John Draddy : Short Biography

John Draddy 1787

Killeagh (Cork) County Cork

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Place of migration

Stayed in Ireland

John Draddy was the brother of Patrick Draddy and Mary Draddy Mansfield. He was from Meenoughter (Binn Uachtair) Mount Uniacke County Cork.

John was married to Anastatia Ahern, circa 1814 in County Cork, and according to RC Irish parish records and his brother Patrick's 1856 will, he and Anastatia had seven known children; sons David (1815-1857), William (1818-1846), Patrick (c. 1820-1868), John (1833-1881), and daughters, Elizabeth Draddy O'Keefe (1832-1915), Bridget Draddy McKenna 1833-1881) though not proven, it's believed Bridget and John were twins - and they died within days of each other, and Mary Draddy (1834-1909). All but his daughter Mary and son Patrick, immigrated to the United States.

He was also the uncle of Michael Mansfield, Mary Draddy Mansfield's son.

He may have been the poet/scribe/stone carver known also as Seán Ó Dreada -

From 2009 Roinn an Bhéaloidis:

"Department of Folklore awards a prize to the best first year essay presented to it in Folklore. The prize will be a €50.00 voucher.
It is named after John Draddy or Seán Ó Dreada as he always signed himself."

Excerpt from Past Times 2010-2011):
"The scribe's name was Seán or Eon Ó Dreada (John Draddy) 1771–1840. He was born in the townland of Meenoughter (Binn Uachtair) in the parish of Ardagh East Cork and came from a family of stone cutters/carvers. The Draddy's were one of the longest established families in that parish. The tithe returns of October 3rd 1827 show that a John Draddy in partnership with William Mansfield (Mary Draddy's husband) held 48 acres of land in the townland of Meenoughter.
This article is dedicated to the stone carver, scribe, copyist and poet, who wrote the Grave Lay or Epitaph (Feartlaoi) which we are fortunate to have in our parish. The Irish language verses carved by this scribe are a rarity and number only a handful among the thousands found in all the cemeteries of County Cork. Richard Henchion, the noted local historian, who has examined in excess of 6,500 monuments in over 100 burial grounds in the county estimates that there are not more than 10-15 headstones inscribed over the signature of this scribe.
Three additional examples of Ó Dreada's work, two from St. Joseph's cemetery, Cork and a third inscription from Dún Bolg cemetery. We will also examine one of his manuscripts and some of the material contained within its pages."

According to a published book written approximately 1926);
"John Draddy or Seán Ó Dreada was born, estimated (no proven dates ever given - just estimates), around 1770 in Meenoughter, Killeagh in East Cork. he lived, like many students, in different areas of the city from Little Island to Blarney Road and Evergreen. He was a stonecutter by trade and a scholar by night."

Also:
"An obituary describes him as 'zealous, correct and indefatigable' and 'rescuing from ruin and oblivion, by beautiful and correct transcripts, the various Irish manuscripts, prose and verse, that he could possibly collect, or in instructing through the medium of their own language his poorer brethren in the principles of religion and morality'. He died, again estimated, in 1840 on Evergreen Road" (again,they had no records, just estimates). This obituary is apparently not on line and has never been found.

I would like to thank Anne O'Neill of County Cork; for all her help and assistance in providing not only the headstone photo and the inscription, but also for all her help with the Draddy family genealogy.

Additional Information
Date of Birth	1st Jan 1787
Date of Death	8th Sep 1842
Number of Children	7 children; David 1815, William 1818, Patrick 1820, Elizabeth 1832, Bridget and John 1833, Mary 1834
Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname)	Anastatia Ahern
Names of Siblings	Patrick 1780 and Mary circa 1785

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Comments

My Dad's Aunt Margaret Mccarthy was married to John Draddy, and lived in Meonoughter, were he actually fits into the John Draddy as mentioned I don't know .

Alimac

Sunday 14th August 2022 01:50AM

Hi Alimac,

Your dad's aunt Margaret's husband John, was the son of Patrick Draddy. Patrick was the son of John and Anastatia.
Margaret and John were married 14 Feb 1905 (her father was John). Margaret died in 1958.
I was in Meenoughter back in February and Margaret and her son Patrick are both buried in Inch cemetery. I have a photo of the headstone if you'd like to have it.
I was told by a member of the family that her husband John was buried in Dangandonovan cemetery not in Inch.

Sherrie

Sunday 14th August 2022 02:06AM

Hi Sherrie

Yes I would absolutely love to, I am currently trying to put my family tree and its a mission to say the very least I recently done my DNA with Ancestry, no shocks 50% England and Europe 44% Irish all in Munster 6% Welsh well did blow my mind I haven't even tried to find how that happened, I have learnt a little of my ancestors but I am sure you will appreciate that Mccarthy is very popular in Cork and the name John is well mind blowing so any information is a bonus .

Thanks Allison

Alimac

Sunday 14th August 2022 02:26AM

Hi Allison,

I haven't had a chance to put up a bio for Patrick on irelandxo yet, but here is the info I have on him and his kids:
Patrick is the only child who's baptism I haven't found yet, but he was born circa 1822 and died 1868 - son of John and Anastatia Ahern. He married Mary Neville 2 Feb 1856 in the parish of Killeagh. Richard Neville and William Cashman were the witnesses.

Patrick and Mary had five known children:
John (1857) , David (1859-1917), Bridget (1861- aft 1911), Anastatia (1864-1904), and Mary Draddy O'Keeffe (1866-1947). David, Bridget, and Anastatia never married. In the 1911 census their mother Mary, and the three unmarried siblings are all living with Mary and her husband James Keeffe.

John married Margaret McCarthy who was from Ballyre. Her father John was a farmer. John and Margaret Draddy had four children that I know of:

Patrick (1906-1966), Anastatia (1908-1918), John (1911-1993), and Catherine (1913-1914). Margaret's son John is the only one I know of who married. His descendants still live in Meenoughter. There is a lovely lady who is a volunteer on this site, by the name of Anne O'Neill. She helped me tremendously and I'm sure she can help you find out more about your McCarthy side since she also knows the Draddy family.

I can't find an upload button to put the two headstones I took while there, but if you will email me at:
sherriehardin14@gmail.com, I'll get glad to send them to you.

Good luck with your McCarthy search!

Sherrie

Sherrie

Sunday 14th August 2022 11:46AM

The Bantry Abbey Cemetery have a memorial for Timothy Ahern 1746-1805 which appears to be the work of Sean O Dready (John Draddy) and we wonder if his wife Anastatia Ahern was related to Tim. Regards Dorann Cafaro of the Bantry Abbey Cemetery Project

Thursday 26th January 2023 12:17AM

Dorann Cafaro,
I've not had much luck in finding more on Anastatia's family, but thank you for the clue; I'll definitely look into the cemetery and surrounding area!

Sherrie

Sunday 5th February 2023 04:39PM