Looking for ancestors of JOHN TOBIN born 1814 in Kilkenny and BRIDGET PURCELL born 1823 in Ballysallagh Kilkennyt

Duplicate message

Mary,

I may be able to help. Do you know John and Bridget's children in the order in which they were born.

Thanks

Tom Downey

Hi Tom thanks for your response .... unfortunately I don’t know the names of their children . His father was William Tobin born 1790 and buried at Johswell cemetery . Regards Mary 

Johnswell village is located about 10km north east of Kilkenny city, in Rathcoole civil parish. It's the location of an old chapel of ease for St. John's Parish which extended out from Kilkenny City. Near to the old church and graveyard is St. John's Well. I believe this is the graveyard mentioned in your query. There's a seperate St. John's graveyard in Kilkenny city.

See attached extract from Google maps showing the route from Kilkenny city.

Google maps describes the church as 'Saint. John the Baptist Church', 

The graveyard at Johnswell is listed in an article on the Kilkenny Archaeological Society website, which describes the location as 'Mountnugent Lower' townland which is adjacent to a townland named Johnswell. Immediately south of Johnswell townland is a townland named Ballysallagh. The article includes transcripts of legible headstones, which include a number of Purcells and at least one Tobin - see Johnswell Graveyard, Mountnugent Lower.

btw : the marriage of   John and Bridget mentions residence as Johnswell, but does not specifically note if this applies to the bride or groom (or both). The record also does not state where in St. John's parish the marriage took place.

Many thanks Shane ... this is really helpful ... thank you . I’m still a bit confused about the 2 cemeteries ... so if my notes say they are buried at Johnswell cemetery ... which one do you think it is? My thanks again . Mary 

I suppose it depends on the source of that detail - did you find some evidence that specifically mentions Johnswell graveyard ?

Based on the marriage record and your mention of Ballysallagh, it appears to me that John and Bridget lived in or near Johnswell village, so does fit with William and Margaret living in the same area. I think if this were my family I'd definitely try to visit Johnswell - at the very least it's mentioned as residence at the time of the marriage of John & Bridget.

Many burials did not have headstones, not everyone could afford them, and many of the older stones would be badly weathered and not legible, or possibly fallen over, so dont be too surprised if you find no definite grave.

The entire parish seems to have an association with St. John.

at the time of the 1901 census there are still a few of the surnames you mentioned in the area (Rathcoole DED) - scroll through these census pages (sorted by surname), e.g. a Purcell household at Agha townland, other Purcells at Carrigeen townland, Tobin households at Agha and Tullowbrin, but no sign of any Tyrells. There could be descendants through female lines with different surnames..

I had a look for possible baptism of John Tobin without success, but eventually did find a record for a probable sister Sarah - baptised 31st April 1809 in St. John's Catholic Parish, Kilkenny - parents listed as Willm Tobin and Margt 'Tirrel' (*). See the record about half way down the right hand page in the baptism register (NLI RC Register images). The entry is very close to the start of the records for the parish - January 1809. There's no residence mentioned on the baptism, so your Tobins could have lived in the Johnswell area, or even somewhere in the city, the sponsor's name (godparent) appears to be Mary Tirrel. Might be worth a browse though the register image to see if any other children show up - could be difficult work, as some of the page are very difficult to read.

* Margaret's surname is not very clear but I believe the the first letter is very similar to the T in Tobin - FMP have it transcribed as 'Tinnell', RootsIreland have it as 'Farrell', which I dont think is correct..

Hi Mary:

I have replied to your other post and to avoid confusion, I'm going to copy the thread here.  

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/message-board/william-tobin-born-1790-who-married-margaret-tyrell

You might make contact with Thomas as he may have further information for you.

Kind regards,

Jane

Mary

I have been in touch with a Purcell from Johnswell. I'm away at the moment but I'll let you know if there are any developements

Mary, 

I have someone from Johnswell that will show you around, bring you to Johnswell, etc. Stay in touch. 
you can email me at conahyheritagesociety@gmail.com