Howlin Surname from Courtnacuddy, Wexford Parish, Wexford, Ireland

We are reviewing messages in April which did not have a reply and located your message. Sorry for the delay in responding. The RC parish for Rossdroit civil parish would be Davidstown and records for that parish go way back. I did not locate an 1848 James Howlin record. The closest record I located was an October 26 1846 record where the father was Mick Hawlin and the mother was Mary Neill. Where did you locate the November 1848 record? The parents for the 1848 James in your note would have been aged and certainly a Bridget Lacy born around 1775 would have been 73 or so in 1848.

The 1853 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Rossdroit civil parish shows a Michael Howlin in Courtnacuddy townland. The Mick in the 1846 baptismal record above would likely have been Michael Howlin.   https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/wexford/rossdroit.htm

I'm not sure of the origins of Howlin but from what I read on the Internet, the surname has Anglo-Saxon origins. 

Almost all the Howlein households in Ireland in the mid-19th century were in Co. Wexford.

Hard to know your families profession but likely they were farmers/labourers.

Let me know what questions you have.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you very much for the response. I regret that it was posted two years ago and I am just seeing it. Time does fly.

You are correct, however, that I had the above information incorrect. Instead, the following is the correct example: James Howlin (born Oct 1846 Courtnacuddy, Wexford Parish, Wexford, Ireland) was the son of Michael Howlin (born roughly 1812) and Mary Neil (born roughly 1816).

The James Howlin (born abt 1775) and Bridget Lacy (born abt 1775) were the parents of Michael Howlin, James Howlin (of 1846) being their grandchild. I have very little info going that far back. 

However, I found an interesting document that showed a James Howlin of Wexford who was arrested as part of a "1798 RISING, CALENDAR OF PROTESTANT PRISONER." (Source: https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/wexford/xmisc/1798-prisoners.ht…) and was "Condemned to be killed on the Bridge."

If this is the same James Howlin (father of Michael Howlin), he would have been approx 23 years old at this time. This may not be the same James because if he was executed, it would have been prior to Michael Howlins approximate birth period of around 1812. Unless this James Howlin was not executed.

I'm also unsure if there would have been multiple "James Howlin" living in Wexford around 1775-1812 time frame. Maybe it was a common name? I know that it was common practice to name your first born son after their grandfather.

I would assume that this is as much as I can gather on this line short of traveling to Wexford. I do know that they were farmers/laborers. Although I cannot locate information of when James Howlin immigrated to America, I do believe it was through Boston. Unless there was some other unrest at the time, I assume he traveled to the states around the time of the Great Famine.

Thank you for all your help. Truly appreciated.

In case you see this, I wanted to share something else I located. It appears I may have found Michael Howlin, father to James Howlin (born 1846). 

https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNa…;

The link above shows a Michael Howlin, who appears to be the same as you mentioned above. He farmed the land of a Lord Carew. An excerpt about Lard Carew can be seen in a book at this link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25520105 

I am very interested in how this Lord Carew treated his farmers once the famine began. Assuming I have the correct people, this would explain James Howlin leaving for America. Michael Howlin appears to have passed around 1891, so he survived the famine.