Owen Feenoughty : Short Biography

Ahascragh-Fohenagh Soldiers 1800-1850 - A Brief Study 

Steve Dolan

One of the first soldiers from the Ahascragh-Fohenagh area to enlist in the late eighteenth century was John Scott from ‘Asgrath, Ballinasloe’ who served from 1795 to 1819 in the 11th, 73rd, and the 102nd Foot Regiment before his discharge (aged 43) due to repeated fevers. Astonishingly, he would be the first of three John Scott’s from the parish who would serve during the nineteenth century. Next to enlist was Timothy Goulding from ‘Ahascra, Galway’ who firstly joined the Galway Militia in 1797, which was a kind of regional defence force established in response to the volunteer movement, before serving in the 11th Foot from 1808. Goulding’s conduct was very good but like many of those who served abroad, difficulty in breathing after being stationed in Gibraltar forced his discharge, as Sergeant, in 1822 aged 45.1 The following is a full list:

REFERENCE SURNAME FORENAME BIRTH ADDRESS ENLIST REGIMENT DISGD 

WO 69/1/2139 JORDAN JOHN 1780 Fohany, Galway. 1803 Royal Horse Artillery 1803 WO 119/53/45 FLANAGHAN PATRICK 1784 Asgrath, Galway. 1805 3rd Rifle Brigade 1821 WO 119/49/169 KELLY WILLIAM 1783 Achanagh, Galway. 1805 50th Foot Regiment 1818 WO 119/8/122 NOONE THOMAS 1787 Ahasera, Galway. 1805 Galway Militia 1808 WO 119/11/121 MANNION JAMES 1784 Ahascragh, Galway. 1807 7th Foot Regiment 1809 WO 119/31/175 KELLY WILLIAM 1773 Acharagh, Galway. 1808 50th Foot Regiment 1815 WO 97/456/128 RAFFERTY MARTIN 1792 Ahaseragh, Galway. 1808 26th Foot Regiment 1831 WO 119/38/55 CAHILL MICHAEL 1792 Ahaseragh, Galway. 1810 74th Foot Regiment 1816 WO 97/651/7 SCOTT JOHN 1791 Askaseras, Galway 1810 51st Foot Regiment 1832 WO 119/32/181 SALTER JOHN 1788 Aherscra, Galway. 1811 74th Foot Regiment 1816 WO 119/39/166 GLYNN WILLIAM 1787 Ahasera, Galway. 1812 Galway Militia 1814 WO 97/290/63 KEANES JOHN 1781 Ahaseragh, Galway. 1813 7th Foot Regiment 1824 WO 97/973/87 MCINTYRE JOHN 1792 Fohany, Galway. 1813 88th Foot Regiment 1837 WO 97/520/39 STANTON PATRICK 1788 Ahascra, Galway. 1813 34th Foot Regiment 1824 WO 97/859/25 CHRONOLY MALACHY 1798 Ahaseragh, Galway. 1815 74th Foot Regiment 1839 WO 97/863/2 NAUGHTON BRYAN 1797 Ahaseragh, Ballinasloe. 1815 74th Foot Regiment 1822 WO 121/197/519 HART JAMES 1775 Asgratte, Galway. 1805 Rifle Brigade 1819 WO 97/485 CONNELLY PATRICK 1799 Ahascrea, Galway. 1820 30th Foot Regiment 1827 WO 97/1062/79 FEENOUGHTY THOMAS 1806 Ahushagh, Galway. 1824 99th Foot Regiment 1841 WO 97/943/25 CARTER GEORGE 1807 Ahasera, Galway. 1825 85th Foot Regiment 1840 WO 97/612/10 COFFEE MARTIN 1803 Fohaney, Ballinasloe. 