Hello again,
I posted the message below in July last year and received a reply from Elwyn with some information about wills related to my family. Unfortunately I had already discovered this and a fair bit of other informatio, which had led me to Latnamard in the Parish of Aghabog as the likely home of my ancestors. The rely also noted that "Aghabog is in the RC parish of Killevan. There appear to be a few parish records for the years 1840 – 1843 and for 1848. Then there’s gap to 1871 so it doesn’t look very promising in terms of using those records to trace the family back".
I will be visiting Ireland in July 2016 and was hoping to visit the town and maybe photograph some of the tombstones in the graveyard. I have looked at the National Library of Ireland microfiche of local Parish records but unfortunately these confirmed that records are pretty sparse for the Parish and don't include any years relevant to my family. Are any other local records available and if so would it be at all possible to see them through contacting the Parish Church? Or have you any other ideas that could help?
Previous post:
"My Great Grandfather, John Joseph Cairns, was born around 1840 and died in Belfast on 12 Sep 1897. His father (my Great Great Grandfather) was Patrick Cairns. John Joseph Cairns had two older brothers, Thomas (born about 1830, died in Belfast 12th Jan 1866) and Henry (born about 1836, died in Belfast 22nd June 1896), and two sisters, Margaret (born about 1831, died 7th Feb 1901 in Belfast) and Anne (born about 1840, married Captain Christopher A. Beck in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Chapel, Belfast in 1865, died 25th Mar 1866).
By searching Belfast newspaper family notices, I found that Thomas’ body was ‘removed to the Ulster Railway Terminus, for interment in Latnamard, County Monaghan’. I searched burial records online and found the following Gravestone Inscription from the Church of Saint Mary, Latnamard in Aghabog, Co. Monaghan.
‘By Henry CAIRNES in memory of his brother Thomas died at Belfast Jan 10, 1866 at 36: his sister Ann wife of CAPTAIN C BECK died at Belfast March 25, 1866 at 26’
I also found another interesting gravestone inscription in the same Graveyard:
‘By Michael KEARNS of Drumhilla in memory of his father Thomas died Dec 26 1837 at 63: his mother Ann KEARNS died March 29 1840 at 60; his brother Patrick died Nov 08 1847 at 39’
I know that Cairns could have different spellings (Cairnes, Kearns, Kearnes) and wondered if this Patrick in St Mary’s Graveyard could have been my Great Great Grandfather as the same family names seemed to be repeated? As both Thomas and Anne, who died the earliest, were buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary, Latnamard, I believe the family probably came from there originally. My Great Grandfather and his other brother who died later were buried in Belfast. My Grandfather, also John Joseph Cairns, emigrated to Australia in 1911. Any help in tracing my family further back would be much appreciated."
Sue
Sunday 10th Jan 2016, 01:13AMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Sue
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
For the most part the parish records you referred to are what is available. Ancestry.com for example sometimes has a parish index that isn't available anywhere else online but that is about the extent of it. Mostly what you require (if it exists in terms of parish records) will be available online at rootsireand.ie or maybe familysearch.org.
Outside of that there are lesser consulted sources (mostly secondary sources) that you can access like the Clogher Record, a, local publication that you can see at JSTOR and also through this membership website:
http://www.clogherhistory.ie/clogher-record-index
Local publications like this can be helpful in terms of giving an overview rather than providing very specific information. Monaghan Local Studies Library might also be of use:
http://www.monaghan.ie/en/services/library/localhistory/
Mostly though we are are the mercy of the parish records and as you have discovered their starting dates vary depending on the parish and the administrative set up there at the time. Killeevan/Aghabog is quite late starting in 1871.
Actually visiting the place and talking to people you meet at random will also help you to discover what oral history is still alive in the area. Gravestones too are a great resource and sadly sometimes the last remaining record fof a family. We would love to see some photos of your trip in July. Hope you enjoy yourself, fingers crossed for good weather!
Best wishes
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Clare Doyle
Tuesday 12th Jan 2016, 11:36AM -
Thank you for your encouragement, Clare. I guess even if we can find the graveyard and photograph the tombstones that I know are linked to my family, that will be a worthwhile venture, along with exploring the local area a little and getting a sense of where they came from. I also have relatives from Co Clare on my mother's side so I might be in touch with you later about them. As yet I haven't put in enough hard work trying to localise possible Parishes - I'll trawl through the National Library Parish records on-line for the approximate years and see if I can stumble across anything. . On this side, my Great Great Grandmother's surname was Keane (sometimes later spelt Kane) and my Great Grandfather 's was McInerney. Do you know if these surnames were common in any particular parts of Co Clare?
Thank you again for your help and I will certainly send in a few photos of my family history journey in July when I get back.
Regards,
Sue
Sue
Thursday 14th Jan 2016, 07:53AM -
Hi Sue
The following link will give you a clue as to the spread of the family name in the 19th Century:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/
All the best
Clare
Genealogy Support
Clare Doyle
Monday 18th Jan 2016, 10:25AM -
Attached Files
Hello again Clare, Ireland Reaching Out and Aghabog Parish,
I thought I would let you know that my brother and I did indeed visit the graveyard of the Church of St Mary, Latnamard, and were really happy that we made the trip. We discovered the grave of our known relatives, Thomas and Ann Cairnes, siblings of my great grandfather John Cairns, and found that this was situated beside a tombstone, erected by Michael Kearns of Drumhilla for his father, Thomas Kearns, and his brother, Patrick. This Patrick Kearnes had seemed a likely candidate in my research for my great grandfather's father, whose name I knew was Patrick, and the siting of the graves next to each other seemed to support this. In lieu of Parish records this discovery of the siting in the graveyard has been very helpful in possibly extending our Irish family tree a little further with some confidence. We also met a really helpful person doing some maintenance in the church and graveyard and he drove us to what he remembered may have been the old Kearnes farmhouse. He believed that some of the family moved to America. It was a really great day.
We'd be grateful for any other information anyone might be able to add to this family connection and especially if anyone in the Parish remembers more about this family.
Regards,
Sue
Sue
Saturday 21st Mar 2020, 03:21AM -
Hello Sue,
Thank you for posting this information! A distant relative (of the 'Kearns' family) and I have been attempting to narrow the focus of our Monaghan roots for years. The parish of Aghabog is one of the areas that is high on our list of possibilities. I have also been to St. Mary's (Latnamard) on a couple occasions but, I can't find enough evidence to satisfy my research. Have you, or another known descendant of the Cairns' family taken a DNA test? My distant relative and I have both tested as well as several relatives and we would be happy to share our DNA kit numbers. Our kits are posted on Ancestry, My Heritage, Family Tree DNA, and GEDmatch. Thanks
John McQuellon (Chicago)
jmcquellon
Sunday 22nd Mar 2020, 11:34AM
