McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

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Jimbo
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McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:02 am

McInerney 1898 postcard from Ennis to Belgium.jpg
McInerney 1898 postcard from Ennis to Belgium.jpg (243.47 KiB) Viewed 8223 times
The above postcard was purchased last month from a seller in Belgium on ebay for $3.25. It was postmarked 23 March 1898 in Ennis, the same day it was written, and I believe was postmarked in St. Trond, Belgium on 28 March 1898. Was surprised that the journey from County Clare to Belgium only took five days in the late 19th century, as it must have taken a good two weeks to arrive on my doorstep in the USA.

I struggled with the location in Quin where the postcard was written, as not so familiar with County Clare locations, but after much trial and error it is clearly "Killawinna, Quin".

The postcard must have spent the last 100 years or so mounted in a stamp collection as the back of the card has damage from when stamp hinges were removed on the top and bottom center of the card. The bottom of the "Y" in "Your affect sister" was removed as well as the first half of the first initial. But enough of the initial remains to conclude that the sister sending the postcard to John J. McInerney at Au Petit Seminaire, St. Trond was "M. M. McInerney". With the mention of brother James McInerney, it was fairly easy to identify the McInerney family of Killawinna:

Cornellius McInerney, of Cloundouna, farmer, age 24, son of "Nash" McInerney married Ellen Lawlor, of Killawinna, age 26, daughter of John Lawlor, on 23 February 1868 at the Roman Catholic chapel at Doora; church witnesses Patrick Lawlor and Thomas McInerney; civil witnesses Thomas McInerney and Mary McInerney.

1.0 Cornelius McInerney, baptized 21 August 1870, sponsors Pat Lawlor and Hannah Lawlor.

Cornellius McInerney, a widower, of Killawinna, farmer, son of Ingatius McInerney, married Mary Hogan, of Balloghboy, daughter of James Hogan, on 7 February 1872 at the Roman Catholic chapel at Doora; witnesses John MacMahon and James Hogan. <Killawinna, Doora, House 1, House 2>

2.0 James Ingnatius McInerney, baptized 28 April 1873, sponsors Michael Hogan and Maggie Hogan.

3.0 Bridget McInerney, born 20 June 1874 in Killawinna per civil birth record. <Killawinna, Doora, House 1, House 2>

4.0 Patrick Joseph McInerney, baptized 27 February 1876, sponsors James Doolaghty and Margaret Hogan. <Killawinna, Doora, House 1, House 2>

5.0 John McInerney, baptized 17 March 1878, sponsors Pat Lawlor and Delia McInerney.

6.0 Mary McInerney, born 19 January 1884 in Killawinna per civil birth record. In 1911 census known as Mary Margaret McInerney. <Killawinna, Doora, House 1, House 2>

The 1898 postcard was written by 14 year old Mary Margaret to her 20 year old brother John at Au Petit Seminaire in St. Trond. She had very strong writing skills. With the mention of 24 year old James not having written in a fortnight, perhaps he was also overseas. Mary Margaret mentions having sent her brother a six pound box of cocoa, perhaps as a birthday present as John turned 20 on 17th of March. But surely a rather odd gift choice to send cocoa from Ireland to Belgium, a country famous for their chocolate?

Killawinna townland is adjacent to Corebeg Townland and a short walk to St. Brecan's chapel at Doora:

Killawinna Townland, Door Parish.jpg
Killawinna Townland, Door Parish.jpg (21.04 KiB) Viewed 8223 times
James Doolaghty (Delahunty) of Corebeg was the baptism sponsor for Patrick Joseph McInerney of Killawinna in 1874. James Delahunty is very likely the brother of John Delahunty, the sons of John Doolaghty and Bridget Glynn Doolaghty of Corebeg. The shooting of John Delahunty in 1882 near Knockanean National School and subsequent trial of Francis Hynes for his murder, is being investigated further here:

http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... &start=315

edit: reload postcard that went missing.
Last edited by Jimbo on Wed Dec 09, 2020 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:09 am

Hi Jim

A note on the name “Nash” (used as first name; not as a surname):

“Nash” is taken to be short for “Ignatius”, but I believe that “Nash” is “Naoise”, an Irish name, for which “Ignatius” was considered to be a more respectable replacement. I think I have mentioned before that in the early 19th century priests were urged to baptise infants using the names of saints listed in the Roman Calendar of Saints, rather than Irish names (probably considered to be pagan). And so Connor became Cornelius and Murtagh became Mortimer (often shortened to Murty), etc., etc.

