 1882:

IRISH QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT
London, Wednesday

The following questions relating to Irish affairs have been given notice of in the House of Commons:-
For Thursday.
Mr. O'Shea [MP from Clare] will ask the Cabinet Secretary whether No. 452, Martin Scanlan; No. 453, John Gregg; No. 454, Matthew O'Brien; No. 456, Michael Minogue; No. 458, John Clune; and No. 459, Martin Crotty, are correctly included, and whether the grounds for the arrest are correctly stated in the return of all persons detained under the statute 44 Vic. c 4, dated 1 April, 1882.

The Freeman's Journal, 20 April 1882

Finally, it is important to remember that those arrested were only suspects: "The fourteen persons arrested a fortnight ago in Tulla district, charged with firing at Mr. Wilfrid Lloyd, were further remanded on Tuesday, and in the absence of evidence to convict them will be probably detained as suspects." (The Freeman's Journal, 4 March 1882)

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Mon May 27, 2019 7:53 pm

Hi Jim

Thanks for that interesting piece on the Land War and the Coercion Act in the Tulla area.
For another viewpoint on the Land War, read “Disturbed Ireland: Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81” by Bernard H. Becker, Special Commissioner of the Daily News. There’s helpful background information at the beginning of this extract from The Stranger’s Gaze: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... becker.htm

And at the bottom of that page there’s a link to the book: Disturbed Ireland: being the letters written during the winter of 1880-81 (London 1881), pp 153-181. Skip to Chapter XVIII: Christmas in County Clare, beginning on page 329, for an account of Becker’s visit to Maryfort, the house and estate of Colonel O’Callaghan.

By the way, I sent for the records of the deaths of two Thomas McNamaras, which were registered in Tulla in 1867. One Thomas was aged 45 and the other was aged 48 and so they were born about the time that some of the Thomas McNamaras in your chart on page 1 were born.
I received both records a couple of weeks ago. The Thomas aged 45 died of fever in Tulla Workhouse on 06.08.1867. He was a Labourer and was married, but his home address is not given – it could be anywhere in the Tulla Union, a very large area. The Thomas aged 48 died in Derryfadda on 11.05.1867 (so born about 1819). He was a farmer and a widower. The Informant is Michael McNamara, Derryfadda. It’s possible this Thomas is the father of Patrick McNamara in Derryfadda. Patrick died on 09.02.1916, aged 73. If this age is correct he was born about 1843. Looking at the Caher-Feakle baptisms, I can find no Patrick born to a Thomas about that time. There are no McNamaras leasing land in Derryfadda at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. It may be that Thomas moved to Derryfadda at a later date.

Sheila

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 12:45 am

Hi Sheila,

Thank you very much for obtaining the death records for the two Thomas McNamara's which were registered in 1867. The Thomas McNamara of Derryfadda who died in 1867 at the age of 48 years, with Michael McNamara as the informant is very interesting. In the Caher Feakle baptism register, a Nancy McNamara was baptized on the 10 December 1845, parents Michael McNamara and Mary Mahon of "Derrifada", sponsors Rody McNamara and Margaret Hays. Another baptism record for Nancy McNamara with same parents from "Derina" as well as same sponsors appears on 20 November 1845 in the Caher Feakle baptism register.

Thanks also for the link to "Disturbed Ireland" by Bernard H Becker. Sheila, I'm not sure what you thought of his essay "Christmas in County Clare", but I found Becker's comments as well as actions during his short visit to the O'Callaghan's of Maryfort the most disturbing. The Clare library introduction highlighted that Becker was not at all independent but very pro landlord. The fact that after only a short visit, he felt his knowledge of the situation in Tulla, "a spot of evil repute", was far better than the local R.I.C. constables showed his arrogance. The R.I.C. members refused to accept his money and provide information, and even warned him to stop asking. The most disturbing, especially in light of events two decades earlier in 1861, were Becker's comments on Mrs. O'Callaghan's "wonderful shooting". "If not at three hundred, yet at thirty yards, she can hit a rabbit cleverly enough, and actually does go out rabbit shooting 'for the pot' to relieve the monotony of everlasting pig and sheep. Mrs. O'Callaghan is also nearly as a good a shot with the revolver as her husband, and would certainly not hesitate to use that weapon in self-defense."

Only in "self-defense"? Or also in protecting a few wretched pits of potatoes? The local Catholic population had good reason to "go in bodily fear of her" as well as the other O'Callaghans of Maryfort. And certainly good reason not to work on the O'Callaghan estate. Bernard H Becker ends his story with a visit to a "shebeen" that his coach after leaving Maryfort House stops at during a snowstorm. He gives a shilling to the woman of the house to buy a drink for a man sitting by the fire in order to get the local gossip. "The sulky brute answers me not a word. Probably he knows or suspects where I have been, and if so would let me lie on the ground under a kicking horse till an end was made of me rather than stretch forth a hand. He will not speak now, and I observe that the woman, who has kept a tight hold on the shilling, has not poured out any whiskey, although she had the decency to ask me if I wished for any. It is a strange sight, this silent sullen savage sitting scowling over the fire; but on se fait à tout in Disturbed Ireland."

Here is the story that the silent man sitting by the fire could have told:

TERRIBLE OCCURRENCE.- We regret to learn that a workman, a labourer in the employment of a gentleman in Clare, was shot dead yesterday, by a younger brother of Captain O'Callaghan, Maryfort. It is said that the man who was shot was in a plantation at the time, and whether the affair was accidental, or in what cause it originated we have been unable as yet to ascertain. Limerick Reporter

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 14 October 1861

An inquest was held on Thursday, October 17th before the coroner Mr. Canny, and the jury had the following verdict: "William Holmes came by his death, at Maryfort, on the night of the 9th of October, 1861, from the effects of a gunshot fired said night by Donatus O'Callaghan, but which, we say, was not fired with malice propense, or with intent to kill said William Holmes." The coroner held Mr. O'Callaghan to bail, himself in £100, and two sureties in £50 each, to appear if called upon. (The Morning Chronicle, 19 October 1861).

In the Tulla Parish baptism register, John Holmes was baptized on 28 January 1860, parents William Holmes and Catherine Frawley of Maryfort; sponsors Michael Brennan and Margaret Ryan. Mrs. Catherine Holmes was expecting at the time of her husband's death in October 1861. William Holmes was baptized on 22 December 1861, parents William Holmes and Catherine Frawley of Maryfort; sponsors James Gorman and Anne Jones.

At the Ennis Assizes on Tuesday Donatus O'Callaghan was found guilty of homicide, committed under the following singular circumstances :- It appeared in evidence that there had been some potato stealing going on in the neighborhood. William Holmes (the deceased) was a caretaker in the employment of Captain O'Callaghan, brother of the prisoner. The prisoner, on the night in question, went out after dinner in the direction of the potato pits near the house, armed with a double-barrelled gun, accompanied by James Clanchy, Captain O'Callaghan's coachmen, who was armed with a revolver. Those weapons, both loaded, had been given to them by Captain O'Callaghan. At the very time at which the prisoner and Clanchy went out, it happened that Holmes, and a labourer named Callaghan, were in the field watching the potatoes. It was a dark night, except at intervals. Callaghan, the labourer, who was with Holmes, swore that he saw a man approaching with a gun in his hand, who, when within a short distance of him and Holmes, raised the gun and fired. The shot took fatal effect upon Holmes, who immediately fell and died in about 15 minutes from the wounds he received. The man who fired immediately came up and proved to be the prisoner. When he and Clanchy arrived at the spot where the unfortunate man lay bleeding, and saw what had happened, the prisoner became quite distracted, and said to Clanchy, "Shoot me!"

Mr. Justice Keogh, in charging the jury, said, -
"It is important to impress upon the people that the Government of this country exists for the preservation of the lives and property of the people. It is equally important to impress upon them that no man is justified in taking away the life of another, except in self-defense. No man is justified in protecting his property by shooting another man. If Captain O'Callaghan, a person holding a position in which he is bound to protect the lives and property of Her Majesty's subjects, is to be tolerated in giving deadly weapons to his brother and his servant for the purposes of protecting a few wretched pits of potatoes, it can be easily imagined how many guns will be loaded and carried under the pretence of protecting potatoes in the dark nights of October."

The learned Judge further observed that, if the gun went off by accident, they were bound to acquit the prisoner; but if they believed that if the prisoner, with culpable negligence, discharged the gun, and thereby caused the man's death, they were bound to find the prisoner guilty. The learned Judge having commented at length on the evidence, the jury retired, and, after taking a short time to consider, found a verdict of Guilty. Sentence was deferred.

The Times (London), 21 February 1862

A "deferred sentence", I believe, is when the guilty party remains out of prison based upon good behavior or upon meeting certain conditions. For Donatus O'Callaghan, it appears that the condition was that he leave Ireland for the Antipodes and never return. Donatus first resurfaces in October 1871 on a "Grand Freemasons of Ireland" Register at Lodge #454 of Thames Gold Fields, Shortland, Queens County, New Zealand.

