Francis and Elizabeth Gowan, Geashill, County Offaly, Ireland

Hello Bernadine

Geashill is a tricky one, it lies between a few parishes but there is an old graveyard in Geashill village in the Church of Ireland grounds. (This is common enough in Ireland that the graveyard would be beside the Church of Ireland church)

You can check out Offaly.ie and there was a project carred out few years ago surveying all the County graveyards.

https://www.offaly.ie/occ_mini_websites/temp/BurialGrounddatabaseJuly2015.pdf

Burial Ground: Geashill

 Denomination: C of I Parish (RC): N/A Diocese (RC): N/A 1838 OSI 6 Inch Map: 1910 OSI 25 Inch Map: 2011 Bing Map: Municipal District: Edenderry Owner: C of I Status: Open Site Description: Old burial ground with adjoining modern lawn cemetery extension, located beside St Mary's C of I church. Boundary: The boundary consists of a high stone wall which is in good condition. Vegetation: The old part of the burial ground has grass with wild flower areas, there are also some conifer trees. New section is a well maintained lawn. Photo 1: Photo 2: Photo 3: Date of Last Visit: 19/06/2014 Location: Located in Geashill village. Access: Via main gate to church and grounds. Parking: Parking located in Geashill village.

In the Griffith Valuations of 1854 there are 3 Sharp families in Geashill area - Benjamine, Robert and Margaret - holding land. (Any of these names sound familiar)

Have you checked out the Irish Census 1821 - there are some Sharp and Sharpe in Offaly but none in Geashill

1901 and 1911 census.  Nationalarchives.ie

https://www.killeigh.com/ - Check out this website.  Geashill is in the Parish of Killeigh, Co Offaly.  You could message them to see if they could be of assistance with burial records and

also you could contact Offalyhistory.com, email - info@offalyhistory.com - there will be a charge for any research they do for you.

Geraldine

Hi Geraldine . Francis Gowen Gowan Gowing ( the same family spelt either way in Ireland) & Elizabeth Sharp is my G.G. grand parents too .The family genealogy is in 2 Gowan books by James Gowan Also a book by Jean Near. & Betty Sheiding in Langford Westman & related familes book. The family can all be traced to Clonsochy Mountmellick Co Laoise. I am from near there but live in County Limerick now.Some times If inerested we do meet relatives from Canada USA or OZ. & show them around if the time & date suits & we are not working.I have the full geneolagy of the Gowen's of Killeenmore encluding a copy of a letter from Joseph Sister-in-law teling of his death.If it suits I can email you direct.

Thank you, Geraldine.  I appreciate all your information!

Ballypierce,

Thank you responding!  I'm so excited to hear I have Gowan relatives still in Ireland!  I would really appreciate anything you could send me about the Gowan family.  My email address is Bernadine2525@gmail.com.  My husband & I are traveling from Dublin to Donegal in April and want to make a stop in Count Offaly because of my family history.  I'm going to search through the links Geraldine provided to see if I can find the family graves.  This will be my 3rd trip to Ireland but my first to County Offaly and County Donegal; I am currently living outside Los Angeles, California, USA.

I look forward to hearing from you!  Thank you!

Bernadine

Hi Bernadette I'm related to you as my connection to Robert Gowen is Cox.Robert parents were Francis Gowen & Elizabth Sharpe. Robert married Annie Cox of Annagharvey Kings and are buried in Rosenallis Cemetary Co. Laois Ireland, the Cemetary records may be on line on find a grave I also have some details on your Joseph. Just wondering did you make it to Ireland as of Covid 19. Best wishes Ivan 

Hello all. I came upon this thread while researching my GOWIN ancestor. My last known ancestor was born 100 years before Francis Gowan mentioned above, but I wonder if there is still not a potential relation. The forenames of William, Francis, James, John, Joseph, and Daniel were popular in my family for many years. My last known ancestor was recorded in colonial America in 1752 as "William Gowin". Would love to connect with other people of my GOWIN (or variant) surname to discover more.