I think the townland that Cornelius McInerney came from must have been Cloondoorney More in Tulla. The transcription of the Tulla baptisms shows the baptisms of several children of Nash McInerney and Mary Melehan; address: Cloondoorna. Cornelius is not listed, but I think he must have been another of their children.

Griffith’s Valuation shows Ignatius McInerney leasing a large farm in Cloondoorney More from James Molony (of Kiltannon house). I came upon a mention of Cloondoorney More in an article entitled “Tulla Workhouse in June 1851”, by Denis Moloney, published in Sliabh Aughty (No. 13) in 2007. Moloney says that, in the Spring of 1851, East Clare saw a return of the high rates of mortality previously seen in the winter of 1847 (“Black 47”). The Poor Law Commissioners responded by sending two eminent doctors, Dr. James Hughes and Dr. John Hill, to investigate conditions in the Union Workhouses in Co. Clare. They visited the temporary Workhouse in Garruragh House near Tulla and wrote a 36 page report (preserved in the British Public Records Office – P.R.O. HO 45/3969 “copy report of Drs Hill and Hughes”). Moloney says, “Garruragh House, an old eighteenth century mansion and demense previously the seat of the Harrison family and, by 1851, in the possession of Charles George O’Callaghan of Ballynahinch House, was taken on a fifty year lease by the Board of Guardians as a temporary Workhouse for the new Union [of Tulla]”. When the two doctors arrived on 30th June, 1851, the new workhouse was only half complete. James Moloney of Kiltannon House, Chairman of the Board of Guardians, escorted them to Garruragh House where over one thousand inmates, all women, were being accommodated (the men and the boys were still being accommodated in Ennis and in Scarriff).(Moloney explains that 256 of the deaths which took place at Scarriff and 94 of the deaths which took place in Ennis were chargeable to the new Tulla Union).
When the doctors had finished their tour of Garruragh Workhouse, they were taken to see a house in the townland of Cloondoorney More, which had been acquired by the Board of Guardians just a fortnight before. The doctors seem to have been pleased enough with Cloondoorney More: “Here were 52 children at their lessons .. the dormitories were clean ..”. It seems that these children had been selected to go to the house in Cloondoorney because they had not yet been infected by Opthalmia which was prevalent among the children in Garruragh. The doctors wrote, “there is a large range of buildings in connection with the farmyard of Cloondoorneymore, which the Guardians are about having converted into apartments for the children.”

I suspect that the children who were free of Opthalmia were transferred back to the new Garruragh Workhouse as soon as it was built. I don't know what happened to Cloondoorney house - I can see no farmhouse with extensive outbuildings in the 1842 map.

Anyway, Cloondoorney More, where a quiet road follows the banks of Cloondoorney Lake and people walk their dogs, once rang out with the voices of 52 children. Cornelius McInerney, who was born around 1844 (going on his age in the 1868 marriage record), may have had a vague memory of hearing those voices.

Sheila

matthewmacnamara
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by matthewmacnamara » Tue Dec 24, 2019 1:28 pm

Dear Jimbo,
For me your post is of considerable historical interest.Here we have a young Clareman
from a farming family receiving his secondary education in Belgium. He may have
been a junior seminarian, alternatively, the petit seminaire may have enrolled some
non seminarians. Whatever be the case, the circumstances of his enrollment there leave me curious.
Was there a family or local connection with St Trond [a nun in a convent?] Up to our own time a not
insignificant number of Irish women entered convents in France and Belgium and spent the rest of
their lives there. The history of these nuns remains entirely to be written.
The farming family must have been relatively well off.

Sduddy
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:45 pm

Hi Jim

About the cocoa: I think it was Fry’s cocoa that was mainly used in Ireland. And maybe no other kind tasted quite the same! I’ve been reading The Highland Lady in Ireland: Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus (the journals of Elizabeth Grant 1840 - 1850 edited by Patricia Pelly and Andrew Todd, and published by Canongate Classics) and see that her entry for May 14th, 1843, describes preparations for a trip to Pau in France where her sister Mary is living. She mentions that she has packed a few things which Mary says are not to be had in Pau and among these is Fry’s cocoa (page 168-9).

Sheila

Jimbo
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Sat Jan 11, 2020 9:00 am

Hi Sheila,

Yes, I agree that Cornelius McInerney was a child of Nash McInerney and Mary Melehan, likely born in the period January through March 1843 that has a missing page in the Tulla baptism register. If born between 24th of February and 31 March 1843, Cornelius would still have been 24 years old at his first marriage on 23 February 1868. It wouldn't be too difficult to recreate the missing Tulla baptism pages with additional research of the families living in Tulla parish.