1825 47th Foot Regiment 1842 WO 97/46/135 FEENOUGHTY OWEN 1805 Fohanny, Galway. 1825 7th Dragoon Guards 1849 WO 97/251/68 GANNON JOHN 1804 Ahascragh, Ballinasloe. 1825 16th Foot Regiment 1847 WO 97/1081/49 KELLY FRANCIS 1806 Ahascragh, Galway. 1825 Rifle Brigade 1839 WO 97/500/29 MALONE JOHN 1806 Fohanny, Galway. 1825 31st Foot Regiment 1846 WO 97/256/57 RAFTER MATHIAS 1805 Fohanny, Galway. 1826 3rd Foot Regiment 1844 WO 97/822/6 RAFFERTY PATRICK 1807 Ahascragh, Ballinasloe. 1827 69th Foot Regiment 1847 WO 97/488/127 KENNY GEORGE 1808 Ballymacward, Ahascrogh. 1828 3rd Foot Regiment 1849 WO 97/818/106 GREADY MICHAEL 1808 Ahascrach, Galway. 1830 69th Foot Regiment 1841 WO 97/873/34 DWYER THOMAS 1811 Fohey, Eyre Court. 1832 76th Foot Regiment 1854 WO 97/874/106 LOUGHLIN JOHN 1814 Ahascragh, Galway. 1833 76th Foot Regiment 1852 WO 97/974/25 MANNION MICHAEL 1812 Foheny, Rihonnell. 1833 88th Foot Regiment 1854 WO 97/1283 FEENOUGHTY JAMES 1816 Fohony, Balinasloe. 1835 12th Lancers 1860 WO 97/301/18 TOOHEY PATRICK 1818 Ahascragh, Galway. 1835 8th Foot Regiment 1846 WO 97/1511 SCOTT JOHN 1824 Ahascragh, Balinasloe. 1837 38th Foot Regiment 1866 WO 97/494/109 BRIEN JOHN 1821 Fohany, Ahaseragh. 1839 31st Foot Regiment 1847 WO 97/1414 HUTCHESON DANIEL 1819 Ahascragh, Galway. 1839 9th Foot Regiment 1861 WO 97/1442 MADDEN MICHAEL 1821 Fohany, Kilconnel. 1841 16th Foot Regiment 1856 WO 97/541/77 RAFTERRY MICHAEL 1821 Ahascragh, Galway. 1841 37th Foot Regiment 1843 WO 97/1493 COFFY TIM 1824 Fohony, Kilconell. 1843 31st Foot Regiment 1857 WO 97/391/2 RAFTERTY PATRICK 1827 Ashascragh, Galway. 1845 18th Foot Regiment 1848 WO 97/1489 WARREN GEORGE 1829 Ahaseragh, Ballinasloe. 1846 29th Foot Regiment 1869 WO 97/1984 HART PATRICK 1827 Fohany, Ballinastoe. 1847 26th Foot Regiment 1861 WO 97/247/24 TANSEY TIMOTHY 1826 Ahaseragh, Galway. 1847 2nd Foot Regiment 1850 WO 97/255/25 MOCKLER PATRICK 1829 Fohany, Galway. 1849 3rd Foot Regiment 1851 WO 97/1311 BURKE THOMAS 1830 Asgra, Ballinarloe. 1850 Royal Artillery 1869

These men were almost exclusively ‘Labourers’ prior to attestation, with the average age on joining (‘ENLIST’) being 21 years, and the average age at discharge (‘DISGD’) being 34 years.2 The men were generally illiterate (making ‘their mark’), albeit that as the century progressed the men were increasingly literate and the variety of professions also broadened. In general, the men had enlisted ‘for life’ (unlimited service), then approaching midcentury for twenty-one years, and then often for ‘limited service’ of say seven years as the century progressed. 

