Derrygraney - Where is it?

alexander993 · Post by **alexander993** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:41 pm

Could someone please help me. I've searched various maps online but I still cannot pinpoint Derrygraney. I believe it may be near Ballyminogue. I also see there is a Lough Graney, but I can't see that marked either. I'm looking 'cause I have a Sheedy relative born there in 1842 ish.
Many thanks,
Christine.
Australia

Paddy Casey · Post by **Paddy Casey** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:04 am

Christine,

Let's assume that this place is in the parish of Tomgraney (Tuaim Gréine). As you know, the word derry is derived from the Irish "doire", meaning a wooded area. So you're looking for a wooded area in the parish of Tomgraney. The 'graney' bit is presumably the name of Lady Graney or Gréine.

Now, if you search/browse the Clare Library site at http://www.clarelibrary.ie for the terms "doire" and "gréine" you will come across, among lots of other interesting titbits, the article on the parish of Tomgraney in the Ordnance Survey Letters by by John O'Donovan and Eugene Curry (1839) at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... uation.htm There you will read "The Lady Grian who was also called Gile Greine.......cast herself into a lake in Sliabh Echtghe in which she was immediately drowned. When her fair body floated it was carried by the stream flowing from this lake in a south-east direction, and cast upon the land on the margin of a wood called by posterity from that circumstance Doire Greine, i.e., Roboretum Gryneae. See also http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... istory.htm where it says "....Shortly afterwards, her friends discovered her body and had it interred nearby. They raised a tumulus over it for posterity and continued to give it the name of Tuaim Greine".

So the wood you are looking for is possibly on the banks of the river Graney which runs southeast from Lough Graney. No such wood is visible (to me) on the 1842 Ordnance Survey map of the area at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/maps/index.htm but maybe you have sharper eyes.

Paddy

smcarberry · Post by **smcarberry** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:21 am

Paddy has zeroed in on just the right spot for Derrygraney, and the person to consult for more particulars is Gerard Madden who has studied this area extensively while researching the several publications he has issued, including a history of the O'Grady sept in East Clare, a book which I have (but the index has no listing for Derrygraney). According to the legend, the fair lady was in the River Graney which, according to the modern Discovery Map no. 58, ends in Lough O'Grady, and exits out the other side as the Scariff River because Scariff is the area's major town, just before the river empties into Lough Derg. The lady's burial in Tuamgraney/Tomgraney is south of Scariff and southeast of Lough O'Grady. East of Tomgraney on the map (within easy walking distance) is a standing stone, which might mark the legendary burial; I am sure that Gerard Madden can say for sure. His contact info is shown below.

Since this is the stuff of legends, having a few more supporting citations couldn't hurt. All these were from Google Books, which provides both full and snippet views. I did check online articles of Thomas Westropp, the energetic antiquarian who covered Clare, but his articles online in Google Books don't cover this corner of the county. His maps tend to show every little locality and all old monuments, so that is sorely missed here.

Sharon Carberry
East Clare descendant, USA

Gerard Madden
East Clare Heritage Centre, Tuamgraney
eastclareheritage@eircom.net
http://www.eastclareheritage.com

screenshot image from
The Irish ecclesiastical record‎ - Page 664
1885

screenshot image from
The origin and history of Irish names of places‎ - Page 335
Patrick Weston Joyce, 1901

screenshot image from
Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts, p. 494, n.1
by Dept. of Manuscripts, British Museum, 1901

Folklore of Clare: a folklore survey of County Clare and County Clare folk ...‎ - Page 118
Thomas Johnson Westropp, Gearóid Ó Crualaoich, 2000
"... of a mortal father and a sunbeam, and, when told of her ill-matched parents, sprang into Lough Graney, floated down the river Graney to Derrygraney."

The lost and left behind: stories from the age of extinctions‎ - Page 26
Terry Glavin, 2007
"... stream to the place that ended up being called Derrygraney, the Oak of
Grainne. When the people found her, they wept, and they put her in the ground."
also mentions two old stones standing upright in the yard of Alan Sparling, Tomgraney

: Derrygraney legend by Joyce.jpg (42.3 KiB) Viewed 23479 times

: Derrygraney per Brit Museum ms book.jpg (59.08 KiB) Viewed 23479 times

: Derrygraney legend.jpg (40.68 KiB) Viewed 23480 times

Paddy Casey · Post by **Paddy Casey** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:46 am

Good idea there, Sharon. Ger Madden will surely be able to help.

A useful tool when looking for modern-day geographical features such as forests and lakes is the OSI site (see http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=714 )

If you go to http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicv ... 8,690758,7 you can see the southern end of Lough Graney and can follow the Graney river down to Scariff and see all the woods on each site. OK, Derry Graney may well have been chopped down 300 years ago but the trip along the landscape from the air is fun.

Paddy.

mcreed · Post by **mcreed** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:59 am

A good, online, searchable source for placenames of Ireland is "The origin and history of Irish names of places" by P.W. Joyce on the archive.org website. Derrygraney is mentioned on page 335

alexander993 · Post by **alexander993** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:04 pm

Thank you all very much for your replies and help. I did email Gerard but not heard back yet - I'm sure he's a very busy man. Anyway, I think I've tracked it down to a possible area and it fits in nicely with the Griffiths. Of course, that might just be coincidence and I could be out by a country mile, but it will keep me happy and occupied for a while.
Again, all your help and ideas have been much appreciated.
Christine.