Sheila, you mentioned in a recent posting that the priest was responsible for completing the civil marriage records. At both marriages for Cornelius McInerney, in 1868 and 1872, the parish priest of Doora, the Father Jeremiah Vaughan, wrote the groom as "Cornellius" on the record. The irishgenealogy search results does not recognize "Cornelius" and "Cornellius" as the same name, and highlights how challenging it can be to discover records using their search function.

Thanks also for solving the mystery of sending chocolate from Ireland to Belgium; I had never heard of Fry's chocolate. Funny that you would stumble upon this evidence in the book that you are now just reading.

Hi Matthew, thank you for your feedback. I suspect that your curiosity on why an Irishman would be in Belgium is more historically important than my focus on the sending of chocolate to Belgium. The below 1884 article in the Freeman's Journal might provide a few clues on what John McInerney was doing in St Trond, Belgium in 1898:
THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF ST. TRONDE
(From a Correspondent)
Brussels, June 17

Those who shall take the trouble to refer to their map of Belgium shall find the little town of St Trond marked nearly midway alongside the great line of railway that connects Brussels with Liege. In books of travel St Trond is spoken of as remarkable for its fine churches in Gothic and Romanesque style of architecture, and also for the number and efficiency of it religious institutions. A word about two of these latter cannot fail to be without interest to Irishmen. Few are aware that in Ireland there are two distinct provinces of the same order of Franciscans or Recollects — the mother house of the Killarney one being at St Trond, that of the others at Rome. In visiting the convent at St Trond, the writer was rather agreeably surprised at being addressed by two young Irish Franciscans in the mellow Gaelic tongue of his own land. The good Fathers here hand down the sacred tradition that their illustrious founder, St Francis, had been at St Trond, and had selected the present site for a monastery of his order. A picture is shown in the splendid church of the Franciscans of their holy founder singing the Gospel at a High Mass celebrated on the spot where the present edifice now stands. The library contains some curious Irish manuscripts.

Better known, however, to the readers of the Freeman is the Ursuline Convent at St Trond. It has given to many an Irish home an accomplished wife and good mother. It was here that the daughters of a respected Dublin citizen and member of the National Parliamentary party, received that education which enables them to fill with grace their high position in society. On Monday the Ursuline Convent was en fete. An Irish lady, Miss English, from Rossmore, county Tipperary, and sister of the Rev W English, Girvan, Scotland, said solemn adieu to the world and its fleeting pleasures, and was received as a member of the great Ursuline community. The ceremony, which was most interesting and impressive began by Miss English being presented with a Crucifix. High Mass was then sung by a Franciscan Father, two priests of the same order assisting respectively as deacon and sub-deacon. After Mass Miss English spoke in unfaltering tones, and with perfect French accent, in presence of the ex-Provincial of the Franciscans, the formula by which she declared her desire to become a religieuse. The ceremony closed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Miss English takes in religion the name of our great apostle St Patrick.

The Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 20 June 1884

matthewmacnamara
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by matthewmacnamara » Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:26 am

Dear Jimbo,

Thanks for that very rich historical follow up.

Jimbo
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Thu Feb 06, 2020 5:03 am

In 1898, Mary Margaret McInerney wrote to her brother John in St Trond, Belgium that "James Sexton Mill Street" had died. Mary Margaret knew that her brother would "be surprised to hear" because she was very quick to report the news. According to the death record, James Sexton of Mill Street Ennis died on 22nd March 1898 at the age of 83 years old; informant daughter Bridget Sexton. Mary Margaret mailed the postcard on the 23rd of March, just one day later.

She wrote "James Sexton Mill Street" including his address and using quotes as Sexton is not an uncommon name in Ennis. The James Sexton who died in 1898 had the occupation of "Police Pensioner". Even with this unique occupation, there could be confusion as there were two police pensioners in County Clare named "James Sexton". The Royal Irish Constabulary pension listing from the 1890's initially confused the two men when writing a note "Died 22 March 1898" in the margins of the wrong man before crossing this out.

#6652: James Sexton (of Mill Street) reached the rank of Head Constable in Londonderry; his annual pension of £93 commenced on 1 November 1874 and was paid at Ennis. Died in 1898.

#6653: James Sexton (residing in Quin Village in 1901) reached the rank of Constable in County Mayo; his annual pension of £62 commenced on 1 November 1885 and was paid at Six Mile Bridge. His two children in the 1901 census were born in County Mayo. Died on 22 November 1909.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... e/1087042/

Jimbo
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:14 pm

Rev. John J. MacInerney, of Killawinna, County Clare, Ireland; Rev. Felix P. McCarthy, of Castletown-Bere, County Cork; and Rev. Michael P. Kinehan, of Nenagh, County Tipperary, were ordained priests at Louvain on July 14. All three made their theological studies at the Louvain University, and are destined respectively for Kansas, Omaha (Nebraska), and Erie [Pennsylvania].

