Melican and Hogan families from Ballyblood, Tulla Parish

Hi Tom:

I have just read your message.  Knockmeal is a sub-townland or area with Ballyblood.  It is still known as such and it is just below the Tulla-Ennis crossroads.  

I noted your research with regards to the two families.  Have you looked at the Tulla cemetery records?  We have a link to them on the front page of our webpage at the bottom.  There might be a headstone already listed there which would greatly help you (hopefully).  You may also check the Tulla cemetery records through the website www.interment.net.  

In the meantime, I go into the parish priest with queries from the website from time to time, and I can visit and check out the birthdates if you would like me to.  

We are doing training at the end of November and mapping and digitising the graveyards in Tulla.  That also might throw out something for you.  

Please keep checking back with us as we are in the process of adding more information.  Unfortunately, the death records in the Tulla Parish Register start in 1917.  

Please let me know if you need further help.

Jane.

Jane,

Thank you for your message.  Per your advice I looked at the Tulla cemetery records that are currently posted.  As of today, there are no entries for anyone with the surname Melican.  There is a Hogan entery but I currently cannot tie it to my family.  Per your advice I will check back periodically.

I appreciate your offer to make a query with the parish priest.  However, I obtained some of this information from the Clare Heritage Centre in Corofin.  As you may know their information is based upon the parish registers.  Thus, I don't think there is a need to inquiry any further.

However, do you know anyone who is researching any of the following surnames: Melican, Hogan, Flannery

Although my family has ties to the Parish of Tulla, I have come across the following 2 entries  in the Irish Civil Registration Death Index which has peaked my interest:

1) Denis Melican, age 77 (born about 1787) who died in 1864 within the Kilrush registration district

2) Patrick Melican, age 86 (born about 1819) who died in Jan-Mar 1905 within the Killadysert registration district

Could Denis be the spouse of Margaret Hogan and the father of 6 Melicans I listed in my initial posting?

Similarly, could Patrick Melican be the son of Denis Melican and Margaret Hogan who was baptized in 1819?

Do you have any advice on how I could persue further informaion about these gentlemen?

Thanks.

- Tom

Hi Tom:

yes it is quite possible.  It is also quite possible that Margaret Hogan was also from Ballyblood.  Did you get a birthdate for her with a town land listed?   

If not, I might be able to have a look for you in the parish register.  

Please let me know.

jane

Hi Jane,

Unfortunately, I do not know when Margaret Hogan Melican was born or when she died.

Given the birth of her children, Margaret Hogan probably would have born in the 1790s.  This pre-dates the Tulla Parish records which I think commence circa 1819.  Is there a death register associated with the parish?

Thanks again for you posting.

- Tom

Hi Tom:

I have some information for you.  Here it is as follows:

Denis Mealakan (Melican) does appear in the Tulla records.  However, his name is spelled two different ways:

Melecan.  He married Margaret Hogan.  The only children that are registered are:

John, Patrick & Bridget.  

As the birth/baptism dates start in 1819, there isn't any record.  However, I have the names of John's children:

He married Mary Butler.  His name is Melican in this entry.

They have the following children:

Pat 6/4/1848

Matthew 19/11/1849

Margaret 28/6/1852

Mary 23/2/1854

Denis 6/2/1856

Bridget 20/10/1858.  

As to Patrick:  his date of birth/baptism is 24/3/1819.

Bridget's date is correct, but I didn't get a chance to look at the marriage register for her.  

Jane.

Hi Jane,

Thank you for the information.  With regards to the children of John Melican and Mary Butler: Pat, Matthew, Denis and Bridget all immigrated to the United States.  I believe that Margaret and Mary died as infants or children but I do not have any dates for when that occurred.  They probably died prior to 1864 so there would be no civil registration for their death.  However, did the church or a cemetery maintain records for deaths occurring  in the 1852-1864 timeframe?

With regards to the children of Denis Melican and Margaret Hogan:

I am not sure what became of Bridget or Patrick.  However, according to the Irish Civil Registration Deaths Index there is a Patrick Melican whose death was registered in the Jan-Mar 1905 timeframe in Killadysert, Ireland.  This Patrick is listed as being 86 years old - thus being born about 1819.   Whether this Patrick has any connection to my Tulla Melicans is unknown.

I did post something about Patrick on the Killadysert page in the hope that someone might be able to tell me more about him.  Do you know anyone who researches in Killadysert who may know something about this Patrick Melican?

Thanks again for all your help.

- Tom

Dear Tom:

I hope that you are well.  I wanted to let you know that Tulla Ireland Reaching Out is hosting a Weekend of the Welcomes in Tulla from 9 - 12 August this year.  We will be hosting  4 days of events to include heritage, genealogy, music and history and will be assisting visitors with reconnecting with their ancestral homes.  If you are interested in attending, please let me know.  If you find that you will be in Ireland at another time, please let me know as I will make arrangements to assist you whenever you find yourself here in Tulla. 

I look forward to hearing.

All the best,

Jane.

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the information about the Tulla Ireland Reaching Out from 9 - 12 August 2013.  Unfortunately, I will not be in Ireland at that time. However, I will be in Kilmihil for the Melican Family Gathering from 27-29 June 2013.

