Johanna O’Donnell of Kilbane

Hi Robert,

You should check out Clare Library - www.clarelibrary.ie  which has a lot of information on families in that time.

Regards,

Hi McCoy,

Thanks for the tip. I’ve looked at the site many times. Is there a specific link or document I should concentrate on? I find the townland divisions and parishes very confusing. As a matter of fact I think this post should be in Killokennedy Parish, not Killaloe.

Thanks Rob

Hi Rob,

I have looked at the baptism entry of William Crowe - 1836 - No.1983. The mother's name appears to be "Peggy Donlon" short for "Donnellan", which is fairly widespread in East Clare.

In the Clare Library under Genealogy, you have an entry for a "Thomas Crowe" in the Ejectment Books for 1828. The address appears to be Mountcashel in the parish of Sixmilebridge. The result is  not recorded.

I attach details of the occupants of Kilbane 1825. Tithe Records.

As regards the surname "Crowe" - there is a James and a William with sons named "William" in 1835 and 1838. Baptisms in Parteen-Meelick parish.

Credits: www.nationalarchives.ie - www.clarelibrary.ie - www.rootsireland.ie

Regards,

Thank you McCoy.  

I had not considered that Thomas Crowe might have come from Mountcashel. Were  the ejectment books lists of tenants thrown off their land due to not paying fees?

In terms of William Crowe, It has been passed down through his death certificate and oral history that he was from The Glen, co Clare, near the Shannon, so I don’t think the Williams of Partern- Meelick would be him. But, as I have learnt, when researching you have to be open to anything, so thank you.

Regards Rob

Hello Robert,

I am the 2nd great-grandaughter of Michael O'Donnell of Upper Kilbane & his wife Mary Corcoran.  The "Con" and "Mary" O'Donnell of whom you wrote in your post are my great-grandparents Cornelius O'Donnell of Upper Kilbane and Margaret St Leger of Keeldera, O'Callaghan's Mills.  The Mary from the 1901 Census who is living with them is believed to have been Mary Corcoran, Cornelius' mother.  I have not been able to discover when Michael died.  

Don't know hardly anything at all about Michael's relatives, but, like you, have always wondered if William and Michael were father and son, or brothers. Or if he had both a brother and a father named William.  

Cornelius was born in 1860, and his godparents at his baptism were James Sheady (no idea who he is) and Judith O'Donnell, whom I would guess is most likely a sister or sister-in-law to Michael & Mary.  Usually the godparents were relatives.

What might interest you more is Michael & Mary had another child (can't read the name though) in August/Sept of 1853, whose godfather was William Crowe of Kilbane.  I would say that's a pretty good indicator of a familial connection.  

I'm quite interested in finding out more about this oral history about the bailiff seizing the O'Donnells' 7 acre farm.  Do you know approximately what year that happened and what the circumstances were?  I always thought the O'Donnell family was part of the resistance against the British.  I can confirm that one of their cousins, Peter St Leger, was an active participant in the Jan 2021 ambush against the Black and Tans; he was part of the 5th Batallion of East Clare Brigade of the IRA and was sentenced at one point to Mountjoy prison for unlawful assembly.   But I know nothing about the O'Donnells' participation.  

Any information we can exchange could be very helpful to us both.  

Thank you,

Marybeth Lewis-McLaughlin (nee O'Donnell)

Florida

February 1 2021 (St Brigid's Day)

Hello Mary Beth and Robert.

My Family name is Gleeson. I have been fossicking about looking for a relationship between Crowe and Gleeson in the area around The Glen (I suspect probably a local location name and probably now the townland of Lackareagh Beg) - this has come about because of information provided to me by an old school mate (family name Crowe) here in Western Victoria. His great grandfather settled in the area known as Codrington to the west of Yambuk and between Port Fairy and Portland on the west coast of the state of Victoria. My interest here is somewhat peripheral but I have gathered together some records a month or so ago after a visit to the little Yambuk cemetery. Off interest to you might be the following records I took from the BDM site in Victoria. In the Victorian BDM records the name of the mother is recorded as the maiden name if known.

GLEESON Mary - Death: Mother - Mary CORCORAN: Father - ODONNELL Michael Place of birth - KILBANE COUNTY CLARE IRELAND Place of Death – WARRNAMBOOL: Age – 100: year 1951: Registry record number - 17627/1951

GLEESON Johanna – Death:  Mother -  Mary CORCORAN: Father - ODonnell Michl: Place of Death – Yambuk: Age – 60: Year – 1907: Registry record number 6637/1907

As far as I can tell these two women are sisters and they were married to two Gleesons, Mary to Michael and Johanna to James. Again as far as I can ascertain these two Gleesons were brothers.

Further records that I looked up I think because of gravestones were

GLEESON Michael John – Death: Mother - Johanna ODONNELL: Father - GLEESON John: Place of birth – not in record: Place of Death PORT FAIRY: Age – 67: 1937:  Registry record number 18689/1937 (I suspect the father here should be James)

GLEESON Daniel – Death:  Mother -  Johanna ODONNELL: Father - GLEESON James Place of birth – YAMBUK: Place of Death - PORT FAIRY: Age – 62: Year - 1943 Registry record number 20582/1943

This detail is free to access on the website however to get all the details of the death certificate the fee is about $20. I did download the death certificate of James Gleeson, husband of Johanna O'Donnell. He died aged 70 on July 7th, 1911. At the time of death he had 9 children recorded on his death certificate - in order Mary (dead) Michael (39) Cornelius (dead), Sarah (dead) James (dead) William (dead) Daniel (30) John 27 and Bridget (25).