Irish World, New York, 10 August 1901
In the 1910 USA federal census for Humboldt, Allen County, Kansas is the following household of three members:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2HJ-R9G

1) John J. MacInerney; age 31; born in Ireland; head of household; occupation: Priesthood; industry: Catholic Church; arrival in USA: 1902.
2) James C. MacInerney; age 37; born in Ireland; brother; occupation: general construction; industry: architecture; arrival in USA: 1904.
3) Margaret Hogan; age 54; born in Ireland; aunt; occupation: none; arrival in USA: 1902.

Margaret Hogan in the 1901 Irish Census was listed as a 30 year old "visitor" in the household of Cornelius MacInerney (age 60) and Mary [Hogan] MacInerney (age 53) of Killawinna along with three of their children including 17 year old Mary Margaret who wrote the postcard in 1898 to her brother John in St Trond, Belgium.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... a/1070584/

Louvain, Belgium has strong historical connections with Ireland. In 2007, Ireland issued a commemorative stamp for the 400th anniversary of the Irish Franciscan College of Louvain, 1607-2007.
Irish-Franciscan-College-Louvain-1607-2007.jpg
Irish-Franciscan-College-Louvain-1607-2007.jpg (52.18 KiB) Viewed 8181 times
Last edited by Jimbo on Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jimbo
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:58 am

During the first week of March, I attended the funeral of a first cousin. At the reception afterwards I spoke to the priest who officiated at the Funeral Mass, he was a long time friend of their family, having attended high school seminary with another cousin. When he brought up studying in Belgium during his university years, I asked if he had attended Louvain University. Yes. And then asked if he attended the Irish College or the American College at Louvain. The American College. The Monsignor looked surprised and asked me how I knew about Louvain. Not wanting to confess to being a stamp collector, or bring up a long story about John J. McInerney, I told him that I was interested in WWI history, which is a true statement (although perhaps not the entire truth). We then discussed how Louvain University had one of the largest libraries in all of Europe in the 19th century, including many old Irish manuscripts. But sadly it was burned down during the WWI invasion of Belgium by Germany. After a huge international effort the library was rebuilt and restocked, only for the Nazi's to burn it down again in WWII.

Quite a coincidence, that John J. McInerney, who had received a postcard from his sister in 1898, that I had purchased randomly on ebay, attended the same university as the priest who officiated at my cousin's funeral. For you see, Father John J. McInerney did not graduate from the Irish College, but the American College at Louvain. The American Bishops in the 19th and 20th century ran two seminary colleges in Europe, one in Louvain, and the other in Rome. The American College at Louvain only just closed its doors within the past few years due to lack of seminary students.

In the 1920 USA Census, Father John J. McInerney (age 41) and his aunt and housekeeper Margaret Hogan (age 60) are living in Chanute, Neosho County, Kansas. His brother, James C. McInerney, who had been living with him in 1910, was no longer in the same household.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFXV-S25

James McInerney, age 28, had arrived in New York on the ship Oceanic on 16 September 1903; he was going to Humboldt, Kansas to his brother, the Rev. John McInerney of St. Joseph's Church.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFTP-8JC

Iowa records might vary by county, but are generally excellent. James Cornelius MacInerney, age 42, born Doora, Co. Clare, Ireland, son of Cornelius MacInerney and Mary Hogan, married Mary Ellen Casey, age 25, born Buffton, Iowa, daughter of Michael Thomas Casey and Catherine Doran, at Winneshiek, Iowa, on 16 January 1918.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJPF-3Y9

In the 1920 USA Census, James C. MacInerney (age 43), Mary E. MacInerney (age 27), and their two children John J. (age 1) and Silvester J. (age 0) are living in Boulder, Linn County, Iowa.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M81F-5TW

James C. MacInerney's wife, Mary Casey, had many aunts and uncles in Iowa, including Johanna Casey (born Ohio) and William Maley (born Ireland), who married in Iowa on 17 March 1871.

In the 1870 USA Census, living in Winneshiek County, Iowa are Martin Maleagh (age 65), Mary Maleagh (age 60), William Maleagh (age 30), and Michael Maleagh (age 28), all born in Ireland.

