Cummins or Commons family

Erika:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

The RC parish for Ballygriffin civil parish is Knockavilla and records for that parish start in 1834. 

Ballygriffin civil parish is a small parish with only six townlands. One townland is Garrane but there is no Garianraghy. 

I assume that Paddy Cummmins and Mary Pollie were married in the states?

Roger McDonnell

Yes in washington country Illinois. The name Graianraghy came from ancestry from a section called tithe applotment books 1805-1927.  The rest of it said "residence 1833 Garianraghy, Ballygriffin, Tipperary Ireland.          Another record said, but I wasn't sure how to narrow things down and figure out if they had helped me find the right person.  If the person in either record died in Ireland, it wouldnt be right, beause my ancestor died in the USA.  The family tradition is that he was supposedly in charge of cannon on a ship, was very deaf, and supposedly had crossed the "big pond" 7 times, but  I haven't been able to find out if it is just a family myth or not.  He wasn't a sailor after he came to the US, at anyrate, because from 1850 onward, he shows up in every census until 1890 as being in Missouri (a plains state--no coast) each time. Thank you, Roger :-)

Name John Cummins 

Birth 1811 

Baptism Jun 1811 Limerick and Tipperary, Ireland New

Residence Ballycrana New

Father Patk Cummins New

Mother Ellen Cormack

Hey Roger, the insert that I pastedfrom the ancestry search moved -----it was supposed to be at the top, sorry if the previous post is a little hard to read.

-----He was called "Paddy" informally, but all his census papers etc say John.  Is is safe to assume his middle name was Patrick or is that a stretch?  Thanks agian, Erika

Erika:

Ballycrana New would be in Clonbeg civil parish which is a good deal to the southwest from Ballygriffin civil parish. Not sure how that record relates to Ballygriffin.

Roger

Roger, if someone was from the Tipperary area, where would the most likely point of embarkation be if someone was immigrating?  Did they have to have permission to leave during the 1840s etc, or could they just leave without paperwork?

Erika:

Likely Queenstown (now Cobh) Co. Cork. They did not need permission but they needed the funds for the ship crossing. Many times landlords paid for people to leave just to clear the lands.

Roger

Hi Erica and Roger,  there were Coman,s/Commons in the the townland of Gerrane/Gerain /Graenaghy. In the Tithes

I have record of Two Coman brothers with wife's and families going to Australia 1838.  They were not on Griffiths Valuation.

Erica perhaps your ancestor who wentmto USA , is another  brother

Christina.

Hi Christina!

Thanks and Happy Christmas!

Roger

Hi Christina, Do you know if they were both married?  My ancestor married over here in the states

The two brothers  William and James, were married and had children when they went to Australia.  In the Tithes William Coman had 7acres,  John Coman 7 acres and James 7 acres.

Do you have DNA done.

Christina.

Hi Erica (and Christina), the 2 brothers who came to Australia, were William and James Cummins/Comans who arrived in 1838 and who state that their parents were Dennis Cummins/Comans and Mary Hogan. William says he is from Garrane, Tipperary aged 48 and with him is his wife Mary (from Bakerstown daughter of C??? a farmer and Johanna his wife)  aged 33 with their children William, Michael, James, Walter, Ellen and Catherine. James states that he is from Ballintemple aged 35 with his wife Catherine aged about 33 (from Kinnoultree ?Clonoulty? daughter of Roderick Heffernan and Mary Brown his wife) and their children Rodger, Michael, Mary, Ellen and Dennis (who died on board). My husband's ancestors also came to Australia from Clonoulty, Tipperary. His great grandfather Edmund Comans came here in 1883 having been sponsored by his aunts husband Patrick Torpy. Johanna Torpy nee Comans arrived here in 1854. To all intents and purposes William and James family and my husband's family are not related or at least not that we can prove although they all came from a fairly small area in Tipperary. I would suggest that your John was called paddy purely because he was an Irishman and not because his name was Patrick. Best wishes with your research. Teri Comans

Hello All,   Aw, the story of John "Paddy" Cummins crossing the Atlantic 7 times sounds familiar.  My  great-grandmother left that note in her autobiography although she did not mention his being in charge of a cannon and being deaf.  According to John's grave stone in Scotland County, Missouri, he was born in 1810 and appears to have arrived   He was, indeed, married to Mary "Polly" Harriman/ Harryman in 1844 in Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois.  We must be cousins!  Let's connect and compare notes.  Janet

Hi Janet?  Yes, we must be some kind of cousins, because Mary Pollie and John were my 3 x great grandparents-----when I mentioned the "cannon" I said supposedly, because I am not sure about that part, my memory is vague, but something was said about him being around artillery of some sort. This is a vague memory from childhood, so I don't know that it is right....The thing about going across the "big pond" numerous times, I do remember.  Also, there was a story about his difficulty with both hearing and English.....He was working in timber, and someone literally yelled "TIMBER" before felling a tree.....He didn't hear the call, and the tree fell, and the uppermost limbs brushed over him as he was standing......He came out unscathed,  but exclaimed   "Faith   and BeJabers!    I  'scaped (escaped)  a miracle!!!"      Well, he didn't "escape"  a miracle----Grandma was amused that he would say that he "escaped a miracle".....Anyway, I would love to see the autobiography that you are talking about.....it's cool that that part of my memory is serving me well!!....      Anyway, I would love to compare notes!  Thanks, Erika G.