While some soldiers like John Jordan transferred seamlessly into the Royal Navy, the majority of the discharge reasons were for diseases and wounds. The oldest soldier on discharge, 45 year old John McIntyre, served for almost 23 years before poor health caught up with him. His various ailments (from catarrh, to fevers, to difficulty in marching and even breathing) had begun from his service in France in 1816. He also notably served in North America and the Ionian Islands. The next oldest soldiers on discharge, aged 44, were James Hart who was discharged from the 9th Royal Veteran Battalion after 15 years 9 months of service due to insanity (a condition also suffered by Patrick Rafterty); and Owen Feenoughty who was an excellent soldier for almost a quarter of a century before rheumatism caught up with him. These were followed by the likes of William Kelly, a shoemaker, who contracted a disease when serving in Spain in 1813 and was eventually discharged in October 1818. 

That soldier’s namesake, another William Kelly, had enlisted three years later but was discharged three years earlier due to the painful ‘deviated testicles’! All the while, ironically, the youngest soldier on discharge was Thomas Noone who was serving ‘at home’ (in Ireland). After only two years and five months of service, he would be blinded after the accidental explosion of gun powder while he was on drill. The other soldier serving in the Galway Militia, William Glynn, would also lose the sight in both his eyes, albeit in an unrelated incident. 

While being stationed in Mauritius (George Carter) or Bermuda (George Kenny) might sound idyllic, life in the army was extremely tough and there were cases of desertion.3 Perhaps the most ‘travelled’ of all the men was Sergeant Major John Scott who served in the Mediterranean (3 years), Gibraltar (3), Jamaica (2), North America (3), Turkey (1), Crimea (1), and India (8). He was decorated with medals (and clasps) for Crimea, the India Mutiny, and Turkey. Little wonder he was discharged being ‘worn out’. Also decorated for India was Corporal George Warren (who also served in Malta and Canada). For these men that served abroad, the climate and conditions were the cause of illnesses - as with Michael Cahill and John Salter of the 74th Foot. And while many discharges were due to injuries received in the line of duty, some were contributed to by alcoholism (George Carter fractured his arm while drunk) or vice (James Mannion lost the use of his limbs from venereal disease). 

At the other end of the spectrum was the decorated Patrick Flanaghan who received a gun-shot wound in 1812 during the Peninsular War, but served on before discharge a full nine years later. Another of the more interesting listed soldiers was John Gannon who served for a decade in the St Helena Regiment on that remote island famous for imprisoning Napoleon. He later served for a decade in the East Indies, being wounded at Punniar on 29 Dec 1843 during the Gwalior Campaign for which he was decorated. Also decorated for Punniar and the Gwalior Campaign was Sergeant Daniel Hutcheson who added to same with the Crimea medal (present at Sebastopol) and the Turkish medal. He completed 21 years, having also served in Malta and on the Ionian Islands. 

A less common medal was the ‘Sutlej Medal of 1845’ awarded to those who fought in the First Anglo-Sikh War, and Private Tim Coffey certainly earned same. While he did serve on, the wounds he received in his right thigh ‘in 1845 when in action’ eventually forced his discharge. Also noteworthy from the Fohenagh side of the parish were Private Patrick Hart who served in Gibraltar (3 years), Eastern Canada (2), and Bermuda (5); and Private James Feenoughty who served an impressive 24 years (in the East Indies for more than fifteen years and also serving in Crimea and Turkey) before retiring to Blackfriars, London. 

References 1. The War Office (WO) references within the National Archives for Goulding is WO 119/66/75, and Scott is WO 97/855/105. 2. By comparison, the average age at attestation in Tuam was 20 years, with the average discharge age being 33 years for those who were ill. 3. Michael Gready, James Fennoughty, and John Scott were among at least half a dozen men from the area charged. 

NOTE: This study has been completed under the Ahascragh and Fohenagh placenames. For the record, John Colohan from Killure, Ballinasloe, WO 97/6330 served from the end of the nineteenth century into the twentieth century. He apparently followed, with the address ‘Killure Galway’, the likes of Michael Ford (WO 97/517/102) who enlisted in the 34th Foot Regiment at the end of the eighteenth century, and Martin Connoly (WO 97/435/53) who enlisted in the 24th Foot Regiment in 1846. 

This Chronicle was created using information originally published in the South East Galway Archaeological and Historical Society Newsletter No. 17.