Decades later "Donat O'Callaghan" in New South Wales entered the "Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute" on 30 January 1899 and stayed one week. He is 57 years old, married, a miner. Under "History" it states "Born Mary Fort, Co. Clare, Ireland. 38 years in Colony (New South Wales 28, New Zealand 10). Ship British Trident. Working at Bogan Scrub last Sept., was out patient at Sydney Hospital." Based upon being about 38 years in NZ / Australia, Donatus appears to have left soon after the guilty verdict in February 1862. I searched unsuccessfully for his arrival on the "British Trident".

"No means" is written at the bottom of "History". Unlike most patients at the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute, Donatus O'Callaghan provided a detailed family history for which he appears quite proud: father: George, Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of the County; mother: Mary Westropp; both dead. Brother: John, Maryfort, Ireland, Colonel of Clare Militia; comfle (perhaps "comfortable", as in having the means, if not the will, to support his brother?). Sisters: Anne and Minnie, 5 Landsdowne Terrace, Limerick, Ireland, comftble. Donat had married, Waterloo, Sydney, age 34, to Anne Grover. "No issue" (children). Wife address "unknown", separated for 13 years.

Not certain, but I believe the "Bogan Scrub" is now known as the western suburbs of Sydney. "Dunat O'Callaghan" died in 1916 in Granville, New South Wales; father George, mother Mary.

But what happened to the widow Catherine Frawley Holmes and her two young sons?

THE LATE HOMICIDE IN CLARE.- We understand that Captain O'Callaghan, of Mary Fort, has given a sum of money which is to be invested for the benefit of the widow and children of the late William Holmes, who, as our readers are aware, was shot a few months ago by Mr. Donatus O'Callaghan, when he imagined that persons were taking potatoes away, the fact being that Holmes was employed at the time as a watchman. We hear also that other members of the O'Callaghan family, considerate and kindly in their feelings on the occasion, have also intimated their intention of subscribing to the fund for the purpose of relieving the widow and orphans from the certain perils of poverty and destitution. We express an energetic effort will be made for their relief. - Limerick Reporter.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 16 January 1862

The "Holmes" surname is not at all common in County Clare; there are only 14 Holmes in the 1901 Census living in Clare, none of whom appear to have a connection to our story being told by the silent man sitting by the fire. Searching the 1901 Census for any "William Holmes" born in County Clare living anywhere in Ireland, we find a 39 year old William Holmes living in Goresbridge, County Kilkenny. His occupation is Constable R.I.C., Catholic, with his wife Mary Anne, Church of Ireland, and three young children.

1901 Irish Census: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/r ... 000929579/

William Holmes, Constable R.I.C., son of William, a farmer, married Mary Ann Stewart, daughter of William, ex-constable R.I.C., at the Church of Ireland parish church at Dungarvan, County Waterford on 7 September 1891. The marriage record does not state "deceased" for his father William but this information was not always reported.

In 1911, William Holmes, age 49, Constable R.I.C, is still living at Goresbridge, County Kilkenny. He is now born in "Limerick City" and not in County Clare as stated in 1901, but this mix-up was not so uncommon. His wife Mary Anne's birthplace also made a change from County Tipperary in 1901 to County Waterford in 1911. Oldest son William, age 18, is living with them in 1911; in 1901 he was living with his maternal great grandmother Mary Ann Hegerty, age 86, in County Waterford ("grandmother" was reported in error). Daughter Elizabeth Holmes, age 7, is living with her uncle John Stewart in Dungarvan in 1901; and uncle William Stewart in 1911. Seven children in total, they would all be raised Catholic, except for two of the daughters, who like the mother, were Church of Ireland. Their second eldest daughter, age 4, is named "Gertrude" on the 1901 Census; but her baptism record states "Kate Holmes" baptized 19 June 1896. First born son William was named after his paternal grandfather William Holmes; second born daughter Kate named after her paternal grandmother Catherine Frawley Holmes.

Again, very few Holmes in County Clare. William Holmes of Goresbridge was born in County Clare, a perfect age match, father named William, as well as naming of children using Irish traditions, we can decisively conclude that he was born in Maryfort, County Clare. Even the fact that William Holmes joined the Royal Irish Constabulary may have been the influence of Colonel John O'Callaghan of Maryfort. Colonel O'Callaghan certainly appears to have kept the promise he made back in 1862. William Holmes was not only kept from destitution but became a constable with the R.I.C., raised a large family in Goresbridge, County Kilkenny, and would have had a good pension in his retirement. That was not how life turned out for Colonel O'Callaghan's own brother Donatus O'Callaghan who ended up destitute in The Bogan Scrub of Australia.

The Bogan Scrub

Oh, come with me to the Bogan, boys,
To the Bogan far away
Where they cut the scrub for their daily grub,
With a tooral-loorah-lay!
With a tooral-loorah-lay, my lads,
And a whack-fol-lary-o!
And we'll open a club on the Bogan Scrub
Where the struggle-for-lifers go!

The Bogan Scrub (first of 3 stanzas) by W.T. Goodge, from Hits! Skits! and Jingles! (1904).

https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/ ... ub-0103051

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Sun Jun 02, 2019 7:11 pm

Hi Jim

I thought you would be interested in another viewpoint, albeit an arrogant one, and indeed you have produced an interesting story, very well told. It seems you were already aware of the events of 1861 – No doubt you were in conversation with that sullen man in the shebeen.
Part II of the story - Donat O’Callaghan in New South Wales and William Holmes (Junior) in Co. Kilkenny – must have taken a lot of time and searching. Good work

In his letter from Cork on Dec. 20th, Becker mentions an incident Tulla involving a man named O’Halloran (page 274). I think he is referring to intimidation of juries when he says, “So skilfully has the organisation been carried out that hardly a creature dare do his duty or speak his mind except the judges. In court to-day the man O’Halloran, whose being sent up for trial at the Assizes here [Cork] occasioned the riot at Tulla a few days since, was tried for appending a threatening notice to a chapel door. It will be recollected that the prisoner was brought before the magistrates at Tulla rather than at Ennis, in order to avoid a tumult, but that on its being known that he was committed for trial an uproar occurred, which ended in the bayoneting of three of the rioters by the police. The man was tried here to-day, and he will be tried again tomorrow before another jury.
I may not express an opinion on the evidence of the police; it will suffice that the jury of to-day did not agree, and that this absence of result provoked some severe remarks from the bench. Great blame is thrown upon Lord O’Hagan’s Act for frequent miscarriage of justice in this country, but the truth is that the outside pressure is too strong for any but a “packed” jury of independent, that is to say non-resident, persons to withstand.”

The Right Hon. Lord O’Brien (of Kilfenora), Lord chief justice of Ireland, was known as "Peter the Packer" because of his skill in forming juries who could be relied upon to arrive at the desired verdict. In his book, The reminiscences of the Right Hon. Lord O'Brien (of Kilfenora), he says, “It was during these days of the Land League that the soubriquet of “Peter the Packer” was first given to me. In the South of Ireland at that time, juries were intimidated to such an extent that it was impossible to obtain conscientious convictions. I was the first to succeed in getting a jury to convict in that part of the country, and this success won for me the title of “The Packer”. I certainly eliminated from the jury box, without apology, those who were prejudiced, and I would do it again under similar circumstances. I have always maintained that I ought to have been called “The Great Unpacker.” (page 44).

Sheila

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:59 am

Hi Sheila,

Thanks for highlighting the 20th December 1880 letter from Bernard Becker. Regarding the events at Tulla mentioned in this letter, twenty men were arrested for rioting and threatening Colonel O'Callaghan. None of these men would be "Coercion Suspects" as this was prior to the 1881 Coercion Act.

THREATENING A MAGISTRATE
(SPECIAL TELGRAM)
Limerick, Thursday

At the Tulla Petty Sessions, to-day, before Captain M'Ternan, R.M., Messrs. O'Hara, R.M., Brown, O'Connell, and Spaight, twenty persons were charged with riot, tumultuous assembly, and threatening Colonel O'Callaghan's life, on the 16th of December [1880], when he presided at the Tulla Sessions, at which a man named O'Halloran was returned to the assizes for having posted threatening notices. They were defended by Mr. Connolly, solicitor, Limerick, and after a lengthened investigation bound over to keep the peace by a majority of the court, Captain M'Ternan and Mr. O'Hara dissenting from the decision, with which Colonel O'Callaghan expressed himself satisfied. He also stated his readiness to forgive the defendants.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 14 January 1881

Bernard Becker also mentioned that Halloran was acquitted in Cork on December 20th, but would be tried again the next day. If so, "Patrick O'Halloran" must have been acquitted a second time in Cork as he was tried in Ennis during March 1881 when he was finally found not guilty. "Tulla" might be the "Tulla district" and Patrick O'Halloran could be from O'Callaghan Mills; the Irish prison register would give a more precise location as well as his age. Patrick spent about three months in jail, which, even if he had posted the threatening notice, is not a short amount of time.

