Guinan/Guynan of Tullamore (Rahan)

The parishes of Tullamore and Rahan (each of which has some variant names) are next to one another in northern Offaly (Rahan being to the west of Tullamore), so the info you have could indicate that they lived somewhere along the border between the two parishes, but I found something very interesting which may indicate the exact townland(s) where your ancestors lived.

The Catholic parish records available online for each of those two parishes go back to the early 1800's (with some gaps), so you may be able to find records of your family by searching there.  Here are links to the records:

For Tullamore:  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0933

For Rathan:  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0956

I know from my own experience (I have a great-grandfather who was born in Philipstown/Daingean, the parish just to the east of Tullamore) that place names can be very confusing in Offaly.  One sometimes finds a parish or townland name in a record, which then cannot be found on any of the lists of names for the county or parish, or was not used in later records.  Then there is the normal confusion of civil parish names which can differ from church parish names (or have different boundaries), but the info you have does seem to point clearly to the two parishes I mentioned above.  As an example, Tullamore is a Catholic parish name, but there is no civil parish by that name, although there are two electoral districts (another form of organizing records) with that name:  Tullamore Rural and Tullamore Urban.  Rahan, on the other hand, is both a Catholic parish name and a civil parish name, and it is there that I found the interesting thing which I mentioned.

Here is a link to a page online which lists all of the townlands in the parish of Rahan:  https://www.townlands.ie/offaly/rahan2/

If you look at the end of the list, you'll see two interesting townlands, both named Tullymorerahan (in Irish, Tulaigh Mhaí Raithin, meaning something like "big hill of Rathean" - Rathean being presumably a personal name), which are next to one another.  When your ancestor gave his hometown as Tullamore(Rathan), he may have meant one of those two townlands, so I would suggest searching in the Rathan parish records first..

In case you're interested in the history of the surname Guinan/Guinane/Ginnane, here is what MacLysaght says in his Surnames of Ireland:  "A West Clare name which is also quite numerous in north Tipperary and Offaly where it is spelt Guinane. Woulfe [an earlier author who wrote about the origins of Irish surnames] gives Ó Cuinneáin and Ó Cuineáin as the usual forms in Irish (deriving them from the forenames Conn and Conan, respectively).  He also mentions Ó Gaibhnáin, without comment:  this is presumably a modern synonym."

The surname Walsh is Breatnach in Irish, meaning Welshman, and is common all over Ireland.  In fact, it is the fourth most common name in Ireland.

Thanks so much, Miriam and Kevin, for all your help.  It's certainly helped me to marshal my thoughts, especially about the borders between parishes and counties. For example, the little Guinan family mentioned in the 1835 Census says that they lived in County Offaly (King's as was) in the parish and electoral division of Kilcumreragh - but their address is in Rosemount, which appears to be in Westmeath. It's a little confusing, but I'll do my best to make sense of it.

I'm pretty cautious of all Ancestry trees, especially as most of them that mention who I think is "my" John Guinan (the son) try to make him end up in the USA, but I know from Royal Artillery personnel records, India Office burial records and family lore that this isn't true. But there is a John Guinan of a similar age to mine who was born in Mooncoin, Kilkenny who turned up in an Ancestry tree and for some reason, this one is nudging me. 

But thanks again, so much.  The search is more than half of the fun, and I feel like I have a lot more to look at and work with now.  I appreciate you!

Penny

Hello Penny

My name is Geraldine Buckley-Smith originally from Rahan in Co Offaly (living in Leitrim) and I would love to be able to help you if I can.

Now firstly - Rahan is full fo Guinans and I have some in my own family tree. You are more than welcome to have a look and let me know how you get on.

Have you done your DNA

Geraldine

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/pt/RSVP.aspx?dat=MTU1NjYwODI0OzswM…

Hello Penny

Just wondering if you had any further luck with Guinans from Rahan/Tullamore

Geraldine

Geraldine!  I'm so sorry, but I somehow missed your previous message! I'm happy to catch up now.

I became very frustrated with the Guynans/Guinans and set them aside for a few months.  But I'm refreshed and back to them now, so I will be sure and keep you updated on any finds.  I'd love for you to see my ancestry tree, if you would like to. It's a public tree:

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/116586752/family/familyview

I'm going to look at yours now. That you for the invitation!

Hi again, Geraldine -

The Ancestry invitation has expired - can you please invite me again? If you prefer to do it via email, I am pennywilson64@gmail.com

Not sure if I am in the right parish but I had a Jane Guynan daughter of Thomas and Ann (nee Walton) of Kells in Kilkenny,they were Church of Ireland (which may explain the use of a y instead of an i) which is a bit different,she was born around 1815 married a Michael Heaps in Rathmoylon in Meath,emmigrated in 1839 to Van Diemens Land.

Starting to clutch at straws  but you never know.