The story of "a widowed and poor indigent mother, resident at Feakle, wishes information about her son William O'Mealy, a native of Glandree, in the parish of Tulla, county Clare. A mere boy, he left for California in 1848 . . ." was brought up by Sharon in this posting back in 2017:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6907

Later, I supplied the below theory as to the identity of William O'Maley who had left Glandree for California:
In the Tulla baptism register, there are three William Maley's listed as from Glandree:
1) William Maly, son of Pat Maly and Ann Haloran, baptized 16 May 1828
2) William Maly, son of William Maly and Honor Houlahan, baptized 11 April 1833
3) William Maley, son of Martin Maley and Mary Tuohy, baptized 2 August 1838

The missing advertisement states that he left Ireland in 1848 "a mere boy", so William #1 would be too old, and William #3 would have been too young at 10 years. I reckon William Maly born in 1833 would have been old enough at the age of 15 to set off on his own for America but still be considered a boy.
William #3 would not only have been too young, but in 1870 William Maley #3 was living in Winneshiek, Iowa with both parents. His mother was most certainly not the widow living in Feakle who posted the missing advertisement in 1854.

This is further evidence that William #2 was the missing William Maley living in California.

James C. McInerney didn't just randomly end up in Winneshiek County, Iowa. While James was born in Doora, his father Cornelius McInerney was from Cloondoorney More in Tulla, the same parish as the Maley family from Glandree.

This does raise the question what happened to William Maly #1, son of Pat Maly and Ann Haloran, born in Glandree in 1828.

Sduddy
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:35 am

Hi Jimbo

Thanks for that interesting posting. I hadn’t known about the American College in Louvain.
Just a small point on the first William Maly, b. 16.05.1828, son of Pat Maly: his mother is Mary Halloran, not Anne.
William's siblings are Mary b. 06.04.1826; Michael b. 19.07.1830; Bridget b. 01.03.1833; Martin b. 08.10.1835.

The main problem with the name Mealy/Meally/Maly/Mally/etc. is the number of variations (who in a million years would have thought of “Maleagh”?). This is a problem when looking at civil records as the name O’Malley is so much more common in Galway than in Clare, so if you are looking under Galway (which is where genealogy.ie have put a lot of the Tulla records) a good tip is to spell the name as Mealy, or Meally – that gives mostly Tulla records.

Jimbo, you have done well finding two of those William Malys.

Sheila

Jimbo
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Jimbo » Wed May 20, 2020 3:11 am

Hi Sheila,

With regards to William Maley #3, when his younger brother Michael married in 1890, his parents were reported as Martin Maley and Mary Twohy. I should have noted this conclusive evidence in my last posting. With regards to William Maley #1 (born 1828) and his younger brother Martin Maley (born 1835), children of Patrick Maley and Mary Halloran, I highly suspect that they ended up as a miners in Minersville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania — but will discuss another day on the Mealey thread.

1890 marriage record https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJHK-T1M

James C. McInerney initially arrived in New York on 16 September 1903 on his way to his brother Father John J. McInerney of Humboldt, Allen County, Kansas. I reckon Father McInerney brought his brother James, who was a carpenter, to Kansas to work on building a new Catholic Church for Iola, Allen County, which is about 10 miles north of Humboldt. The 14 October 1903 edition of The Iola Register reported "Catholics Lay Cornerstone" and "Father McInerney Announces That Work Will Be Pushed". No mention of his brother in the article, and the lead architect was a Mr. M. F. Anderson, but still the timing of his arrival in Kansas was too perfect for James not to have worked on St John's Catholic Church of Iola.

St John's Catholic Church, Iola, Allen County, Kansas, around 1910.jpg
St John's Catholic Church, Iola, Allen County, Kansas, around 1910.jpg (59.63 KiB) Viewed 8190 times

James McInerney appears to have returned to Ireland for a visit, as he is the 38 year old U.S. citizen arriving in New York on the 21 November 1912 on the SS Mauretania from Liverpool. Per the shipping record, he had become a U.S. citizen at the District Court in Iola, Kansas on November 1903 (most likely when he applied).

By 1925 the James C McInerney family, now with four children, had left Boulder, Linn County, Iowa and was living in Julien, Dubuque County, Iowa. The later Iowa state census records are unique in requesting the names of father and mother for each resident. We already know the parents of James C. McInerney, but it was interesting to see who was reported. His father was reported in 1925 as "John Connor McInerney" and mother as "Mary E. Connor". "Connor" and "Cornelius" are the same name, but I suspect that his wife spoke to the census taker which led to the other discrepancies (the 1918 Iowa marriage record, on the other hand, was 100% accurate).