Judge Barry tried the case of the Queen v. Patrick O'Halloran, of Tulla, for posting a threatening notice. The prisoner was tried for this offense at the Cork winter assizes, when the jury were discharged without agreeing. To-day the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 11 March 1881

In July 1881, Colonel O'Callaghan of Maryfort would negotiate with his tenants to arrive at a settlement with the help of the parish priest. He seems fairly reasonable at this point, I suspect the boycotting of the O'Callaghan estate was having its intended effect or perhaps it was the terrible violence from the June eviction attempts, the "Affray at Bodyke" or "Battle of Bodyke" depending upon newspaper. In 1887 Colonel O'Callaghan would again take a far more uncompromising approach leading to the infamous Bodyke evictions, discussed here at the Clare Library: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... _index.htm

COLONEL JOHN O'CALLAGHAN AND HIS TENANTS
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN
Bodyke, July 27

MR. EDITOR - On the 1st of June last a large body of police, mounted and foot, met at the village of Bodyke to protect a bailiff who came to serve writs from the Superior Courts on the estate of Colonel John O'Callaghan, a very extensive proprietor in that locality. The dreadful occurrences of that day shall never be forgotten by those who witnessed them. What a happy and striking contrast to that miserable day do not the pleasing events of yesterday present? Colonel O'Callaghan having asked the parish priest to try to effect a settlement between himself and his tenants who live in the parish of Bodyke, the rev. gentleman did so promptly and cheerfully, and with such success that yesterday was as happy and joyful as the other had been sad and deplorable. The tenants and their parish priest, Rev. Mr. Murphy, met Colonel O'Callaghan at his residence, Maryfort, Tulla, county Clare, and the whole question was settled to the entire satisfaction of all parties. The gallant colonel gave abatements to his tenants, the most liberal on record - in many cases they amounted to 50 percent, in others to 45, in some to 40, and in the lowest to 35 percent. In a few cases of poverty he asked no rent at all. He remitted nearly all the costs, promised to accept the clause of the Land Bill affecting arrears, should it become law; to settle the rent permanently by arbitration with his tenants, no recourse being had to the Land Court, did they so wish it, and manifested towards them a very kind and considerate demeanor. The poor tenants, many of whom owe two or three years' rents, departed with light hearts and happy spirits, lustily cheering for their landlord and his amiable lady, who spent the greater part of the day in the office advocating the cause of the tenants, and materially co-operating with Father Murphy in bringing the matter to a happy issue.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 29 July 1881

Despite this settlement, it appears that the O'Callaghan estate of Maryfort was still boycotted, or at least according to this October 1881 article which also mentions Mrs. O'Callaghan and her gun:

A LADY FINED FOR CARRYING A RIFLE WITHOUT A LICENSE - The wife of Colonel O'Callaghan was fined 50s. at Tulla yesterday for carrying a rifle without a license. The prosecution was undertaken on the information of John White, who had been fined £5 for shooting on Col. O'Callaghan's lands. The O'Callaghan's are boycotted, and carry arms for self-protection.

The Freeman's Journal, 8 October 1881

Finally, returning to 1882 and the shooting of Wilfred Floyd, R.M., I discovered "Michael Bolton" who was reported in the newspaper, but I could not find on the Coercion Act listing as of March 1882. He was reported as "Michael Balton", suspect # 557, of Tulla, who had previously been arrested on 21 December 1881 and sent to Clonmel Prison and released on 26 January 1882. In the Tulla parish register (1846 - 1862), both "Bolton" and "Balton" are used by the same family. The Coercion suspect "Michael Balton" might very well be from a neighboring parish in the "Tulla district". Surprisingly, Michael Bolton, the American singer, has no Irish heritage whatsoever; he was born "Michael Bolotin" and is of Russian Jewish ancestry.

http://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/ ... age/455265

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:43 pm

Hi Jim

Thank you again for following the stories of the people mentioned in Becker’s correspondence.

When Robert Buckley, the special correspondent of the Birmingham Daily Gazette, wrote “Clare as it is”* in 1893, there was still trouble in Bodyke, but all was quiet and peaceful in the O’Callaghan estate in the parish of Tulla (Milltown and Fort Ann). Go to the penultimate piece here: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... _index.htm

*An extract taken from Ireland as it is and as it would be under Home Rule.

Sheila

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 1:34 am

Hi Sheila,

Thanks very much for providing the link to "Travels in County Clare 1534 - 1911" and the 50 or so articles that make up this anthology. I've utilized the excellent "History" section on the Clare Library site many times with its topics in chronological order. But never knew its one link to "Travels in County Clare" contained such a wealth of other historical information also in chronological order. It's a bit hidden. The extract "A Visit To Bodyke, 1881" by Jessie Craigen was interesting. It provides a written account of Father Murphy, the Parish Priest of Bodyke, on the "Battle of Bodyke" of 1 June 1881. But the history of our Thomas McNamara of Glandree and his time spent in 1882 at Kilmainham Prison along with the other 1881 Coercion Act Suspects, many from Tulla, appear to be little discussed on the pages of history at the Clare Library or on the Clare Past forum. Here is more information on the Coercion Act suspects discovered from the newspaper archives:

Mr. Wilfred Lloyd, Resident Magistrate, was traveling with Lieutenant Besant of the 9th Regiment, as well as with a police escort, Limerick Sub-Constable Wills, from Scariff to Bodyke when they were attacked on the evening of 13 February 1882. Constable Wills was shot in the chest but would recover. Clifford Lloyd, Resident Magistrate, arrested at least 27 men related to the shooting of his brother Wilfred. Another newspaper reported the names of five more men who were arrested, but do not appear as Coercion Suspects. The total of 27 reported below agrees to the Freeman's Journal article of 2 March 1882 which listed 14 named suspects plus "still thirteen men in the local prison on remand in connection with the same outrage":

Five men, named Thomas and Luke Delahunty, Patrick Tuohy, Thaddeus Flannery, and Patrick Gallagher have been arrested in the barony of Upper Tulla, and lodged in Ennis Prison, for treason-felony in connection with the outrage on Mr. Wilfrid Lloyd. There are now 27 prisoners under arrest charged with complicity in that crime. The Leeds Mercury, 25 February 1882.

There were also more arrests for "intimidation"; these men were listed as Coercion Suspects on the March 1882 report, their number in brackets:

ARRESTS IN FEAKLE

Three men of the farming class Daniel O'Shea [852], Patrick M'Carthy [Carty, 850], and Thomas Rochford [784], were arrested at Feakle to-day under the Coercion Act, charged with intimidation. The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 10 March 1882

This leaves all Coercion suspects arrested in the first quarter of 1882 from Tulla and Scariff accounted for except for Thomas McNamara [870, arrested 24th March] of Glendree, and five other young men: John Quigney of Glendree [848, 6th March]; Michael McMahon of Glendree [849, 15th March]; Thomas O'Keeffe of Tyredagh [851, 18th March]; Patrick Murphy of Feakle [853, 10th March]; and Daniel Bane of Feakle [854, 10th March]. Their crime was "assault and wounding" per the Limerick Gaol Register and given this description, as well as the timing of their arrests, and that each of the suspects were from around Glendree or Feakle, it appears likely that they were suspects in what would be reported in the newspapers as "The Feakle Outrage". The fact that these six men were sent together to Kilmainham Gaol on 1 June 1882 also indicates that they were suspects in a more serious crime than "intimidation". Michael Moroney of Feakle was shot in the leg on 25 February 1882 and died at Tulla Workhouse Hospital on the 4th of March shortly after amputation surgery. "The Feakle Outrage" was only two weeks after the shooting of Mr. Wilfred Lloyd and was widely reported in Ireland and England as well as American newspapers:

HOW MORONY WAS KILLED

Scarcely had the news of this terrible deed been made public [a shooting in County Mayo] when another, still more fiendish, horrified and startled the country. Clare has for some time been the most disturbed and dangerous part of Ireland, especially the eastern part of the county, lying between the Shannon and the railway which connects Limerick with Athenry. It is a wild and desolate district, of which the town of Tulla is the centre. Near the hamlet of Feakle, about eight miles from Tulla, lived two farmers, Michael Morony and James McNamara, tenants of Mr. T. Brady Brown, of Newgrove. A few nights ago a band of sixteen men, well armed and disguised, appeared in the townland of Clonagroo, part of the estate of Mr. Brown, and visited the houses of four tenants, whom they placed under oath as to whether they had paid their rents. They denied having done so, and they were sworn not to do so until the suspects were released, on peril of their lives. The Moonlighters then marched to the house of McNamara. Morony, whose farm is close by, was in McNamara's house when he heard the tramp of men approaching, and thinking it was the police or military patrol, he went to the door to look out, but seeing the band of disguised men, he shut the door quietly behind him and crept into his own house and told his wife what he had seen. She immediately bolted the door and put out the lights...

