Years ago when researching "my" Ryans who came from Cappagh White/Shancluan, Tipperary to Ipswich, Queensland, Australia in 1872, I found a Site listing Irish immigration to Australia and was struck by the large number of Cappagh White people who went to Kilmore, Victoria. Ned Kelly the Australian Bush Ranger's family had their first property near Kilmore and later moved not far away (by Australian standards). Either the Ryans or the family who married into that family, had a lot of detailed information not mentioned in articles and books about Ned Kelly, suggesting that there was communication between the two places which were well over 1000k apart.
References
| Australia |
Patrick O'Neill was born in Cappawhite 4 March 1851. His parents were John O'Neill and Mary Foley - married in Cappawhite 17 February 1848.
Patrick had two brothers, William born 20 October 1849 and Maurice born 17 June 1853 - residence on baptism records listed as Clongariff, (believe this to be now known as Clonganhue).
Patrick emigrated to Australia on the Clipper Shalimar in 1866 and settled in Kilmore, Victoria.
His mother had previously emigrated in 1857 together with his elder brother William, (born 20 October 1849) and younger brother Maurice. Patrick apparently stayed behind in Cappawhite until 1866. His mother, William and Maurice appear in the shipping records on the Eastern City departed Liverpool for Melbourne Australia in April 1857, arriving August 1857. They travelled under her maiden name Foley which suggests that Patrick's father, John O'Neill may have passed away sometime around 1853 - 1856; [unable to locate any death records for John O'Neill.]
William died in October 1857 at age 8 of 'Colonial Fever' 10 weeks after arriving in Kilmore. Maurice died at age 17 in 1870, tragically drowned in the Muddy Creek in Yea, Victoria when returning to Kilmore from gold mining in nearby goldfields.
Mary Foley remarried in Victoria in 1859 to a Richard Fahey, a native of Co. Tipperary, (although some records refer to her being married in Tipperary in 1856). She had a number of children in this marriage, Catherine, John and Mary Fahey.
Patrick O'Neill became a prominent citizen of Kilmore, taking on the licensee of the Railway Hotel in Kilmore in 1874 until 1893.
He married Mary Agnes Griffin in May 1876 (born Kilmore 1852, died Kilmore May 1936)), the daughter on John Griffen, (born Tipperary 1811 and died in Kilmore Victoria in 1876).
He served as a Councillor on the Kilmore Shire Council for 25 years and was Shire President for four terms. He was also a Justice of the Peace and served on the local Water Trust and was prominent as a member of the local Turf Club (horse racing). Patrick died in Kilmore in August 1939.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 4th Mar 1851 | |
| Date of Death | 4th Aug 1939 | |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | John Neill | |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Mary Foley | |
| Place & Date of Baptism | Cappawhite 04 March 1851 | |
| Townland born | Clongariff | |
| Names of Siblings | William O'Neill born October 1849 Maurice O'Neill born June 1853 | |
| Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) | Mary Agnes O'Neill (nee Griffin) | |
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Comments
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marylucyryan
Sunday 24th February 2019 10:18PM -
Thanks for your comment Mary. Yes I came to the same conclusion that Co. Tipperary features prominently as the birth place of many of the early settlers around Kilmore.
My next challenge is to try and trace any living relatives in Ireland. I believe Patrick, (my great grandfather), had a number of uncles (father's brothers), presumably he lived with relatives in the 9 year period between his mother emigrating and he emigrating at age 15. Patrick also returned to Ireland for a short visit in 1886, he would have been in his mid 30's with a young family in Kilmore and a business to run so possibly some family matters to attend to.
The difficulty in tracing down family lines is that the christian names keep repeating through the generations due to the Irish naming patterns for children so difficult to be sure which line of the family you are on. Anyway I'll keep plugging away,
regards,
Peter O'NeillMonday 25th February 2019 05:07AM -
Hi Peter - Patrick O'Neill had a bit more family than uncles in Clonganhue - he had stepbrothers. Mary Foley was John O'Neill second wife; his first wife was Margaret Doherty whom he married on 26 November 1822. They had 8 children viz Daniel, Mary, Margaret, Judy, John, Philip, Michael and Alice. Margaret Doherty died between the birth of Alice in 1843 and prior to the second marriage in 1847. He remarried to Mary Foley in 1849 as you know. John and Mary Foley were third cousins - Mary's mother was an O'Neill out of Ballykeveen as well (John's place of birth was Ballykeveen). John O'Neill died at Clonganhue on 12 March 1855 and is interred at Donohill. The lease of the farm at Clonganhue passed down to John's eldest two sons of his first marriage Daniel and Philip however Daniel died of phthisis in 1864 and Philip died in 1879 so the farm passed to John (1838 - 1911). John married in 1891 to Alice Kelly and they had 4 children - John (1891 - 1965) married Mary Toomey; Thomas (1893 - ); Margaret (1895 - ) and Michael (1897 - 1912). So, Patrick stayed behind with his brothers at Clonganhue or the Foleys at Highpark. Hope this fills in some of the gaps for you.... Regards, Joan
Joanie
Monday 25th February 2019 03:15PM -
Hi Joan,
Amazing! - I've responded to you in full via the Ancestry message board.
The information you have provided will give me some solid ground for further research - was starting to go down some fairly tenuous paths that seemed to be going nowhere.thanks very much,
regards,
PeterTuesday 26th February 2019 04:20AM