- Tom

Hi Tom and Jane,

My name is Michael Patrick Milligan. I am also a descendant of Denis Melican and Margaret Hogan, through their son Patrick. Denis' father was named Patrick Melican. He was born in 1765 and sued two years after Denis, in 1866, at 101 years of age.

I'd like to share information with you, Tom, if you'd like. I'd also like to discuss it with you, Jane, if possible.

I am from Utah, USA, but am planning to come to visit County Clare in June 2019.

Thank to both of you in advance,

Michael

Dear Michael:  Many thanks for your post to the Ireland Reaching Out message board and welcome!  I am also the Tulla Reaching Out Parish Liaison for the programme and there is quite a bit of research that the Melican descendants have done over the last few years.  I will forward this post to Tom in case he has missed it.  We would be delighted to meet with you in June, and Tom should be able to fill you in on some of the Melican details   There is also a link on the Clare Library website about the history of the family name that you might find interesting:  http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/don_tran/fam_his/melican_history_irish_name.htm  Tom and I have been in contact over the years as there was a Melehan (variant of Melican) living in Tyredagh townland in the 1800s, and they may have been connected to the Melicans.  If you have any further questions, please email me directly at:  tulla@irelandxo.com 

I look forward to hearing and please keep me posted on your travel plans so that we can meet you. 

Kind regards, 

Jane

hello Tom

We have some Meehans, Hogan and Melekan/Melehan/Malayan ancestors in Australia.

You might be able to piece some of it together. I always thought the name Melehan had been meant to be Moloney or somesuch.

 Matthew Meehan married Bridget Melehan/Malayan in Ireland  sometime around 1830 - they were from Tulla.

Several of their children came here to Australia in the late 1850s: Margaret,, Bridget, Ann, Mary, and Michael Meehan born in the 1830s in Tulla.

That Michael Meehan born 1835 married a Catherine Hogan in Australia in 1862. His wife -Catherine Hogan' -s parents (back in Tulla Ireland I presume) were John Hogan and Ellen McGrath

We know of two other children of John Hogan and Ellen McGrath - Patrick Hogan and Jane Hogan.

 The name Melehan has been spelled in a variety of ways on death certificates of the children who came here in the late 1850s

Be interested if any of this matches your searching

Regards

Elaine H

Hi Elaine,

Thanks for the message and the information that you provided.  Based on that I looked at some Irish records using my Ancestry account.  Your Matthew Meehan and Bridget Melehan/Malayan family lived in the townland of Moymore.  Using Google maps I see that Moymore is 23.9 kilometers (14.8 miles) northwest of where my Melican family lived (townland of Ballyblood).  So they lived relatively close to one another but I did not see where the families had baptismal sponsors or marriage witnesses for one another.  My Melican family from the townland of Ballyblood (Tulla Parish) had 3 branches that immigrated to Australia.  They settled in Warrnambool and in Victoria.  Where did your family live when they first arrived in Australia?

My 3great-grandmother was Margaret Melican (nee Hogan).  Her brother was Malachy Hogan who married Bridget McMahon.  Two of their children were Timothy Hogan (1834-1914) and Martin Hogan (1836-1866) immigrated to Australia.  They are buried in the Warrnambool Cemetery.

Interestingly both Timothy and Martin have people with the surname McGrath as their baptismal sponsors. McGrath is a common surname in that part of Ireland so it may be coincidence or there may be a connection to your John Hogan's wife, Ellen McGrath.

The family of John Hogan and Ellen McGrath lived in the townland of Miltown (Parish of Tulla).  This Miltown is not to be confused with Miltown Malbay.  The townland of Miltown is on the southeast border of Moymore and is closer to where my Hogans lived in Ballyblood.

Although, at this point, I don't have anything that directly links our families, I think we can investigate things a little further. Please send me an email at weingartdna@verizon.net

-Tom Weingart

Hi Tom:

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply to Elaine.  It is much appreciated.  One thing that I did want to point out is that your reference of 14.9 miles between Ballyblood townland and Moymore townland is too far away.  Those two townlands are much closer and historically, there has been a good bit of connections between families in both places.  This is worth noting for anyone with ancestors in either townland.  

If Elaine needs to have a look at the parish registers, they are available online through the Clare Library website.  

If you need any further information locally, please let me know.

All the best,

Jane

Hello Tom, Mary Melican was my Great Great Grandmother and married Robert Sproul ( Sproles, Sproules) in Warrnambool, Victoria Australia so I’m one of the many Australian Melican Hogan relatives.

Robert was born 1835 in Tasmania to James Sproul and Ann Crawford both Irish ex convicts. I have a family tree on Ancestry you are welcome to view, Elizabeth Leahy Family Tree, you can send me a request to access.

Kind Regards, Lizzy Leahy, Australia 

Hi. How can I contact the one who did the DNA test (kit 652083) and received the haplogroup I1 (I-A2395) and indicated the ancestor - Malachy Hogan, r1826 Ballyblood, Tulla, Clare?

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Z140/default.aspx?section=yresults

Alex.

Hi Alex,

That DNA kit is assocated to a relative of mine.  You can email me at weingartdna@verizon.net

-Tom Weingart