New York Herald, New York, 16 March 1882

The New York Herald along with other newspapers got the general facts correct, but the "Feakle Outrage" on the night of the 25th of February was more complicated. McNamara and Moroney were common surnames for tenants on the Brown estate. This appears to have created confusion not just for the newspapers but perhaps also for the moonlighters. James McNamara of Cloonnagro (the uncle of suspect Thomas McNamara of Glandree; see family tree on page 11) and Michael Moroney of Cloonnagro were indeed both victims of a moonlighting attack on the night of the 25th of February. However, the moonlighting gang would move on from Cloonnagro to Leighort More to the houses of two neighbors also named James McNamara and Michael Moroney, who were also tenants of Mr. T Brady Brown:

THE MURDER
(SPECIAL TELEGRAM FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT)
Limerick, Monday, Night

To-day the coroner for the county Clare (Mr. John Frost) held an inquest touching the death of Michael Morony, a farmer, who was murdered at his residence, near Feakle, on Saturday night, the 25th of February. A force of military and police were on guard over the building in which the inquiry was held. There were no professional men present. Mr. Wm. O'Hara, Resident Magistrate, and Sub-Inspector Jennings represented the Crown. A jury, of which Mr. James Holohan, a large tenant farmer, was foreman, having been sworn.

Catherine Morony, who was visibly affected - deposed - Deceased, Michael Morony, was my husband. He was 47 years of age. I remember the night of Saturday, the 25th of February. My husband went out to the house of James M'Namara, who lives close by the place, being within a few miles of the village of Feakle. This was about 8 o'clock, and he was in the habit of paying those visits over to M'Namara's. After his return I was going to bed, about nine o'clock, when my husband told me there were persons outside. I asked who they were, and he replied they were a party coming from or going to a dance. Shortly after the door of the house was struck, and the persons outside came and broke in the window. My husband and myself were in the room. I do not think there was more than one person who broke in the window. This man asked were we in bed. No answer was made, and then the party struck at and smashed in the door. The lock was smashed, the men entering, one of them carrying a lighted lamp from James M'Namara's house. There were eight or ten men in all, some having their faces blackened, and others with white handkerchiefs tied round their heads. My husband was not present at this time, and one of the party asked where he was, and demanded that he be brought in. Two men advanced towards the room where he was and met him coming out against them. One of the men asked why did he pay his rent, striking my husband with the butt end of the gun. He replied, "If ye kill me, ye will kill me innocent." Immediately after he said this the man fired the gun through my husband's leg. At this time I was on my knees asking for pardon, but it was no use to ask pardon of them not to kill the father of my children. My husband after he was shot fell on the floor, and roared aloud with pain, and then the party went away. Myself, the deceased, my six children, the M'Namara's, and some others were in the house after my husband was helped into bed, and we sent for Dr. Donsworth, who arrived at seven or eight on Sunday morning.

[Questioned] By the Coroner - [Witness Response] All the men who attacked the house carried guns.

By the Foreman - There was nothing to prevent the man who fired the shot from shooting the deceased in any other part of the body.

James M'Namara, farmer, stated - I knew the deceased Michael Moroney. On the night of the occurrence, after he left my house about eight o'clock, my son James, aged forty, said he heard a number of people walk along the road. My other son [Michael in other reports], aged twenty-four, and my daughter aged twenty-six, were in the house at the time. When the armed party entered my children ran into another room; my wife alone remained with me.

The Coroner - She appeared to be the only brave person among the family.

The Witness - The armed party came into the kitchen and cried out "All heads down." One of the party ordered me to go down on my knees and keep my head down. He asked me for the receipt for my rent, and I replied that I hadn't it. Three or four shots were fired over my head, but I have not found any marks of shots or bullets. I don't know any of the party, as I was afraid they would kill me for paying my rent. They then left my house, and went across to that of the deceased. We heard them breaking in Morony's door, and one of the party came into my house for a light. I did not hear a shot fired in Morony's house. Later on Mrs. Morony called me over, and I found deceased in a bad state. He was in bed, bleeding, and didn't speak to me.

By Constable Watson - My door was open when the party came in. While I was on my knees two light kicks (laughter) were given me. I was also stabbed by a bayonet a little from the ankle. This was when the shots were fired.

Dr Jeremiah Joseph Donworth, dispensary medical officer, Bodyke, in the course of his evidence said - There was no chance of saving the man's life except by amputating the leg, and this was done by Dr. Molony on Saturday evening. Morony died ten or fifteen minutes after the amputation. Deceased died from the injuries inflicted on him by the gunshot, and the amputation was skillfully performed.

Dr James Molony, dispensary medical officer, Tulla, was also examined.

Jas M'Namara, jun., stated that he was sitting at his father's house when the armed party entered. There were twelve or fifteen armed men but he could not identify any of them.

After some deliberation the jury returned the following verdict -

"That the deceased, Michael Morony, of Leighart, died at Tulla Workhouse Hospital on Saturday, 4th March 1882, from the effects of a gunshot wound inflicted on him at his own house on the 25th of February, 1882, and we find that said gunshot was feloniously, willfully, and of malice aforethought, inflicted on deceased by some person unknown to the jury, which person was aided and assisted by an armed band of men, consisting of from twelve to fifteen persons."

A large number of troops and extra police have been drafted into Tulla and the surrounding district.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 7 March 1882

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:24 pm

Hi Jim

I notice that you are calling Thomas McNamara (1863 – 1935) “our” Thomas, which is fine of course, but, lest anyone be confused, he is not the Thomas we are looking for.
I’ve looked at the civil record of the death of Michael Morony (note spelling), aged 47, on 4 March 1882; cause of death: gunshot wound - homicidal. But I don’t believe that the person who shot him in the leg intended to kill him. It seems Morony was visited in Tulla Workhouse by William Forster, Chief Secretary for Ireland, on the night before he (Morony) died: https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/articl ... nd-forster.

That piece, by Ronnie O’Gorman, gives a brief account of the change of tack by Parnell while he was in prison (which I referred to above, page 16). The agreement reached with Gladstone may have been considered a victory for the Irish Partliamentary Party, but cracks began to appear in the Land League from that time forward. To change tack and expect everyone else to do likewise is asking too much, probably. The new land act disappointed many small farmers who saw it as benefitting the large farmers and “ranchers” – the very people they believed had “grabbed” land after the Famine - more than it would ever benefit them. Did they begin to suspect that their dream of getting some of that good grazing land was just a dream? I don’t know – looking at these matters in hindsight prevents us from seeing things as they appeared at the time.

Donald E. Jordan Jr. in his book, Land and Popular Politics in Ireland: County Mayo from the plantation to the land war, (Cambridge University Press, 1994), says that many small farmers became disillusioned. They began to fear that nothing would really change for them. In 1882, Jordan says, “Parnell insisted on: loyalty to himself as leader of the agrarian and parliamentary struggles; subordination of the local branches of the land and national movements to central control, which by 1882 meant control by the Parnellite wing of the Irish parliamentary party; abandonment of radical agrarianism except as a tool of constitutional struggle in which home rule, rather than peasant propriety, was the primary object” (p 277). It must have seemed to small farmers that Parnell had harnessed, for his own purposes, their desire to get out from under the landlords and to own their own land. But Jordan is writing about farmers in Co. Mayo, where various local factors came into play. Did small farmers in Clare experience the same disappointment? – I don’t know. The trouble with history is that the closer you look, the more confusing it becomes.

As for Clifford Lloyd, Resident Magistrate, there’s an interesting account of his career, in Limerick, Clare and Galway, in Loughrea - ‘That Den of Infamy’: The Land War in Co. Galway, 1879 – 82, by Pat Finnegan (Four Courts Press, 2014) (pp 118 – 123). Clifford Lloyd was zealous and his application of the Coercion Act was vigourous. He was responsible for 45 arrests in Limerick, 82 in Clare and 45 in Galway East Riding, which accounted for 18% of the total amount in the country. On leaving Ireland, he wrote am account of the land war, Land War, Ireland under the Land League (London 1892). Of his subsequent career, Finnegan writes: “On 4 May 1882, he wrote to Spencer requesting employment in England or as colonial governor. However, in the wake of the Phoenix Park murders, he withdrew the request. He coveted the governorship of the Bahamas, but this post was awarded to his colleague SRM Blake, who was also awarded a knighthood. During 1883, Clifford Lloyd remained officially in post, although on prolongued sick leave. In September, the title of special resident magistrate was changed to divisional magistrate and Clifford Lloyd was not offered a post. It would appear, therefore, that his authoritarian attitude and public notoriety resulted in a reassessment of his suitability for postings requiring a more diplomatic approach. In a telegram dated 30 August 1883, Lord Granville at the war office sent Clifford Lloyd confirmation that he had been offered a post by the Egyptian government with a salary of £1,000 for six month’s work. The post was that of inspector general for reform and it was attached to the ministry of the interior. Following disagreement with the Egyptian authorities over his plans, he resigned the post at the end of May 1884 and returned to England. From March to November 1885, he returned for a brief period as RM for Co. Londonderry, before he achieved one of his ambitions, when he became lieutenant governor of Mauritius. Controversy arose with the governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, and Clifford Lloyd resigned the post. His career ended as consul of Kurdistan. He died at Erzerum, Armenia, in June 1891.” (p 123) – consoled by having survived Feakle, maybe.