In the 1940 census, James MacInerney was still living in Julien, Dubuque, Iowa. The family had grown to seven children. James reported to the census taker that his education level had reached the 1st year of College, so "C-1" was reported on the form. Most likely when Mary Margaret wrote the postcard in 1898 to her brother John studying at St. Trond, and complained that the family in Killawinna had not heard from James in a fortnight, that James was away at his first and only year of college. As commented earlier by Matthew MacNamara, "the farming family must have been relatively well off".

I found it interesting that James McInerney would end up in Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque County was a popular destination for Irish immigrants in the second half of the 19th century; but not so common for immigrants of the 20th century. Dubuque had the highest Irish born population compared to the other counties in Iowa in every census year, but by 1930 there were not so many Irish born residents. New York and other East coast cities were far more popular destinations for 20th century immigrants.

1870: 16.7% Irish born of a population of 39,000
1890: 5.2% Irish born (population 50,000)
1920: 1.1% Irish born (population 58,000)
1930: 0.19% Irish born (population 61,000).

In the 19th century, Dubuque was frequently visited by Irish nationalists on their American fundraising tours as per below excerpt from "The Irish in Iowa".
Visiting Speakers

Lecturers frequently came to Iowa to speak on behalf of the Irish and Ireland. One of the first was Thomas F. Meagher, who was later the commander of the famous 69th Regiment from New York during the Civil War. He spoke in Dubuque during June, 1857, on "Royalty and Republicanism" and the life of Daniel O'Connell.

During 1869 Mrs. [Mary Jane O'Donovan] Rossa, wife of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, one of the Fenian leaders, came to Dubuque to give her readings. She was warmly welcomed and "made to feel that here are a class of people who can sympathize with her in the noble efforts she is making for the redemption of her native land."

On October 30, 1878, Michael Davitt, Irish nationalist, appeared at Globe Hall, Dubuque. After being introduced by Alderman O'Neill, Davitt appealed to all Americans to by sympathetic and give active aid to the Irish. "His remarks had a good effect and will win sympathy for the land all Irishmen love and all true Americans would love to see free," reported the Dubuque Daily Herald. Late the next year Wendell Phillips lectured to a large Dubuque audience on Daniel O'Connell.

In 1879 Charles Parnell was traveling in the United States, speaking on behalf of Ireland. On New Year's Eve a group of Irish and their sympathizers met in Des Moines. They formed a temporary organization which, on January 3, 1880, became the Irish Relief Association. They made plans to raise funds by staging the production, "Robert Emmett.". . . Arrangements were made for Parnell and John Dillon to speak in Dubuque. . . . In Dubuque they were received with great ceremony and escorted to the Julian House. A packed room welcomed them that night at the opera house. Parnell's address was "especially pleasing." Receipts amounted to $743.10, with a net of $637.50.

Source (including population figures): "The Irish in Iowa", The Palimpsest, published monthly by The State Historical Society of Iowa, February 1964.
Sheila, after completing her American speaking tour, Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa visited Ennis in March 1870 when she was met by Michael Considine, of your long Michael Considine thread. Incredible to think when she visited America and gave speeches to large audiences that she was only about 24 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane ... ovan_Rossa

Here were the pieces selected for the Dubuque reading: "The Old Green Flag" by Miles O'Reilly, "Molly Muldoon" by Samuel Lover, "The Bells" by Edgar Allen Poe, "Barbara Frietche" by John Greenleaf Whittier, "Pyramus and Thisbe" by John G Saxe, "People will Talk" by ?, "The Prison" by Mrs. O'Donovan Rossa, and the "Battle of Fontenoy" by Thomas Davis. "All of the above were rendered by Mrs. O'Donovan in good style, and brought forth much applause" reported the Dubuque Daily Times of 22 June 1869.

Edit: reattach postcard that went missing
Last edited by Jimbo on Mon Dec 14, 2020 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
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Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Wed May 20, 2020 4:29 pm

