Alexander Sweeny/Alexander Sweeney

I assume the family was RC. Donacavey RC baptisms don’t start till 1857 so there’s unlikely to be a record of Alexander’s baptism.

Griffiths Valuation c1860 has just 1 Alexander Sweeny listed in the parish. He lived in a house on Main St, Fintona. He remains tenant of that property till 1903 according to the Valuation revision records, though I don’t see any Sweeney there in the 1901 census.

There’s 3 trees on Ancestry with this family (Smith, Woodhouse & Ferracci-Myers). So a fair amount of detail there.

The trees don’t have Mary’s death. I can’t see it in the statutory records either.

Hi Elwyn,

Further to previous reply, I am wondering the name of the tenant in the house on Main Street in the 1901 census.  Could it be a daughter of Alexander who has married.

kind regards, Theresa

Theresa,

You mention a daughter in Main St. Did you mean Mill St?

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fintona/Mill_St…

That appears to be Margaret Donaghy who married Patrick Sweeney, labourer, of Rathfragan on 22.6.1879. His father was John Sweeney, bootmaker.

Here’s the census for Main St. If you did mean Main St, could you tell me which property you think might be Alexander’s daughter?

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fintona/Main_Street/

I did see a marriage for John Sweeney s/o Alexander to Catherine McMahon on 23.8.1891 in Fintona Chapel. Both resided in Fintona. John & his father were both carpenters so that sounds as though it could be your family. I don’t see the couple in the 1901 census, nor any children 1891-1895, so perhaps they had left Ireland.

Hi Elwyn

Thank you so much for your reply.  By looking at the information you have gathered it looks a strong poosibility that John Sweeney who marries Catherine could be Alexander's son.  Both carpenters and on my great grandfather's wedding certificate it has his father, Alexander Sweeney senior. as a wood sawyer.

From previous correspondence with yourself you have an Alexander Sweeny on Griffiths Valuation c1860 residing at Main Street.  Sweeny name there until 1903.  Would this perhaps have been his wife or daughter?  Not sure how the Griffith Valuation info works.

Kind regards, Theresa

Theresa,

Griffiths Valuation and the Valuation revision records which take that initial set of valuations forward is a list of who was head of household in properties across Ireland. Low value properties aren’t listed, a d since the records were only reviewed every 2 or 3 years people could come and go and not be recorded. But given that all the Irish censuses before 1901 have largely been destroyed, it acts as a reasonable census substitute.

What the records for plot 55 in Main St, Fintona show is that Alexander Sweeney had a house there from around 1860 until 1903. In 1903 he was succeeded by Anne McMullin, she was succeeded by Patrick Sweeney in 1908 and in 1909 Bella Hagan acquired the property.  Those people could be connected or there might be no connection between them at all. Griffiths records don’t tell us that. If the occupant had died or given the lease up, then the landlord would find a new tenant in the usual way.

Although Alexander was shown as the occupant in 1901, it’s clear than he wasn’t living in the property nor anyone else named Sweeney, in the 1901 census.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fintona/Main_Street/

I have attached a photo showing the changes in occupants as per the valuation revision records. You can search them yourself on the PRONI site:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/searching-valuation-revision-books

Alexander may have died some years previously and the Griffiths clerks just haven’t picked up the change of tenant. This looks to be Anne McMullin in the 1901 census, indicating she resided there in 1901. She was unmarried, so unlikely to be Alexander Sweeney’s daughter:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fintona/Main_St…

I searched the death records again, and I think I have found Mary Sweeney’s death, on 22.3.1891 in Fintona. She was described as the “wife of a carpenter” and was married (so Alexander was still alive). The informant was the coroner. There had been an inquest. Cause of death was: “Natural causes accelerated by excessive drinking.” There was an inquest on 23.3.1891. You could check with PRONI in Belfast to see if they still have the inquest file.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1891/06081/4734534.pdf

Fintona falls in the Omagh registration district.  I don’t see any death for Alexander in that area in the period 1891 to 1921, so don’t know what happened to him. Perhaps after his wife’s death he left Ireland?

There was evidently a Patrick Sweeney as tenant of the property briefly in 1908. I can’t see him in the censuses, and can’t suggest who he was.

Note: A couple of the on-line trees have Alexander Sweeney dying in Fintona on 7.3.1874 aged 70. That doesn’t appear to tie in with the death for what seems to be his wife that I have spotted nor explain why his name appears in the Valuation records until 1903 but it might still be correct. Probably worth checking the death certificate. You can’t view it on-line free yet. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you so much for your reply and all the help you have given me.

I was surprised to see how long Alexander was living at plot 55 Main Street.  I wonder if it is still there?I will definitely be contacting PRONI in Belfast for Mary's death inquest records.  Poor Mary!  Perhaps it may give me some more clues.  I wonder if she is buried in Fintona.

kind regards, Theresa

Theresa,

The property in Fintona is probably still there in some form or other. The town hasn’t changed that much but many premises will have been improved or modified over the past 100 years, and may have changed use. So what was a shop in 1901 might not still be one today. Your problem will be identifying exactly which was Alexander’s house.  There were no house numbers in small towns and rural areas in the early 1900s, and the Griffiths Map for Fintona doesn’t give sufficient detail to identify plot 55. Plot 55 was simply an administrative number that the Griffiths clerks used to identify the place for their purposes. It bears no relation to any street number that you might find in Main St today. Likewise the house numbers in the 1901 & 1911 censuses were the enumerators private numbering system – which varied from census to census - and so again won’t directly help locate the property today.

All we really know is that it was in the Main Street somewhere. If I have identified the correct property in the 1901 census, then we can get a little more information from the house & building return part of the census. That tells us that the premises was a shop and had 4 rooms. There were 2 windows at the front. Looking at the nearby properties I see that the railway station was close by, so that may help you. (The railway closed in 1957 but the location of the station is still easy to find). Next to the station was a private house, then a Coopers shop (ie someone who made and repaired barrels) and then McMullen’s shop.  I’d guess therefore that it’s a few doors up or down from the old station. If I have interpreted Griffiths correctly, the Sweeney property was on the town side of the station rarher than the country side, if you follow me. Properties on the country side of the station were in Liskey townland, whereas those on the town side (where yours is listed) were in Fintona. I’d focus your search on that area. I have attached an aerial photo of the town taken in 1962 that should give you a sense of what the area looks like.

The short railway to Fintona was very famous. Books have been written about it. There was a station about a mile away called Fintona Junction on the line from Omagh to Enniskillen, and a branch line ran from there into Fintona itself. The branch “train” was a horse drawn tram. The horse was called Dick. People came from all over to see it. And when the line closed, the tram - there was only one - was saved. Today it’s in the Transport museum at Cultra, just outside Belfast. I have attached a photo of the tram leaving Fintona station. You can see Main Street just behind it.

I should think Mary may well be buried in Fintona.  I would enquire locally to see what graveyards there were. (The parish office may be able to help).  Whether the family could afford a gravestone is another matter.  Parish office: http://www.fintonaparish.com/contact-us/