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John Brennan (Brenan) married Mary Quinn(Quin)  in the Catholic parish of Gowran and Paulstown on February 21, 1841.  Both were living in Rivana at the time.  They had three children (Denis - 1842, Ellen - 1843, and Judith/Julia - 1846) before emigrating to Pamelia in the Watertown, New York area of the USA by 1849.  They had four more children there and later moved to Grey County, Ontario, Canada in the early 1860s.  John and Denis are buried there.

The first child born in New York was my great-grandfather, Thomas.  He and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1889-1890.  Mary Quinn Brennan also came to Chicago, as did Ellen and Judith/Julia.

I am in touch with descendants of Ellen and Judith/Julia who live in the USA.  We would be interested in learning more about this family and the Quinns.  Mary was one of at least three children of Thomas Quinn and Eleanor/Nelly/Nell Burke.  She was born in 1818 in the townland of Coolgrany; her sisters Judith (1823) and Bridget (1826) were born in the townland of Rivana.

Sunday 5th Aug 2012, 12:56AM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Kathleen,

     

    You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/ . Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. 

     

    The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

    Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie) will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing what happened to any land the family may have owned (as it usually passed on to a relation). Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

    There is lots of useful information to be found in the 1901 and 1911 census records. You can find this here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ .

    I wish you the best of luck with your search. 

     

    Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

    Kind regards,

    Genealogy Support

    Ireland Reaching Out

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Monday 13th Aug 2012, 11:31AM
  • Contact me for further info.

    Thursday 8th Nov 2012, 02:58PM
  • I am working on the Brennan Of Rivana ( or Reevanagh ) family tree at present as my Gt-Gt-Grandfather John Bradley of Coon married Mary Brennan of Rivana-------and I also have DNA cousins with possibly that root as well

    johnfheaden

    Sunday 3rd Jan 2016, 02:27AM
  • Thank you!  I don't have any information on the parents of John Brennan, but I believe they were Denis Brennan and Ellen Bergen.  Desmond Brennan, who was born in Baurnafea but now lives in County Kildare, sent me information on his family, which was another Brennan family that lived in Baurnafea.  His father was John Brennan, who had brothers named Martin, Michael, and Patrick and sisters named Alice, Mary, Margaret and Bridget.  Des told me that John Brennan and Mary Quinn Brennan lived in an area known as "The Woods."  I have some information on Des' own family if you are not already in contact with him.  I have a public family tree on Ancestry.com if you are interested in that.

     

     

    Sunday 3rd Jan 2016, 11:09PM
  • My research goes back to about 1800 as my 2 DNA cousins in the USA and Canada had people who emigrated around that time----Martin Edmund Catherine Pierce were some of the first names-----relations were Comerfords Bradleys Murphys Cains my own name plus others-----would like to see your tree

    johnfheaden

    Monday 4th Jan 2016, 11:34PM
  • My tree on Ancestry.com is named Brennan-Johnson.  It is a public tree, so you can view it.  I would be interested in seeing yours if it is available online.

    Tuesday 19th Apr 2016, 12:54AM
  • I live in the Laois / Kilkenny area----could you possibly e-mail me at johnheaden@gmail.com thanks

    johnfheaden

    Tuesday 19th Apr 2016, 04:56PM

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