Paddy Casey · Post by **Paddy Casey** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:21 am

alexander993 wrote:.........Anyway, I think I've tracked it down to a possible area and it fits in nicely with the Griffiths.....

Just of interest, Christine, where is that area ? Is it indeed alongside the Graney river ?

Paddy

alexander993 · Post by **alexander993** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:00 pm

Hi Paddy,

I found a reference on the internet to a property being sold and these were the directions:
"land is most conveniently situated just 400 metres outside Scariff town on the Mountshannon road. The land has frontage of 90 metres on to the beginning of the Derrygraney road ... Directions To Property
From Scariff take the Mountshannon road (R352). On the first junction on the right, you will find our sign on the gate post of the land"
and another listing:
"Derrygraney Site, Ballyminogue, Scarriff, Co. Clare ... Take the Mountshannon road out of Scariff. Take the first right turn (about quarter of a mile outside the town). The site is 300 metres down the side road..."

I can't find "Derrygraney Road" on any map I've located on the internet but by following the above directions and using satellite image (google earth or just google maps) I can follow the directions and find a road that I think is Derrygraney Road. Near the end of that road on the right there is a plot of what looks like trees - no idea if that's what it is or how long it's been there, but when I overlay the Griffiths the plot belonging to Denis Sheedy is within that area.

Christine.

Paddy Casey · Post by **Paddy Casey** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:31 am

Neat bit of detective/geolocation work there, Christine. Thanks for the feedback.

I guess a phone call to that Seamus Bane mentioned in the advert (phone: 087 2593291, 061 921077) might provide clinching information on Derrygraney and its history or, if not, the name of a person (the owner of the wood ?) who can tell you all about it.

Paddy

damoscariff · Post by **damoscariff** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:56 pm

i am a desendant of the sheedy family in derrygraney scariff co clare

Paddy Casey · Post by **Paddy Casey** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:47 pm

damoscariff wrote:i am a desendant of the sheedy family in derrygraney scariff co clare

So what can you tell us about the Sheedys of Derrygraney and about the location of Derrygraney ?

Paddy

damoscariff · Post by **damoscariff** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:43 pm

Paddy Casey wrote:
damoscariff wrote:i am a desendant of the sheedy family in derrygraney scariff co clare
So what can you tell us about the Sheedys of Derrygraney and about the location of Derrygraney ?

Paddy

ru related too paddy , where ru residing .

location of derrygraney is on mountshannon rd comin from scariff town head couple of 100 metres out mountshannon rd and turn rite down a rd thats it there nothin down there only a cottage where the sheedys lived and a house futher on where so called tobins lived yrs ago .

dont no much my self bout the sheedys at presents my grandmother is the only remainin sheedy livin in scariff her other sister lives in cambridge in england i found out a uncle of theres bfought in a war in austrailia from 1914 to 1918 his name was john sheedy .

alexander993 · Post by **alexander993** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:43 am

damoscariff wrote:i am a desendant of the sheedy family in derrygraney scariff co clare

My gggrandmother is Bridget Sheedy b.c. 1833, married John Harte 1859 Moynoe, died 1909 Moynoe.

I believe I have found two of her siblings here in Australia:
Winifred Sheedy, b.c. 1842 Derrygraney, Clare, Ireland - as per her Queensland Death Certificate
Denis Sheedy, b.c. 1844 Scariff, Clare, Irleand - as per his Queensland Death Certificate

Their parents were Denis Sheedy, Farmer & Mary Hourigan. They arrived in Brisbane, Queensland on the Legion of Honor on 27 Feb 1866 with the ship departing from London on 25 Nov 1865.

As for the John Sheedy you mentioned, a quick look on our National Archives website shows the WWI Attestation Papers for a John Sheedy, aged 32 yrs 4 mths as at 16 Oct 1916, living in Brisbane and his next of kin is listed as his mother, Mrs Norah Sheedy, Derygraney, Scariff ...

Do you think they are all connected?

Christine.

damoscariff · Post by **damoscariff** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:25 pm

[

Do you think they are all connected?

Christine.[/quote]

hi again there a very confusin family them sheedys lol , id say they r all connected all rite the irish cencus of 1901 and 1911 in ireland shows a good bit of info too bout the sheedys in derrygraney there is a head stone in the local graveyard too wit names of people that we dont no who they r it says john sheedys father who died in 1878 think he was denis and his brother micheal who died in 1875 aged 34 , i think some where along the way some wife of a man died and he remarried and had other kids , some 1 frm australia was in contact wit my grandmother last yr they mew alot of info on the sheedys

brendan · Post by **brendan** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:29 pm

The Scariff river was also known locally as the Graney. I understood Derrygraney to mean the end of the Graney. Deireadh in Irish meaning "end" or "finish". The townland is adjacent to the river and can be accessed as indicated by taking a right turn off the Mountshannon Road. The last Sheedy to live there was Jimmy (now deceased) but his house has been renovated. A Tobin family also lived in this area. There is a jetty (recently built) near this house

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