Michael Adam

Darlene:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

There are no townlands in Co. Clare which end in hay or bay. Likely Ballihay was a local placename that never became an official townland when townlands were standardized around 1851. I did look at the 1820s Tithe records for Co. Clare and there were Adam and Adams records. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp

Don't know the religious denomination but if the family was RC then RC records would not be available  http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0782

Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Might 'Ballyhay' be a reference to the Catholic Parish of 'Clarecastle & Ballyea' ?

Ballyea may have been pronounced locally like Ballihay, and whoever was filling out his military papers may have chosen that way to record it. Ballyea is the name of a townland, see c1840 Edition OSI map in Killone civil parish, and nearby Ballyea cross just south of the townland was the location of one of the Chapels for this parish, and there's a school shown close by of that name on the later c1890 OSI map - see : Ballyea School.

The parish of 'Clarecastle & Ballyea' is close to the town of Ennis - see : Parish of Clare Abbey & Killone aka Clarecastle & Ballyea Clare-Abbey, Killone, Ballyea

Many thanks to Roger McDonnell for his kind efforts to find Ballyhay and family name Adam/Adams. Do you recall in which

townland you found the Adam/Adams name?

Also, to shanew147 for suggesting that Clarecastle and Ballyea may well be the townland in question.  Having researched my family for many years I know how mistakes can be made in documents.  I shall concentrate on that townland for the moment.

Many thanks, gentlemen.  

Darlene

Military records generally give Civil parish as part of place of origin but I think in this case Michael gave part of the name of his Catholic Parish, the name he gave derived from the location of a Chapel for the parish, possibly the one nearest to where Michael lived in the parish - so to the south west of Clare Castle.

See attached image Michael Adams, Military record extracts (flickr.com) for a couple of extract from his military records that I think support the suggestion that the parish of 'Clarecastle and Ballyea' may be his parish of origin :

1. It appears that Michael was illiterate as he 'signs' his attestation record with his mark, and he attested in Ennis..

2. a portion of his military service records notes what looks like 'Ballica', Co. Clare as his place of birth, but there may have been a drop out in the pen - see the style of the 'e' in Clare - if so maybe the clerk intended to record 'Balliea, another phonetic version of Ballyea.

3. Description of his place of birth shows parish of Ballyhay, in or near Ennis, and there's no Civil Parish or town of that name in Co. Clare, but similar sounding Ballyea is part of the name of a Catholic parish close to Ennis.

Unfortunately Catholic baptism and marriage records for the parish only go back to the 1850s - see Killone, Clarecastle, Ballyea (NLI) The Catholic parish of 'Clarecastle and Ballyea' covered two civil parishes - Clareabbey and Killone, which include just under 50 townlands between them.

Darlene:

If you go to the Tithe link I gave you above, enter Co. Clare and Adam or Adams and you will get the records including the townlands.

Roger