I am pursuing the possibility that there is a connection between my family and two individuals who lived in Dublin in the 1840s.
One is Patrick Rafter, who was involved in the Chartist movement and by 1842 was Chair of the Irish Universal Suffrage Association. He wrote letters from the address 12 Trinity Place in Dublin. He was listed in the Dublin city directories as a shoemaker, first at 43 Montgomery in 1836 and then at 44 Montgomery in 1837. I am hoping he might be the same Patrick Rafter who later appears in the town of Callan in 1846, also listed as a shoemaker.
The second individual is Thomas Michael Rafter, who lived at 44 Montgomery in 1836 and 1837 (when Patrick Rafter either lived next door or at the same address). Thomas Michael Rafter lived at 44 Montgomery also in 1838 but then moved to 12 Trinity Place, where the Chartist letters were written from. He continued to live at 12 Trinity Place (but Patrick is never listed again after 1837) until he died in 1881. His occupation is stated sometimes as professor of ornamental writing, then later as civil engineer and lithographer. I was able to find some of his family members living in Dublin into the 20th century.
I would be most grateful if anyone knows anything about either of these two individuals, or could point me to any helpful resources.
My entire research on my own ancestor, Patrick Henry Rafter, 1833-1870, can be found here:
https://olsonsumner.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/the-identification-of-p…
Sharon Olson
Lawrenceville, New Jersey, US
slopoet
Thursday 18th Jun 2020, 03:07PMMessage Board Replies
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Hello Sharon, I am looking at old unanswered queries. Yours is interesting but not something I am familiar with, you could get in touch with the Dublin City Archives here and see what they have https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/libraries/find-library/dublin-cit… There appear to be nothing online but an email may give you a pointer, doubt the National Archives would have anything but may be worth a look, they are currently being merged with the Natonal Library of Ireland.
Is there any mention of the Rafters in Griffiths Valuation, this is better in rural areas, There is only one listed in Dublin, a Michael but about 80 in Kilkenny and some in Callan, the name may be more common there. See https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=name…
There is a site here where surname distribution is free to search but subscription thereafter https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/ also you refer to Montgormerey which I assume is Montgomery Street the centre of a famous red light district in Dublin and even Europe, you can read a bit here, street now renamed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monto It was also made famour is the 1960s with the Dubliners folk group having a song "We are going up to Monto" some useless information but they were there.
McLysaghts says Rafter is a small sept (Clan) from Kilkenny, I suppose that is why we got so many of Griffiths and possibly negates your linking of the two locations as you would expect a Rafter to be in Callan. Church records for Dublin are free to search here, select Church and search location Dublin, there are only a few counties on the site and no Kilkenny. https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
Maynooth is the main university for local studies and have produced many small publications on various topics if you want to check but doubt there is anything for you.
https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/
Happy Hunting
Pat
Pat O Holloran, IrelandXO Volunteer
Thursday 14th Mar 2024, 06:10PM