Library Forum

Thank you for the post re piracy on the river in Clare. My grandchildren will be excited to know they not only have a "Terry Alt" ancestor, but possibly ancestors associated with "pirates" in the 1840's. I've told them the stories of the earlier Viking sources of "pirates" to Ireland, but having your own local variety will please them no end.

Kerry

Thanks Kerry. Is there a possibility you might have connections to some of the people mentioned in the article?

I first became interested in the story as my mother is a McMahon whose folks came from that area and I was trying to prove a link to the Cearnach - which I haven’t been able to do

Darren

Hi Darren, most of my ancestors came from near Corrofin and, whilst there is a McMahon connection, it is a common name, so probably not directly connected. I did a search for the 4 men who were said to be transported to Australia in 1849 and could find no records of transportation. I am wondering if they were eventually given gaol sentences instead.

Kerry

Hi again Kerry,

the four men mentioned in the article https://roundaboutshannon.clareheritage ... ch-mcmahon all appear in the National Archives Irish Transportation Database:

Pat Hickey - http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/ ... earchfocus

James Hickey - http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/ ... earchfocus

Michael McNamara- http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/ ... earchfocus

Michael Reynolds - http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/ ... earchfocus

I had assumed this meant that they had actually been transported but the intro to the database states that:

"From about 1848...there is a deterioration in the standard of compilation of the entries in
the registers and of the level of detail given, particularly with respect to recording
the eventual fate of the convict. They therefore cannot, in this later period, apart
from verifying that an individual received a transportation sentence, be cited as
proof of transportation."

So you may be correct in saying that they were given jail sentences instead.

Kind regards,

Darren