Looking for ancestors of James Muldoon

Hi Jim
The only birth / baptism record I can find for James Muldoon 1775 + - 10 years on www.rootsireland.ie/ is 1784 in Westmeath; could this be your James?
Col

Hi Col

Sorry to take so long to reply but didnt realise I had to go back into the website to see any responses, thought they would go through to my normal email address.  Anyway I know now so will keep a better eye on the website.  Thanks for your response, dont think the 1784 one is him as he came to Australia in 1814 and was around 45 then so puts his birthdate at around 1775.  Grateful for the help

Regards

Jim Muldoon

Jim

Was James imprisoned in Trim? I ask because this was the prison for the Co. Meath area. He may not have been from Trim. I live on the Meath/Cavan border and Muldoon is a very common name here. If you have an idea of how old he was when he died you could try the parish registers of Lurgan which goes back to the 1700s for his baptism. Technically Lurgan is in Co. Cavan but if James was from this locality you might have some luck. Many north Meath families were parishoners of this parish. As regards figuring out which James might be yours, your only hope is that he used the traditional naming pattern for his own children (eldest boy called after grandfather, second eldest daughter called after grandmother etc.).

I attach the link to the parish registers.

 http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0849

Hi Jim, I am also searching James Muldoon from Meath.  I have the same information as you and am floundering trying to find an offence for him or any record of his family in Meath.  My gut feeling (lol) is that he was transported for being catholic and a witness of a treasonable oath.  On his record from Kilmainham prison his offence is listed as "Prisoner from Trim".  All his convict records I have found list him as a native of Meath.  I would appreciate swapping info with you regard James and his wife Mary Downey and descendants, there daughter Catherine being my direct descendant.

Hello clonbroneyite,

Thank you for sharing the parish registers, I will start wading through them.  If possible I would appreciate your thoughts from a locals perspective: if James Muldoon was tried at the Meath (or Westmeath) assizes in March 1814 and then records from Kilmainham Prison on 20 September 1814 record his offence as 'prisoner from trim' where would he have been kept inbetween and would that prison/museum have records?  His future wife was tried at the Down assizes and the County Down museum have a record of her on their site before she too was transferred to Kilmainham in 1821.  Thank you in advance for any enlightment you may be able to give :)

Hi Linda,

Are you in Australia too? 

I think that James would have been kept in Trim Prison until his transfer to Dublin. Maybe he had been sentenced to transportation in Trim but was brought up to Kilmainham to be closer to ships.

As regards prison records, I think they are in the National Archives. I was there a few weeks ago and found the experience quite daunting. However, I did see some prison ledgers. I plan to reurn in the next week or two and will take a look for you.

Thank you for your reply, yes I too am in Australia, as one of many descendants of this irish convict and his wife also an irish convict from Co.Down.

I have been doing some more digging and a couple of new ancestry trees have popped up and show James marrying (prior to his conviction and transportation) in Drumkeeran, Fermanagh and link him as a flax grower... no idea if true.

The main problem is his pre1836 status... I know only the information held on the  Australia records regarding his transportation (the Irish archives don't list him or his wife as convicts on their database), if you are able to have a look that would be really appreciated... these are the records listed on the indent list for the ship Canada including those that were tried same date/place as James:  

Tried: March 1814 County Meath - James Muldoon 35 sentence: 7yrs transportation
Same trial date/place: John Risly or Johnson 23 sentence: 7yrs; John Toole 34 sentence: 7yrs; Peter Fox 29 sentence: Life; Thomas Ward 21 sentence: Life; John Holdford 30 sentence: Life.

The few of the records say he was tried at Trim but he always states his native place as Meath.

Thank you for your interest and help.

Linda

Hi Linda and clonbroneyite

My apologies for not replying to your posts earlier but a) have been travelling in the UK/Ireland/Scotland and b) forgot to check the site!  I will check the registers that you have provided the links too, many thanks for that.

Linda - happy to swap info, not a problem.  I tried to do a search at the National Archives in Dublin but only had one form of photo ID with me so they wouldnt let me in and as it was raining cats and dogs and I was leaving the next day had to give it a miss.  However I did talk to my cousin Carol Weber (who lives in Broken Hill) and she said she had been to the Archives and hadnt found much unfortunately.

Clonbroneyite - I tend to agree with you that James may not have been from Trim.  I went to Trim and checked the cemetries and couldnt find any other Muldoon's there so am presuming as you say that he was from elsewhere in Meath, or more likely, from Cavan.  

For information I also have a copy of the Magistrates register from Trim where James was sentenced and it, like the other documentation, doesnt show any details of the crime for which he was transported.

Again, thank you both for posting here and again, my apologies for lateness in replying.

Regards

Jim Muldoon

Hi Jim,

Glad you are home safe and sound, I am in contact with Carol too and hopefully with the three of us working together we can track down some more information on James Muldoon.  My email is: linda@mulquin.com

​Regards

Linda