Family in/near Kilmore Parish County Monaghan

If John Boylan was a farmer, and alive in 1860, you would expect him to be listed in Griffiths Valuation. There are 2 John Boylans listed in Kilmore parish in that publication. One was in Kiltubbrid townland where he had plot 3 which was a farmhouse, outbuildings and 5 acres; the other was in Tullygillen where he had plot 4 which was a house, outbuildings and 7 acres. (Subsistence farming, in both cases).

Tradition was to marry in the bride?s church so you may assume she came from Kilmore. There?s a possibility that one of these two men is her father.

No Boylans in Kiltubbrid by 1901 but there was one Boylan in Tullygillen:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Monaghan/Kilmore/Tullygillen/1637776/

John Boyland is listed in Kiltubbrid in the tithe applotment records in 1825, when he had 4 acres. In Tullygillen it lists Henry and Terry Boilen, beside each other with 4 and 5 acres respectively. Possibly one of these is the father of the John who later appears in Griffiths.

Thank you for your help.  I did not catch John Boyland/Kiltubbrid when looking through the Tithe Applotment records so that is new for me. I am glad you mentioned marrying in the bride's church.  I did assume that but didn't want to put too much faith into it.  Now that I know that it was normal, I will consider that Kilmore is correct for her and look around nearby for Patrick Keenan and his father Laurence.  I don't know how far people traveled to and from back then. 

Hello,

For years I've been trying to track down the birthplace of my gg grandmother Sarah Keenan. Sarah was born around 1830 in Ireland  (Scottish census records); married John Corr, Sawyer,  in Belfast in 1850; had three children in the early 1850s in Belfast; moved at some point in the  mid-1850s to Glasgow. Her death certificate in 1894 (Scottish Death Records) gives her parents as Laurence Keenan, Labourer, (deceased) and Sarah Owens. 

I don't know her birth county - but a search of Tithe Applotment records suggests there were  very few Laurence Keenans around  in c 1830  ( when daughter Sarah Keenan was born). Indeed of the seven I found, four were in  Inishkeen in Monaghan - this could be just one Laurence Keenan who had to pay a few tithes...

When I saw the posting about Patrick Keenan , father Laurence, labourer, I wondered if there may be a connection. I've been to both Dublin and PRONI trying to find Sarah's siblings, or her parents marriage records, but so far have drawn a blank.

Any ideas of how to prove which Laurence Keenan is my ggg grandfather? Do any of these names ring a bell?

Any advice would be much appreciated 

Joan

Joan

Joan,

Tradition was to marry in the bride?s church, so if Sarah married in Belfast, then I?d expect that?s where she was living at the time. She might hav ebeen born there too. You could try searching that church?s records for her baptism (though possibly you have already done so if you have been to PRONI). Alternatively it may be that she was born outside Belfast but moved into the city for work (or her father did). The population of Belfast increased from 13,000 in 1780 to 349,000 in 1900, as hundreds of thousands moved from country areas to the city for work. Her family could well have been a part of that migration.

The tithes are not a complete census. Only farmers and other people with land had to pay tithes so labourers, servants and most town dwellers did not. If Sarah?s family were living in Belfast in the 1830s, you would not expect to find them in the tithes. Likewise, if the family were still in a rural area, and her father working as a labourer (as your information suggests) then you would not expect to find him in the tithes then either.

Very difficult to give any useful advice beyond searching that church?s baptism records. It is a situation where further research is pretty well impossible. 

Elwyn

Hi Elwyn,

Thanks for your reply...really helpful, at least in confirming that I think I've tried everything!

I looked at Street Directories in Belfast 1830s-1850s to try and find Laurence Keenans, and drew a blank, unfortunately. This made me suspect Sarah's family migrated there.

I did find Sarah Keenan's husband, John Corr, in various street directories until 1854. And a search of the parish registers at St Patrick's showed that John had married in that church previously, and was a widower twice over when he married Sarah. (His death cert revealed the names of all his wives, so it was easy to find.) The Belfast Parish was definitely John's. A search of baptisms showed John and his second wife Mary sponsoring one or two baptisms until 1849, the year before John married Sarah. Nothing about Sarah's baptism in their records. I found the baptisms of Sarah and John's three children : William John, Sarah Ann and Catherine.

So I guessed from the lack of information on Laurence in Street Directories, no baptism record for Sarah, coupled with John Corr's activity in the St Patrick's parish,  that Sarah might be part of the migration to the city, at some point between 1830-1850. Thus the search in the Tithes.

Based on that, it seems you are right, it's a dead end... 

I'm hoping one day someone will pop up online with a sibling of Sarah's (thus my interest in the first posting in this thread! - it's the nearest I've ever seen)

Thanks again for your advice, think I'll keep an eye out for any more Keenan/Owens sightings

Best wishes

Joan

Hi Elwyn,

Thanks for your reply...really helpful, at least in confirming that I think I've tried everything!

I looked at Street Directories in Belfast 1830s-1850s to try and find Laurence Keenans, and drew a blank, unfortunately. This made me suspect Sarah's family migrated there.

I did find Sarah Keenan's husband, John Corr, in various street directories until 1854. And a search of the parish registers at St Patrick's showed that John had married in that church previously, and was a widower twice over when he married Sarah. (His death cert revealed the names of all his wives, so it was easy to find.) The Belfast Parish was definitely John's. A search of baptisms showed John and his second wife Mary sponsoring one or two baptisms until 1849, the year before John married Sarah. Nothing about Sarah's baptism in their records. I found the baptisms of Sarah and John's three children : William John, Sarah Ann and Catherine.

So I guessed from the lack of information on Laurence in Street Directories, no baptism record for Sarah, coupled with John Corr's activity in the St Patrick's parish,  that Sarah might be part of the migration to the city, at some point between 1830-1850. Thus the search in the Tithes.

Based on that, it seems you are right, it's a dead end... 

I'm hoping one day someone will pop up online with a sibling of Sarah's (thus my interest in the first posting in this thread! - it's the nearest I've ever seen)

Thanks again for your advice, think I'll keep an eye out for any more Keenan/Owens sightings

Best wishes

Joan

Hello Joan,

I have attached two documents that I hope you can retrieve.  One is the 1861 2nd marriage of Patrick Keenan to Ann Baird.  His first wife Mary Boylan died a few months earlier in 1861 during childbirth. This marriage rec is where I found Patrick's Father as Laurence and his mother as Margaret Owens.  Maybe, over the years, Laurence married sisters/cousins? 

The second document is the 1861 Scotland census which indicates Patrick as being born in Monaghan.  His marriage was also in Monaghan per one of his children's birth recs. So there is the possibility that Laurence and your Sarah could be from Monaghan as well.

Oh, and Patrick had children (the ones I could find anyway) named Margaret, John, William L., Sarah Ann, Luke and Patrick. I presume William's "L" stood for Laurence but I have never seen it spelled out in any of his records. All but William (and maybe Margaret; can't find a birth record, just death in Scotland) were born in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.

I have not found any vital recs for Margaret Owens or Patrick Keenan (thought he was born in early to mid 1820's earlier than your Sarah Keenan).  But it sure looks like a sister/brother connection between Patrick Keenan and Sarah Keenan Corr.