Hi Jimbo

I enjoyed reading about Dubuque, the numbers of Irish, and the various visiting speakers. Yes, Mary Jane O’Donavan Rossa was an amazing woman. Just imagine, in the midst of everything else, she had 13 children. And how beautiful she looks in that photo taken in 1916 when she was aged 71.
I was surprised that there were so many Irish in Dubuque in 1870. In the course of looking for Considine material (because of my interest in various Considines), I came upon a piece about a Thomas Considine of Buchanan County, Iowa, whose father, Patrick, came there in 1857. Patrick is considered to be a pioneer, it seems, but if there were so many Irish already in Dubuque by 1870, I suspect there were plenty of them in Buchanan as well when Considine got there in 1857.
Jimbo, you will remember the Meally girls you found for me in Lowell, Mass.. Well, their cousin, Patrick O’Malley, lived in Boone, Iowa, for at least 40 years. He married Mary Smith in Carroll, Iowa, on 27th Nov 1890, and the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930* censuses show them living in Story Street, Boone, Iowa. Then they moved to Texas.
Patrick and his brother, Cornelius, left Kilmaley in 1880, aged 17 and 16, and went to New York aboard SS Wyoming. Cornelius is interesting because he became a Baptist minister, which is very unusual for someone from Co. Clare, I think. The US 1900 census shows him in Huron, Dakota. I have found the census records for him ( in 1930 Malley is mistranscribed as “Walley”) and a couple of newspaper reports about his ministry and one on his death in 1937, but nothing at all for the period between 1880 and 1900. I decided I would probably have the same difficulty finding records for him if he were still living, unmarried, in Kilmaley, during the same period. Your finding William Maleagh (son of Martin and Mary Tuohy) in Winnishiek, Iowa, in 1870, however, put me to shame, so I looked again for Cornelius in the 1890 census - but no joy. A report of the marriage of Cornelius to Katherine Cool appeared in the Huron Daily Huronite on 19 Oct 1900 – this is an excerpt:
“A wedding supper was served at the home of the bride’s parents, after which Mr. and Mrs. Malley went to their home on Idaho street which was in readiness for them. Mr. Malley is a young man of refinement, is highly educated, and since becoming a pastor of the First Baptist church of this city has won the esteem of the community for his stable Christian character and manly bearing. He came from Loraine, N.Y., and is a graduate of Rochester University, and Newton Theological Seminary at Newton, Mass. The bride is the daughter of S.S. Cool and wife and is a lady whom it is a pleasure to know. She has resided in Huron many years and after graduating became a teacher in the city schools, winning favor and friends everywhere. She is prominent in church work and is a woman of fine culture and Christian attainments”. I wonder if Cornelius really went to Rochester University.
Jimbo, I know you want to keep the Meallys out of this thread, quite rightly, as the subject matter is the McInerney family of Killawinna, and now I’ve gone and brought another lot of O’Malleys in. But that won’t deter you from getting back on track, I’m sure.

Sheila
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Sduddy
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Fri May 22, 2020 11:04 am

Hi Jimbo

Warning: this is a complete digression from the main topic – caused by your mention of the Maleaghs in Winneshiek, Iowa, in 1870:
At Christmastime I bought the The Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, to give to a child as a present and ended up reading it myself. It’s a wonderful book full of detail on how things were made and done in the early 1870s (Laura Ingalls was born in Wisconsin in1867). I then read all the other books in the series, and then I read “Pioneer Girl”, which is the autographical account of her childhood, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, upon which she based those books, The Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, etc. The version of “Pioneer Girl” that I read is an annotated one, edited by Pamela Smith Mill, and she gives the probable reasons for Ingalls Wilder’s omitting many incidents from the autographical account (and adding others) when writing her books. Smith Mill believes, for instance, that Ingalls Wilder understood the appeal of the notion of people heading out on their own and living independent lives. She avoids the messy bits that involve too many people of not very pioneering spirit. Laura Ingalls doesn’t mention that her father, Charles, managed a hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa, for a few months (1876-1877). The family had left Plum Creek, and the nearby newly built town of Walnut Grove (Minnesota), because of the grasshopper problem, and had moved to Burr Oak, Iowa, which Laura Ingalls calls a dirty old town - Pamela Smith Mill’s note says that Burr Oak was only 20 years older than Walnut Grove! She explains that Burr Oak is in Winnesheik County, Iowa, and when I look at the map I can see that Bluffton, where William Maleagh lived (aged 30, in 1870), is not so very far away at all, and it seems a coincidence to me that I was reading about this area so recently. Smith Mill says, “Early in the history of Burr Oak, wagonloads of settlers passed through the town on a major north-south route connecting Iowa to Minnesota and Wisconsin, and as many as two to three hundred wagons camped in Burr Oak daily”. Maybe the Maleaghs had come through Burr Oak.
By 1877, Burr Oak was past it’s best – in “Pioneer Girl” Laura Ingalls says that her father declared it "an old settled place … a dead town… without even a railroad". They went back to Walnut Grove in Minnesota (1877-1879) and then to Dakota Territory (1879-1880). In Dakota Territory they settled in De Smet. This was where they endured the hard winter of 1880-1881* and where, in 1885, Laura Ingalls married Almazo Wilder. Again, I was surprised to see on the map that de Smet is not very far from Huron where Cornelius was a Baptist Minister in 1900.