A painting by Howard Helmick (1840 – 1907):
http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery ... cf04&idx=1

Getting back to genealogy: it occurred to me that Elizabeth in Wawarsing, might have been called Betty by her husband’s people, the Hoornbecks, as their way of dealing with the name “Biddy”. But then I decided that that might be a bit too farfetched, and that there was a possibility I'd mistranscribed a Betty (in the Tulla baptisms) as Biddy - I’ve noticed that many priests used short form of names, ie. Kitty, Winny etc.. So I looked through the Tulla register from 1830 to 1835 (Elizabeth was born about 1832), but, alas, found no Betty. To add to the disappointment, the only suitable Bridget/Biddy among the siblings of the candidates for the position of Thomas McNamara (on page 1) is Bridget, born to John McNamara and Mary Kelly on 24.02.1834, and she is must have died in childhood because another child was called Bridget on 19.01.1845. But how strange it is that none of the other four families have a Bridget. How can four families not have a single Bridget between them?

Sheila

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:25 am

Hi Jim

I’ve been looking through Gerard Madden’s book, The Annals of the Poor: Scariff Workhouse Union Counties Clare and Galway 1839-1851 (East Clare Heritage 2017) in connection with my interest in the Workhouse Infirmaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I didn’t find anything on the infirmary - the book deals with the famine period - but it is such a trove of information it’s impossible to open it without stopping to read. Madden gives a great deal of information on emigration from the Scariff area to Australia and something that caught my eye was this piece (p 94) on the arrival of the Canton SS on 12 June 1848 with 236 passengers from Plymouth. Among these was

Ambrose Bowles, 20, Feakle, Parents James & Mary (both alive). A cousin, Mary McMahon, arrived on the Fairlie 7 August 1848. A sister, Margaret, arrived on the Tory 9 April 1849 and a sister, Bridget Costelloe, arrived on the Kate 13 October 1850. He had a brother possibly in Melbourne.

Among the other 10 Canton passengers, from the Scariff area, were two other girls named Bowles: Catherine Bowles (sister), 23, Feakle, and Ellen Bowles (sister), 21.
(By the way, there’s also a Michael Madigan, a groom, 24, Tulla).

Sheila

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:08 am

Hi Sheila,

Thanks for the information on the Bowles family, we came across that Ambrose earlier (page 14):

In 1866 Patrick Bowles and his older brother James Bowles of Glandree didn't just willy nilly get on the Ship Shalimar at Liverpool on May 25th bound for Melbourne. They were following in the footsteps of their uncle or perhaps great uncle James Bowles (1775 - 1868), wife Mary Anne McMahon Bowles (1789 - 1872) and their entire family of nine children (including son Ambrose Bowles) who left Feakle for the Colony of Victoria one generation earlier.

The Australian descendants are well documented on ancestry, including a photo of Ambrose Bowles (1829 - 1889). And with the further research (page 16) into the Rev. James Bowles (1811-1881) we can prove that his father John Bowles (wife Margaret Molony); James Bowles (wife Mary Anne McMahon) whose entire family left Feakle for Australia; the Rev. Ambrose Bowles who drowned at Lahinch Bay in 1846; and Catherine Bowles who married Nicholas Kelly, a Limerick Town Councillor; were all the children of John Bowles and Margaret O'Connor. The Rev. Ambrose O'Connor (abt 1769 - 1849) was their uncle.

And the 1881 painting "News of the Land League" by Howard Helmick was a great find, thank you very much for sharing the link. It would be nice to go to the National Gallery in Dublin to check it out someday. Their description of the painting, under "Label Text", highlights the "theme of literacy". Of course, there are different ways to interpret a painting, but the National Gallery seems to ignore the two young men in the left background that take up fully one third of the painting. The pair would be about the same age as Thomas McNamara, the Coercion Suspect from 1882, and like Thomas, are the sons of farmers. One sits leaning against his hand and elbow on the table with a look of boredom or even disdain as he watches the elderly farmers eagerly hear the Land League news. The farmers, through the Land League, were willing to take some risk to achieve a fair rent from their landlord. But it was the sons of the farmers, with the recklessness of youth, who wanted to destroy the entire landlord system. The two young men in the left of the painting are clearly Moonlighters.
http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery ... cf04&idx=1

The missing American Civil War soldier Thomas McNamara, last seen in Wawarsing, would be about the same age as the farmers in "News of the Land League". His sister, Mary McNamara Madigan of Barnsley Yorkshire, posted her last missing advertisement in 1879, the same year that the Land League was founded. It is very doubtful that our missing Civil War soldier Thomas McNamara returned to County Clare.

Sheila, your discussion on Bridget McNamara completely ignored your brilliant theory (from page 7) that there were two independent families of John McNamara and Mary Kelly. One family in Glandree and a separate family in Derryulk. When I stated that this "opens several avenues of new research", I was thinking specifically that the Bridget McNamara born in 1834 was back in contention as "Elizabeth" of Wawarsing, since the Bridget McNamara born in Derryulk in 1845 was from a completely different family. My prior theory (page 3) that "Johanna" McNamara changed her name to "Elizabeth", because the first wife of Daniel Hornbeck was named "Jane Anne" was clever, but had one major fault. Joanna McNamara was born in November 1835. I reckon Joanna would have only been about 17 years old if she had married Daniel Hornbeck in 1852 or 1853. Most the young women of Tulla Parish that we've documented during this search seem to marry at the youngest at age 19. The headstone for "Elizabeth McNamara Hornbeck" states that she was born in 1833, much closer in age to Bridget McNamara, and more importantly, she would have been age 19 upon marriage. So any theory that would provide a reason why a "Bridget" born in Ireland would turn into "Elizabeth" when in America is most welcome.

I revisited the McNamara's of Derryulk and provide their updated family tree below; the information on pages 7 through 8 was disorganized. I was also looking for further evidence that John McNamara and Mary Kelly were two separate families in Glandree and Derryulk. Some new information discovered:

Anne McNamara of Derryulk married John Meehan in 1877, but we could never find her Tulla baptism record. I reckon she is the "Anne" born to "John McMahon" and "Mary Kelly" of Derryulk on 20 September 1841 and the priest made a mistake in the baptism register, which, take another look, is really just a scribble.

Honora Meehan, the daughter of John Meehan and Anne McNamara, arrived in New York in 1906 and she was traveling with her first cousin, Mary Halpin, of Tulla; their American contact was Mary's sister Lizzie Halpin living in Brooklyn. The sisters were the daughters of Patrick Halpin and Mary Meehan. Another interesting Halpin connection, but I don't believe these Halpins are related to Margaret Halpin of Ballyoughtra who married Michael McNamara, nor Anne Halpin of Ballyoughtra who married Matthew McNamara (see family tree on page 13).

I searched again for any clues to solve the mystery of what happened to John Meehan, the WWI soldier, who was last reported on the 1920 census living with his sister Nora Meehan Carroll. I mentioned previously that John Meehan arrived in NY in 1910 and appeared to be traveling with Thomas Halpin of Tulla who was going to his brother John Halpin. Actually, Thomas Halpin was crossed out on the passenger listing and would take another ship to New York. John Meehan (son of John Meehan and Anne McNamara of Derryulk) and Thomas Halpin (son of John Halpin and Margaret Meagher of Afflick) were not related to each other, but shared first cousins (the children of Patrick Halpin and Mary Meehan). I'm not sure if there is a name for this relationship in Ireland other than "not related". Thomas Halpin would end up working as the chauffeur for President Taft (I'll link to the Clare Past thread on this topic when the search feature is back up and running).