The Crowe who triggered all this off was a John Walshe Crowe (GGrandfather of my friend) and he was a native of Knockaderreen up the hill from Killaloe. I am also sure in some of the info from my friend Michael Crowe I have seen the townland of Glennagalliagh. But right now I cant put my hand on that.

Of interest is that the children of Johanna Gleeson (nee O'Donnell) have some of the names mentioned in the list of probable siblings in earlier correspondence - Sarah, William and Cornelius.

I can see that from a Crowe family oral history there was another Crowe in the area - A William Crowe. But I dont have any information about him othere than he might have been a relative of John Walshe Crowe. He was referred to as an Uncle in the history but would need family help to work out what side that was on.

I am just passing this all on in case it is of interest - I spent some time "down a rabbit burrow" gathering up this information that is probably of little further use to me but it might be of some value to you folk.

Best regards,  Laurence Gleeson, Killarney, Victoria, Australia

Good evening Marybeth and Laurence,                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I wish to apologise to Marybeth for not seeing your post earlier. I see you are from Florida. I have been corresponding with Mary Vaughan née O’Donnell’s relatives in the US. Mary was Michael O’Donnell’s older sister. Are you in touch with any from Mary’s line, who first emigrated to Scranton, Pennsylvania? In any case I am quite sure we are related via the O’Donnell’s. Have you done a DNA test?

The O’Donnells of Kilbane were definitely actively against the Black and Tans. I’m quite sure that the Crowe’s were too. I believe some of the O’Donnell farmland in Upper Kilbane overlooked the Gap Road and they were part of ambushes and could watch and advise of movements of the B & T’s. I have an extract from The Banner Book. In terms of their land being seized, I’m presuming it’s before 1855 because that”s when William Crowe emigrated to Australia. I’m not sure of the circumstances and have no evidence but it was mentioned by a relative of mine as part of oral history. I have some maps from Griffiths and one has the name O’Donnell written where the farm was in Upper Kilbane. I visited the Kilbane, O’ Callaghan’s Mills, Broadford and Killaloe area in 2016.

I’m interested that you know something of the St Legers as William Crowe married Catherine Aldworth in Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia. There has always been a story that we are distantly related to the St Legers of Doneraile co. Cork, through the Aldworth’s of Newmarket Co. Cork. Elizabeth St Leger was the first female Freemason and the family’s love of horse racing led to the St Leger Stakes horse race. Have you ever heard of this through your great grandmother, Margaret St Leger?

Happy St Brigid’s Day, Laurence. You are correct about Lackereagh Beg being part of the Glen (Glennagalliagh) and next to Upper Kilbane, where the O’Donnell farms were! A very picturesque area. I visited the run down stone remains of Mary, Con and Patrick Crowe’s homes, there in 2016. The information on Mary and Johanna Gleeson née O’Donnell is correct. Google Western District Families for more info and photos of the graves at Yambuk.

For more info on William Crowe born 1836/37?  Google his name in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.  In terms of John Walsh Crowe, I’m quite sure, but not completely certain, that William Crowe was an only child and that his mother and father both died close to his birth or when he was young. I’m part of a Crowe Facebook page and they may be able to find out more about John Walshe Crowe. I’d certainly like to know more about him.                                                                   I would be happy if either or both of you would like to email me at horwood424@gmail.com   Laurence, we may even be able to meet up and compare notes at some stage.

Kind regards Rob

Hello Rob,

The descendants of John Walshe Crowe have done a fair bit of work on their family history. So they know were he was born in Knockaderreen, that his mother was a Norry Walsh and his father was William Crowe. Knockaderreen is pretty much next door to The Glen.

In the oral history recorded by one of the daughters of JW Crowe she refers to one of the kids going to school in Tyrendarra and staying with the uncle William Crowe. But as you point out it is not likely this was JW's brother.

I would like to know more about the townland of Glennagalliagh - I have done some searching and cant find a trace of it. But I do know that there was an area referred to as The Glen which you have also recorded as Glennagalliagh. Would you be able to give me some more idea as to how you made that connection please.

For my general information, did William Crowe die in that area or elsewhere? I have a glimmer of a memory there was a Crowe in Koroit in the early days as he was on the Borough council.  And for sure there used to be Crowe's garage - that was established back probably when motor vehicles first came to the area. You can still see the name in stonework over the door.

Best wishes,

Laurence Gleeson

.Hi Laurence, have you seen this site? Some years ago I tried to contact the owner as it mentions a William Crowe, but had no response.http://www.geocities.ws/mleddin64/Crowe/IrishHist.htm   Yes our WC is the well known one from Koroit/ Tower Hill. His home is on the corner of Anne and Horne St Koroit and has a distinctive shamrock on the window frame, he was mayor for 6 terms. I come from his son Thomas’ line. Yes, Michael Crowe’s garage and Robert Crowe’s contribution to the Koroit milk/ butter plant and Thomas Crowe’s contribution to the construcation of Crowe’s railway line and station near Beech Forest in the Otways are all part of our history. WC is buried at Tower Hill Cemetary. Monsignor Stan Crowe and Sr Rosemary are also related. My infomBout The Glen came from a book written by Sean Kierse, The Land and People of Killaloe Parish. Hard to get but I purchased mine in Killaloe, co Clare and then drove  around the area. Stunning countryside. Happy to send you more info if you  would like to email me. Kind regards Rob

Hi Laurence, Is the attached screenshot your Crowe friend’s website? I have always wondered if we were related. I have read about the Watson murder.Kind regards Rob