*The hard winter of 1880-1881: Forgetting Ireland, by Bridget Connelly, is subtitled “Uncovering a family’s secret history”. Connelly tells the story of a scheme to settle a group of people, from Connemara, Co. Galway, in Graceville, Minnesota, in 1880. Land (160 acres) and a house was provided for each family (a one-room, wood-frame shanty, which is what most farmers began with), plus farming tools, basic foodstuffs, seed for sowing and a cow. The group, 37 families, arrived at Morris in June 1880 and were “driven the twenty-nine west through treeless prairie grassland, along the old Wadsworth Trail … They see farmers busy gathering one of the finest hay crops ever”. What could go wrong?
Well everything went wrong and the scheme was a complete failure. To local settlers the “Connemaras”, as they came to be called, looked dirty and worn. They were soon seen as a profligate group of ingrates. Some sold their seed and went to work in Morris. Some sold the wood that had been provided to them to shingle their houses. It seems they had no idea how much preparation they needed to make for a Minnesota winter, and did not seem to realize that they also needed to sod they houses and dig rootcellars for food storage. In October the snow began to fall, earlier than usual, catching out even some experienced farmers. That was the beginning of the hard 1880-1881 winter, the worst in living memory. The Connemaras suffered terribly. The citizens of Morris tried to help by distributing quilts etc., but they themselves suffered terribly wandering about in snow and blizzard trying to find the houses. In late spring many of the Connemaras were transported away. Only a couple of families remained in Graceville and they put huge effort into disassociating themselves from the Connemaras. In fact the author herself was shocked to discover that she was one of the Connemaras, and, in speaking to other descendants found that she could not persuade them that they also were Connemaras. Forgetting Ireland is an apt title for the book.

Sheila

Sduddy
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Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Fri May 22, 2020 5:04 pm

Hi Jimbo

I wondered if James McInerney had returned to Ireland in 1912 because one of his parents was dying, but not so. The family burial place is in Doora old graveyard and the headstone inscription shows that Cornelius did not die until 1917, and Mary died in 1927: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ptions.htm

Mary, the writer of the postcard, was married on 9 Nov 1927: Mary McInerney, National School Teacher, Kilawinna, Quin, Co. Clare, daughter of Cornelius McInerney, Farmer, married Francis S. Brennan, Widower, Medical Practitioner, Quin, Co. Clare, son of James Brennan, Medical Practitioner, in Doora Church; witnesses: James Clune, Katherine Garvey.

Sheila

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: McInerney 1898 postcard from Killawinna to Belgium

Post by Sduddy » Sat May 23, 2020 10:44 am

Jimbo, I wanted to atone for my digressions so I’ve done a bit more work:

Francis (Stanislaus) Brennan, who married Mary McInerney in 1927, had married Elizabeth Brosnan in Dublin on 12 Nov 1913: Francis S. Brennan, Medical Doctor, Carrigahoug, Co. Tipperary, married Elizabeth Mary Constance Brosnan, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, daughter of Jeremiah Brosnan, Ex Seg. R.I.C., in St Paul’s Church; witnesses: Joseph Brosnan, John Ernest Harris and Mary Brennan.

It was Bridget McInerney (Mary’s sister) who reported her mother’s death in 1927, and I saw that her married name was Clarke. She married John Clarke on 27th Feb 1924: Bridget McInerney, Nurse, Newmarket-on-Fergus, daughter of Cornelius McInerney, married John Clarke, Superintendent of Insurance, Limerick, son of Patrick Clarke, ex-Engine Driver, in Doora church; witnesses: Patrick Clarke, Mary M. MacInerney. John Clarke’s name is Sean Clarke at the bottom of the record. The record describes him as a bachelor, but he was a widower, his first wife, Ellen (née Garvey), having died in Clarecastle the previous year (1923) aged only 36, leaving him with a family of young children.

Mary Brennan (née McInerney) taught in Knocknanean National School and sent a large number of pieces written by her pupils to the Folklore Commission in the 1930s. Some of them are by Bernadette McInerney, who might be a daughter of Mary’s brother, Patrick: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5177638/5 ... ID=5177638
The mention of Noughaval in the first piece (which I think is by Mary herself) might confuse people, as there is a parish, Noughaval, in north Clare, but Noughaval was also the name of a townland in the parish of Doora. There is another Kilawinna too - it is a graveyard (not a townland) in the parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan).

A Mary Brennan died in Cahercalla Hospital in Dec. 1958, aged 74; occupation: Retired Teacher. The record (1959) describes her as married, but, if she was Mary née McInerney, she was a widow, as Francis Brennan had died in 1937.

Sheila

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