On his WWI registration, John Meehan reported that he was a chauffeur for the "Fifth Avenue Coach Co." of 102nd St., New York (see document on page eight). A fellow chauffeur, a County Kerry man, named Bartholomew O'Brien, reported on his WWI rego that he also worked for the "Fifth Avenue Bus Co." of 102nd St., New York. Bartholomew O'Brien, son of Philip O'Brien and Margaret O'Shea, married Kate Reills, daughter of Patrick Reills and Mary Murphy, in Manhattan on 9 June 1909. "Kate Real" was the daughter of the American Civil War soldier, Patrick Real, of the 1st New York Engineers, who married Mary Murphy in New York, had a son in NY, and ended up returning to Ireland and living in Tarmon, County Clare. The sisters Kate Reills (age 22) and Nellie Reills (age 21) were last spotted in the 1905 New York State Census working as servants for a multi-generation German-American family of Moyer / Gottschalk at 145 East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; see this thread (http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=5280), which I'll update another day. The Fifth Ave Coach Company was famous for their double-decker buses - photos below. Their old company files, including employee records & employee photos, are located at the New York Historical Society Library and might provide a further clue to solve the mystery of what happened to John Meehan who went missing after 1920:
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/ny ... ref88.html

McNamara's of Derryulk.

In the 1827 Tithe Applotment Books, there is only one McNamara, Patt McNamara, in Upper Derrulk, and none in Lower Derrulk. Unlike with the Griffith Valuation and the 1901 Census, there is no Middle Derrulk in 1827. It is likely that Patt McNamara of 1827 is the father of either or perhaps both (1) Patt McNamara, whose widow Hanna Keefe McNamara has Plot 4, Derryulk Middle, at Griffiths Valuation. (2) John McNamara of Plot 3, Derryulk Middle, at Griffiths Valuation.

1.0 Patt McNamara (died prior to 1855 Griffiths Valuation) and Hanna Keefe (died prior to 1901) of Derryulk have seven children recorded in the Tulla baptism register. Hanna McNamara at Griffiths Valuation has Plot 4, 16 acres in Derryulk, Middle.
............ 1.? missing baptism register (March 1822 through August 1825)
............ 1.1 Mary McNamara (1826 in Derolk), mother Anne, sponsor Mary Kelly

............ 1.2 John McNamara (1828 in Derraolk; died 26 August 1898, age 68), sponsors Pat McNamara, Mary McNamara. John McNamara was married to Bridget Naughten (age 65 in 1901; died 23 October 1902, age 71) <Derryulk Middle, Kiltannon, House 4, x>
......................... 1.2.1 Mary McNamara (1862 in Derryulk), sponsors James Naughten of Feacle, Mary Naughten of Feacle. <Derryulk Middle, House 4, House 5>
......................... 1.2.2 Patrick McNamara (1864 in Derulk), sponsors Jeremiah Keefe, Mary Keefe <Derryulk Middle, House 4, House 5>
......................... 1.2.3 James McNamara (1867 in Derryulk), sponsors John Bourke, Honora Moroney
......................... 1.2.4 John McNamara (1869 in Derryulk), sponsors James Carty, Anne McNamara

............ 1.3 Stephen McNamara (1829 in Derulk), sponsor Dennis Mongaven <Derryulk Middle, Kiltannon, House 4, x>
............ 1.4 Michael McNamara (1832 in Derulk), sponsors John Keefe, Mary Mungan
............ 1.5 Patt McNamara (1835 in Derraolk), sponsors Thomas and Mary Keeffe
............ 1.6 Bridget McNamara (1839 in Derulk), mother "Ellen", sponsors John Neil, Mary Neil
............ 1.7 Catherine McNamara (1840 in Derulk), mother "Ellen", sponsors John Keefe, Mary Mungan

2.0 John McNamara (about 1807; died on 27 November 1882, age 75, widower, at Derrulk, informant son Michael McNamara) married to Mary Kelly (died prior to husband in 1882). John McNamara at Griffiths Valuation has Plot 3, Derryulk Middle, 18 acres. When more civil death records become available for Tulla and Galway registration districts, Mary Kelly McNamara's death prior to 1882 might be located.
............ 2.1 Margaret McNamara (1838 in Derra(?); age 70 in 1901; age 75 in 1911), sponsors Martin Harrison, Bid Malone(?). Margaret McNamara of Derryulk married Thomas Meehan (died prior to 1901) on 20 May 1857; witnesses William Rouen, Mary Mealy. The Meehan family lived in "Clounderaown", an old townland adjacent to Cappafeean and Knockaloaghan. <Knocklohane, Tuberbreeda, House 2, House 3>
......................... 2.1.1 Patt Meehan (born 1858 or 1859, prior to Crusheen baptism register) <Knocklohane, House 2, House 3>
......................... 2.1.2 Hanna Meehan (1860 in "Clooneen"), sponsors Stephen McNamara, Hannah King
......................... 2.1.3 Catherine Meehan (1862 in "Cloun"), sponsors Pat Molony, Bridget Meehan
......................... 2.1.4 Bridget Meehan (1865 in "Cloun"), sponsors Michael Meehan, Margaret Reddan
......................... 2.1.5 Honora Meehan (1867 in "Cloundera"), father listed as "John", sponsors John Meehan, Mary Meehan
......................... 2.1.6 John Meehan (1868 in "Cloundera"), sponsors James Culligan, Mary Culligan <Knocklohane, House 2, House 3>
......................... 2.1.7 Eliza Meehan (1872 in "Clonen"), father listed as "Pat", sponsors John Reddan, Nancy Molony
......................... 2.1.8 Anne Meehan (1875 in "Cappafean"), sponsors Michael Meehan, Mary Meehan
......................... 2.1.9 Ellen Meehan (1877 in "Clonderowen") <Knocklohane, House 2, House 3>

............ 2.2 Anne McNamara (unknown baptism or 1841?; age 55 in 1901; died prior to 1911?). "Mary Kelly" and "John McMahon" of Deryulk had a daughter "Anne" baptized on 20 September 1841, sponsor Margaret Kelly. The handwriting on the baptism register is a bit of a scribble, but could very well be "McMahon". Did the priest make a mistake between "McMahon" and "McNamara"? There are no other children born to a "Mary Kelly" and "John McMahon" in the Tulla baptism register. Anne McNamara, of Derryulk, daughter of John McNamara, married John Meehan (age 61 in 1901; still living in 1910 when son John went to NYC; died prior to 1911?), son of Thomas Meehan (see note 1 below) on 14 April 1877 at Tulla chapel; witnesses Thomas Dooley, Mary Mack. Tulla church marriage record states groom as "Michael Meehan" in error. <Derryulk Middle, Kiltannon, House 1, x>
......................... 2.2.1 Mary Meehan (1877, died prior to birth of sister Mary Anne?), sponsor Maria McNamara.
......................... 2.2.2 Margaret Meehan (1878), sponsors John Mack, Mary Halpin <Derryulk Middle, House 1, House 1> arrived in NYC in 1908, contact sister Nora Meehan of 439 West 37th Ave., NY; Irish contact father John Meehan of Derryulk. Married Patrick Smith. Lived at 1292 Amsterdam Ave, NY. Died in December 1933 (NY Times, 22 December 1933).
......................... 2.2.3 Honora Meehan (1880), sponsors Michael Dooley, Honor Dooley <Derryulk Middle, House 1, House 1>. Norah Meehan, age 20, from Tulla, arrived in NYC on the SS Oceanic on 14 September 1906; she was traveling with her cousin Mary Halpin, age 25, from Tulla, and their contact was Mary's sister Lizzie Halpin of 598 Madison Street, Brooklyn. The Halpin sisters were the daughters of Patrick Halpin and Mary Meehan (see note 1 below). Nora returned to Tulla, most likely to visit her father prior to his death, and is recorded on the 1911 census. Nora Meehan, age 25, from Tulla ("Julla"), arrived in NYC on the SS Adriatic on 28 September 1911; contact brother John Meehan at 260 W 1st Street, NY; Irish contact was brother Michael Meehan of Knockjames. Nora Meehan married Patrick Carroll in Manhattan on 8 September 1912. Lived at 633 Columbus Avenue in Manhattan in 1920 to 1940 census reports. She died in February 1964.
......................................... 2.2.3.1 Anna Carroll (age 6 in 1920 in NYC)
......................................... 2.2.3.2 John Carroll (age 5 in 1920 in NYC)
......................................... 2.2.3.3 Veronica Carroll (age 1 in 1920 in NYC) visited Ireland with Aunt Bridget Meehan in 1933.
......................... 2.2.4 Michael Meehan (born 1 February 1882) <Derryulk Middle, House 1, House 1> married Ellen Russell, of Ballyoughtra, daughter of James Russell (deceased), at Knockjames Chapel on 7 March 1916.
......................... 2.2.5 Mary Anne Meehan (born 4 May 1884) <Derryulk Middle, House 1, x> arrived in NYC on the SS Caronia on 16 November 1907; contact sister Nora Meehan of 239 West 37th Ave., NY; Irish contact father John Meehan. Application of intent to become a U.S. citizen was filed in 1928; she became a citizen in 1933 with sisters Mrs. Nora Carroll and Mrs. Margaret Smyth as witnesses. Probable death in NYC in February 1977 (birth reported as 17 April 1884).
......................... 2.2.6 John Meehan (born 2 November 1886) <Derryulk Middle, House 1, x> arrived in NYC on 3 May 1910 on the SS Arabic; contact sister Margaret McNamara of 210 East 29th Street, NYC; Irish contact was father John Meehan of Derryulk. Fought on Western Front in WWI with Company I, 321st Infantry, 81st Division. Living with sister Norah Carroll at 663 Columbus Ave, NYC in 1920 census.
......................... 2.2.7 Delia Meehan (born 1 February 1889) <Derryulk Middle, House 1, House 1> arrived in NYC on the SS Philadelphia on 6 September 1916. Lived with sister Nora Carroll at 633 Columbus Avenue. Died in New York City on 17 June 1978.

