Thornton, Price, Meagher & Ryan families

Dear Michael

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have forwarded your query to a parish volunteer who will be in touch soon

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Dear Michael,

According to the baptismal records for Boherlahan John Thornton and Catherine Price had four children baptised in the parish. Catherine on 10-2-1815, Richard on 29-4-1817, John on 13-10-1823 and Michael on 8-9-1826. The address for Catherine and Richard was Ardmayle, which is on the west side of the parish, while John and Michael had Ballinree in the north of the parish. 

John Meagher (Maher) and Mary Ryan, also living in the parish of Boherlahan, had five children baptised: Bridget 1-2-1823 at Knockanree, Denis - -8-1825 at Ballinree, Tom 22-1-1828 at Knockanree, Ellen 26-12-1830 at Ballinree and John 21-1-1835 at Knockanree. Ballinree and Knockanree are in close proximity to each other and the registrar (priest) may have failed to differentiate between the two places.

John Thornton's name did not appear on the list of holders of property in Ballinree in Griffith's Valuation, 1850. There was a huge clearance of tenants off the Ballinree estate during 1848-9 and John and Catherine may have been victims.

Unfortunately, there was no registration of deaths until 1864. I checked the headstone records for Ballysheehan and Ardmayle graveyards but found no reference to a Thornton. This would not be unusual as many families were buried with a footstone as a marker.

I hope that this information may be helpful to you on your research.

Regards, 

Paddy

Dear Clare and Paddy,

Thanks very much for getting back to me, and Paddy, a thousand thanks for the information about my family!

Where did you find this information and would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction so that I can continue my research?

I am looking for any records that may have been kept for the generation of John Thornton (b. 1780), Catherine Price (b. 1785), John Meagher (birth/baptism unknown) and Mary Ryan (birth/baptism unknown).  If you would simply point me in the direction of any records that were kept at that time, I would be most grateful.

One final item.  Are there any particular resources of Irish general history for the era spanning from 1750 to 1900 that you would recommend as especially helpful?

Again, a thousand thanks,

Michael

Dear Michael

While you await a reply from Paddy, generally speaking the online parish records are available at rootsireland.ie (a subscription site) or irishgenealogy.ie or familysearch.org. Tithe, Griffith's Valuation and Census info can be found at the links below.

Tithes: http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

Griffiths: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Census: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Access to the three sites above is free. 

The National Library now provides access to the original of some parish records at http://registers.nli.ie

If you wanted to learn more about who remained on the land and paid the rate from the time of Grifiith's Valuation up to say the 1960s or 1970s then the Valaution Office in Dublin holds the 'Cancelled' or 'Revision' Books. Unfortunately thery are not available online, though I do believe there is a small pilot project underway and this might pave the way for something larger.

In any case, you can find more info at the site below which also has a great blog detailing up and coming record releases and other news, so keep an eye on that.

Genealogy Toolkit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/

Best wishes

Clare

Genealogy Support 

Dear Clare and Paddy,

I will be visiting Ireland for two weeks at the end of October. One of the items on my agenda is to visit the graveyards that my ancestors are likely buried in to see if I can find any headstones or footstones for the Thornton, Price, Meagher, or Ryan families. Any tips on how to conduct such a search?

Thank you,

Michael

Michael, I don’t know if you’re still reading on this site, or how much more information you have now, but I have a few more specifics re. Richard (e.g. arrival in US).  Unfortunately I have been unable to discover any further info for his parents or earlier.  

In case it’s helpful and/or new, here’s what I have found:  Richard came to the US 5 Apr 1848 with his brothers Thomas and Phillip on the ship Waterloo, arriving in New York.  He lived in New York with Thomas for a while; in 1950 they are in Ward 19 NYC, living next to Phillip and another brother Patrick (not sure of his arrival date).  Patrick migrated west about 1855, possibly to Dubuque, Iowa, then to Chippewa Falls WI in 1856 or 1858.  He reportedly sent word to his brothers encouraging them to join him there.  Phillip came right away (ca 1859); Richard’s family came west in June 1861.

I apologize if this is all old news to you; I’m coming to this search a bit late.  And of course, I’d appreciate any additional info you may have uncovered regarding Richard’s forebears.

Best of luck.