corcoran and barron families

Hello George Corcoran I have only recently seen your.post about the Corcoran Barron families .My name is Kay Murphy and I am the great great grand daughter of James Barron of Crutt James would have born c 1795 and may be the brother of Mary Barron.The records for Castlecomer parish are patchy in the early 1800s.The ruins of the old Barron homestead still exist and I visit there from time to.time. The last Corcoran family in Crutt.died out in the 1930s. No doubt descendants on the female side exist but may be far flung . As a further point of interest the Famine records for the Wandesforde Estate show that in 1847 the family of Catherine Corcoran a widow emigrated with 5 dependants. Also the family of Luke Barron with 8 dependants .Both families were from Crutt townland Most emigrants at the time landed at Grosse Isle so you may have relatives in Canada or North America All the best in your research and keep me posted of further developments

thank you so much for posting your reply... i have been tracing my barron ancestors for many, many years and your response is the FIRST response i have had... so, thank you! 

mary margaret barron emmigrated to canada in 1824+/- with her husband thomas corcoran and their then four children... we have irish church records for two of these four children... the family would settle in northern quebec and remain there most of their lives

i am able to track mary margaret barron through the various census data in canada (i live in canada and have visited the corcoran family farm in northern quebec many times) and i have a summary of mary's life written shortly after her death... she was a widow for 50 years and died at the age of 107... though, from the census records, i would suggest she died at the age of 97... still an incredible lifespan for that period! Mary was very very active in her church throughout her lifetime including into her latter years where she worked tirelesly for the church / community.

my wife and i visited ireland a number of times and visited the lands in crutt where we think mary and thomas farmed while renting from the wandesforde estate... there wasnt much left there but i was acutely aware that my Barron and Corcoran ancestors must have once walked the same road we walked at that moment... as mentioned , i have a photo of a topographical map of the crutt area (viewed at the manuscript office of the national library of ireland in dublin), which shows corcoran and barron families farming near each other... in fact, there are two barron families on this map... the barron family closest to the corcoran families, includes the initial "T" which we think means T Barron or Thomas Barron

i am fascinated by your mention of the barron ruins... are you able to describe them to us.... can they be easily visited? i could share the topographical map mentioned above with you in the hopes you recognize the location of the barron ruins relative to the barron farm on the 1812 map

do you have any more information / details of your barron ancestors? the names Michael, Thomas and James are all prominent in my family history... do you have a public family tree? gedmatch?

we have found many corcorans farming the wandesforde estate in the early 1800s but we cannot make any connection between the various corcorans

i would welcome sharing all of my information (you can contact me by email at jcorc44@hotmail.com)

i look forward to your reply!

best regards,

george corcoran

canada

Many thanks for your reply George ,Was delighted to hear that you have some written account of Mary Margaret , what a treasure to have.You mention that you have visited Crutt . Did you get to speak to any local people at that time.Crutt is Avery large townland which.is subdivided into four or more areas Sraid, Cappa Coolade and the Crutt Hills. My ancestor James Barron hails from Sraid and this where our old ruins are .It is down a short lane and once led to 2 homesteads that of Barron and Keating families It is fairly easily accessed. According to the Tithe Allotments of Crutt townland in 1823 there were 2 Barron families 1 John Barron in Coolade and. 2. James Barron.in.Sraid These locations I know from local knowledge I have yet to find the link between these two families but local folklore that we are related The house of John Barron still exists and his descendants on the female line still live there I am the great granddaughter of Terence Barron and Anne Phelan Anne was from the adjacent townland of Mayhora which is where I was reared. At the marriage of Terence and Anne in 1875 the father of Terence is listed as James Terence died in the period 1886 to 1901 No death record to be found at the moment I do not have a family tree sorted yet. I am compiling the narrative at the moment of my Phelan Barron and Brennan ancestors. I live in Dublin but have an old house in Mayhora and visit frequently I will try and find out the location of the homestead of the last Corcoran family in Crutt
Also there were several Corcoran families in Mayhora up to the 1950s Later on I will email you a.more detailed account of my research Hope this is useful to you.Kind Regards

we travelled by car through crutt and did stop at a local farm... we spoke with the owner who was, at least, the third generation of farmers working that land.... his farm was close to a small bridge / stream which he described as the east / west mark of the crutt townland.  with that, he told us of local stories of families who moved south from "up north" and settled in crutt to work the land near the east / west bridge and that my corcoran ancestors may have been one of these families

i took a look at the topographical map dated 1812 +/- which provides a very good overview of the then crutt townland AND those people living in it... this map is divided by a 'north / south' line which is called a "section line"... relative to this section line, i can clearly see corcoran farms with MANY delany neighbours as well as keating and shiel neighbours

i can also clearly see a barron farm which is located near a phelan farm.... the map also shows a dividing line / section with "CHATSWORTH"  and it is near this dividing line / section line that i see the farms of barron and keating.... and the neale farm is close by... these three farms are located in the south - east area of the crutt townland... does this make sense to you in terms of your description of the location of your ancestoral farmland?

hope you are keeping well and i look forward to your reply!

Hello again George you won't believe it but yesterday I walked this very road over the Crutt bridge and thought of all your ancestors as I did so You were definitely on the right track on your visit My.Barron ancestors lived beside Keating's and O Neill's or Neales This is very near the townland of Chatsworth and my father went to school there The local families of Neale and Maguire are reputed to have settled in this area c 1603. They were on the way to the Battle of Kinsale and decided to take a break .Life was so good they never left The area is known as Sraid na.Noltach meaning the street.of the Ulstermen in the Irish language I don't think either the Barron or Corcoran families were original members of this group but most certainly become intermarried. As I said before there is little.info.on the Barron family. I am busy trawling the.church and civil.records at the moment. I.will also visit Clogh.parish.church at some.stage.and.do a.search.of headstones.I MIght.get some.leads.there. When I find out something definite I will email you details All the best for now Kay

hello Kay... i thought i would send along this message to see how you are doing during covid-19 AND to ask if you have had any success with your barron family research? i am so grateful for the information on richard barron, mary margaret barron's brother... i am also grateful for sharing corcoran - barron memories... i can still "feel" the emotion of walking the irish lands of my ancestors... nothing quite like it!

hope you are well and i hope you have made some family discoveries... 

best regards,

george corcoran

canada

Hello George just saw your message recently.We are all well here for the moment but are on the verge of severe restrictions once again here in Dublin..Alas no further info for you but just to say my ancestor was James Barron born c.1788. I haven't come across.a.Richard so far. When I find any further Barron's I will contact you by email Stay safe Best wishes Kay Murpy