............ 2.? missing baptism register (1843)

............ 2.3 Bridget McNamara (1845 in Deryulk), sponsors Daniel McGrath, Bid Kelly

............ 2.4 Michael McNamara (1849 in Derulk), sponsor Hanna Keefe. Informant on the 1882 death record for father John McNamara. Could not find any marriage record, nor baptism record with Michael listed as father in the Tulla sacramental records, nor any civil death record for this Michael McNamara.

Note 1: Meehan Family of Derryulk:

Tom Meehan, of Kilday, married Mary Dooley, of Kilduf, on 7 February 1837, in Tulla Parish; witnesses Michael Dooley of Kilday, and John Brennan of Tulla. They had at least four children. At Griffiths Vaulation, Thomas Meehan has a house on Plot 9 in Derryulk Middle, and shares Plot 8 with a John Meehan who also has Plot 7. I reckon John Meehan of Griffiths Valuation is the father of Thomas Meehan; Thomas named his first born son "John" in 1838. Thomas Meehan possibly died in 1877 at the age of 68; the Tulla civil record is not yet available.

1) Mary Meehan (1837) of Derrygarrif married Patrick Halpin in 1872. Children: Michael (1872), Anne (1874), Mary (1876), Eliza (1878), Joseph (age 8 in 1901), Martin (age 6), James (age 4), Sarah (age 2), Thomas (infant in 1901). They were living in House 17 in Knocklough, Glenmore in the 1901 Census. Mary Halpin traveled to NYC in 1906 with her cousin Nora Meehan, their American contact was her sister Lizzie Halpin.

2) John Meehan (1838) married Anne McNamara in 1877, see above family tree
3) Michael Meehan (1840)
?) missing baptism records in 1841 & 1843
4) Bridget Meehan (1850)

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:30 pm

Hi Jim

Yes I had forgotten all about my theory about the two separate couples:John McNamara and Mary Kelly, of Glendree, and John McNamara and Mary Kelly, of Derryulk. Your new presentation of your research into the McNamaras in Derryulk is very good, also the new bits, and I hope it will prove a valuable find for somebody. Yes, I agree that Anne born on 20.09.1841 must be Anne McNamara and not Anne McMahon. It’s very easy to read a scribbled McNamara as McMahon. Some day I will do a revised transcription. I feel especially bad about transcribing “Gorman” as “Gonnan” so often.

In our searches, neither of us has used the 1821 List of Freeholders (i.e. applications to the registry of voters) very much, probably because Tithes comes so soon after: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... s_1821.htm. If you click on the first option (list of freeholders) and look at MacNamara, rather than at McNamara, you will see that Middle Derulk was already an address at that time and the applicant was Patrick Macnamara (one of the lives he gives is that of the Prince Regent – it seems some people imagined that royal persons had extra long lives).

I notice, in that list of freeholders, Sheedy is twice used as if it were a first name. One Sheedy McNamaras is living in Kilcredane, which I see is in the parish of O’Briensbridge; the other is living in Ardcloony, which is in Kilaloe parish.
Rev. William Peacocke was landlord for 5 of the applicants from Glendree: Daniel Macnamara, Michael Macnamara, Patrick Macnamara, Patrick Maly, William Maly and John Jones, while the landlord for Patrick Macnamara, Curraghnataugh, is Lambert Molony Esq.. Rev. Peacocke seems to have been succeeded by Sir Robert Kane): http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie:8080/ ... sp?id=1890. Sir Robert Kane was the subject of a posting by you many pages ago. I can’t find it now, but I seem to remember that you were writing about evictions, and I find in The Annals of the Poor, p 84, this short piece:

Evictions in Tulla and Kilnoe February 1848: The relieving officer in Tulla informed the vice guardians that a number of families had been added to the relief list because they were dispossessed of their lands and their cabins thrown down on Sir Robert Keane’s property in Glandree.

On page 88, Mr Kerwick is named as the relieving officer for Tulla – I wonder if he is related to Bridget Kerwick who married an Andrew McNamara in 1862. He and Mr. Farrell, Assisant Master of Scarriff Workhouse, Dr. McGrath and a Mr. Christy all died of fever in 1848.

Sheila

.

You mention shared first cousins: someone once explained to me that her parents knew each other before their match was made, because, she said, “they had first cousins in common”. It struck me as quite a neat way of describing a complicated relationship.

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:49 pm

Hi Jim

A newspaper report on the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy to Tulla on 10 June 1883 is reproduced in Tulla Reaching Out 2016 (“The Nuns in Tulla”, p 23). It is an extract taken from Annals of Sister of Mercy, Tulla, 1883. I mention it here because it refers to Rev. J. Bowles, and also to the Land League days.
The reference to Rev. Bowles is at the beginning:

This building [the convent], which is just after being completed, is a living memorial to the people of the parish of Tulla of the goodness, the piety, and the interestedness of their late pastor Rev. J. Bowles, P.P., V.E.

Describing the celebrations, the writer of the article says,

As the speaker descended from the platform the Tulla brass band struck up “God Save Ireland” and when they concluded the cheers were again renewed. I may here mention that the Tulla band were not allowed to meet or play for the past eighteen months. It was only about 6 o’clock on Saturday that they got permission by telegraph from the Lord Lieutenant to play on Sunday

. This intriguing comment is explained later in the report:

The little boys too, bearing aloft their large green boughs, marched in regular military order after the Tulla band, and occasionally sent forth an inspiring cheer for their once coerced band.

A little later the writer says,

Altogether the meeting [the celebration] was a great success, and reminded one of the balmy days of the Land League agitation.

“Balmy” ??? – well that must be tongue-in-cheek surely.

Sheila

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Sat Jun 22, 2019 6:25 am

Hi Sheila,

"Balmy", at least in North America, can also mean "crazy or foolish", as in "the country has gone slightly balmy".

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balmy

Thanks very much for the references to the Rev. James Bowles from "The Nuns from Tulla". The will for the Rev. James Bowles, who died on Christmas Day in 1880, bequeathed his house and land for the Sisters of Mercy to build a convent and school. You may recall I had a look at these will/probate records when investigating the complaint by Andrew Sheedy McNamara that John Casey, son of Patrick Casey and Ellen Bowles, had forcibly obtained possession of his bees in June of 1884. I only summarized the will briefly (page 17) back then, but here are the sections related to the Sisters of Mercy in detail :

This is the last will and testament of me, James Bowles, Parish Priest of Tulla, in the County of Clare, revoking all other wills at anytime heretofore previous to the date hereof made by me. I appoint the Reverend Michael O'Donovan and Revd John Egan the trustees and the executors of this my last will, and...
[bequests to family members; money for a third chapel in Tulla at Michael Quigley's cross; horse carriage & books to Rev. O'Donovan etc]...

I bequeath my house and the premises attached and lands in trust to my executors Michael O'Donovan and John Egan above mentioned, for the sect called Christian Brothers, the house to be used as a residence for the same and the land for their use and benefit, and for the purpose of their establishing in Tulla, certain schools for the education of the male children of the Parish of Tulla, such schools when established to be under the management and supervision of the superiors of the above named said sect Christian Brothers or [and? it's unclear] for the use and benefit of the Sisters of Mercy, the house to be converted into a convent for the said sisters and the land to be used for their benefit, whichever the Roman Catholic Bishop exercising jurisdiction for the time being in the Diocese of Killaloe, and my Executors shall deem most advisable and practicable...

27 February 1876; witnesses were John Nihill (physician and surgeon) and Denis Sheehan, R.C.C.

The handwriting for the will was mostly clear, but I likely still made a few errors in transcriptions, and perhaps that is why I am confused. Who did the Reverend Bowles want to give his House to? Does it go to the Christian Brothers to build a school or the Sisters of Mercy to build a convent? Fortunately, the Rev. James Bowles changed his "final" will and testament three years later to clear up this confusion:

I, Rev'd James Bowles, P.P. of Tulla, do hereby make the following codicil to the above my last will and testament. I hereby withdraw altogether the bequest made to the Sect, called Christian Brothers, and do absolutely bequeath my house and premises to the Sisters of Mercy for the purpose of here establishing a convent and schools for their order and for that purpose I bequeath in money five hundred pounds. Should the contemplated third chapel be not opened for Divine Service, I then direct the sum bequeathed for that purpose be distributed among the poor of the parish of Tulla, and should the Convent aforesaid be not established within a period of one year, I then direct that the money for the purpose be distributed as charity for the following convents: Little Sisters of the Poor Beir, Sisters of Mercy Nenagh, and the Sisters of Mercy Kilkee...

28 January 1879

The Reverend James Bowles died on 25 December 1880, and the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Tulla opened in June 1883, just a little more than the year stipulated in the will, but with all the building permits and environmental studies required in the late 19th century, that was never very realistic. The Rev'd Bowles did not stipulate that his house would be a Convent of the Sisters of Mercy for perpetuity. And in 2011 the buildings were donated by the Sisters of Mercy for a cultural center. Here is the news of the event from the Clare Champion newspaper of 20 October 2011 :

Comhaltas move into Sisters of Mercy buildings

The Sisters of Mercy convent and primary school buildings in Tulla have been formally handed over to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE) following a ceremony, which took place in the East Clare village on Sunday.

It marks the end of an era for the Sisters of Mercy, who first came to Tulla in 1883.

CCE propose to develop the buildings into a cultural centre with particular emphasis on the cultural traditions of Clare. The development is expected to take place on a phased basis, in three proposed phases, culminating in the construction of a 250-seater auditorium.

Complete article here:
https://clarechampion.ie/comhaltas-move ... buildings/

Sr Patricia O’Mara gave a talk on 100 years of the Sisters of Mercy in Tulla and how they came to be there. She explained that a Fr Boles from Glendree was instrumental in bringing the sisters to Tulla. She added that when they first arrived three local bands and 7,000 people came to Tulla to welcome them.

The evening finished with music by the Tulla Céilí Band.

Good to see that the Rev. James Bowles of Glendree got recognized for his contributions by Sr. Patricia O'Mara of the Sisters of Mercy. I reckon back in 1856, the Rev. Bowles would have been overjoyed to return to Tulla Parish as Parish Priest. Not to stir up trouble between County Clare and County Tipperary, but the Nenagh parishioners were not very kind to the Glendree native when he was their Curate, reporting to his great uncle, the Rev. Ambrose O'Connor. The parishioners barricaded the Nenagh Cathedral in 1849 to keep the priests out over a controversy on who would replace the Rev. Ambrose O'Connor as Parish Priest, shockingly while the Rev. O'Connor was still on his death bed (see page 16). The Rev. James Bowles "armed with a formidable crowbar in one hand, and a stone hammer in the other" had to physically demolish the barricade blocking the front door of the Cathedral, only to find the door so firmly nailed shut that the priests broke through the window of the sacristy to attack the door from the inside. Once successful, the Rev. Bowles and other priests were "vociferously yelled, groaned, and hooted" at by the Nenagh mob. Yes, indeed, the Rev. Bowles would have been happy to return in 1856 to the relatively quiet and balmy Parish of Tulla. And it is interesting to consider how local history in Tulla might have changed if Father Bowles did not die on Christmas Day in 1880, but lived through all of the balmy Land War years. Would the Rev. James Bowles have encouraged Anna Parnell of the Ladies Land League to speak at Tulla Parish, like his successor, the Rev. John Hayes, did in June 1881? Would Andrew Sheedy McNamara of Glandree have been arrested in January 1882 for protesting the arrest of Bridget McCormack of the Ladies Land League? Would Thomas McNamara of Glandree have been arrested as a Coercion Suspect in March 1882?

Sheila, it is interesting that we should be discussing the Rev. James Bowles this week as now there is closure for the story of Emily McNamara, the daughter of James McNamara and Margaret Bowles, and grand niece of the Rev. James Bowles. Emily McNamara immigrated in 1911 to Washington D.C. where she married Private Elzie E. Turner, from Prince George's County, Maryland, just prior to his being shipped off to Europe in WWI where he died during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during the last weeks of the war. To honor their Great War dead, the citizens of Prince George's County erected a 40 foot monument in the shape of a Latin cross on private land outside the town of Bladensburg. As mentioned on page 18 this would end up in controversy and the courts:

Over the decades the farm lands of Prince George's County became developed, and the Peace Cross now stands in the middle of a busy roundabout. The ownership of the private land where the Peace Cross was originally built was turned over to the state government of Maryland in 1961. Maryland is now responsible for its maintenance. The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in February 2019 on whether this was in violation of the separation of church and state. The US Supreme Court will provide their final ruling in June 2019 on what is to become of the Peace Cross meant to honor the sacrifices made 100 years ago in the Great War by the "Bladensburg 49" whose number includes the husband of Emily McNamara of Glandree.

From National Public Radio on the 20th of June:

On The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a 40-foot World War I memorial cross can stay on public land at a Maryland intersection. The cross "has become a prominent community landmark, and its removal or radical alteration at this date would be seen by many not as a neutral act but as the manifestation of a hostility toward religion that has no place in our Establishment Clause traditions," wrote Justice Samuel Alito, who penned the majority opinion for the court.
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/20/73182404 ... nd-state-c

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:55 am

Hi Jim

Thank you for the story of Emily McNamara and her husband Elzie E Turner and for the news of the reprieve for the War Memorial.

Just a couple of odds and ends here:
On page 17, I mentioned the McNamaras of Ayle House, Feakle, in particular Teige who had moved there from Rannagh (Tulla parish), and you replied

Thank you for the interesting comments and links - more evidence of McNamara's with a military background with Teige McNamara and his brother John an officer in the Spanish service.

Well, it seems the military tradition continued: In The Annals of the Poor (p 52), Gerard Madden mentions a James McNamara (Ayle House) as becoming chairman of the South Feakle Relief Committee in December 1846. A footnote explains:

James McNamara, who was born at Kielty Tuamgraney, became the owner of Ayle House on the death without issue of his cousin James in 1838. He served in the British Navy in China and it seems he never lived in Ayle House, which was rented as an auxiliary workhouse. In 1847, he was responsible for getting the monthly Petty Sessions in Feakle reestablished. In 1852, the Ayle estate, consisting of 1,300 acres, was sold in the Encumbered Estates Court.

Sharon Carberry contributed a lot of news items to this forum. Here is one she posted, in April 2008, under the title of East Clare Newsitems: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... t=193#p585

January 11, at St. Matthias's, Richmond, Surrey...William Francis MACNAMARA, youngest son of Colonel James Dillon Macnamara, of Ayle, county Clare, and late 59th Regiment, to Frances Helen, third daughter of the late Henry Huish, Surgeon-Major 3rd (King's Own) Hussars.
Freeman's Journal 15 Jan 1877

And here is another she posted in June 2008 at the end of the same thread.

Atlanta Constitution 14 Mar 1882 p. 5
The Condition of Ireland
The Daily News special correspondant at Killarney says he believes matters are rapidly mending in Ireland. Numbers of tenants he says are coming forward to claim the advantages of the land act. A farmer named CONNELL and his wife were shot in their legs at Feacle, County Clare, Saturday, and it is expected that they will die. This case is exactly similar to the shooting of farmer MORONEY a fortnight ago, when an armed party attacked his house, shot him through the legs, stabbed one of his sons, and shot another son.

Sheila

Sduddy · Post by **Sduddy** » Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:47 pm

Following on the above, (although it’s of no help in the search for Thomas McNamara) is this link to an entry on the MacNamaras of Ayle in Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry:
https://books.google.ie/books?id=0NEKAA ... se&f=false

I was surprised that only two families of MacNamara are listed, the MacNamaras of Ayle and the McNamaras of Doolen (both originally connected to each other). I looked to see if any were listed under Mc but this abbreviation of Mac does not seem to be used in Burkes Peerage. There were many more important MacNamara families in Clare according to N.C. Macnamara, who wrote The Story of an Irish Sept: Their Character & Struggle to Maintain their Lands in Clare in 1896 (reprinted and edited by Martin Breen as The Story of an Irish Sept: Origin and History of the MacNamaras, in 1999) – at least I remember noting that when I read the book some time ago but I didn’t note the page. It’s possible that those other families are “lesser” branches of the Ayles and the Doolins.

Here are the details of the Ayle McNamara estate given by the Encumbered Estates Court prior to the sale in 1850. The acres here must Irish acres - one Irish acre equals 1.62 English (Statute) acres; that would explain the huge discrepancy between the total number of acres given for the townland of Ayle Upper here (139 acres 3 roods and 18 perches*) as compared the total number given in Griffith’s Valuation (229 acres 1rood 6 perches).
*Totting up is tricky - there are 40 perches in a rood, and 4 roods in an acre: http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/ ... est003.txt

Sheila

Library Forum

Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,