Cosgrave of Ballysillagh

Hello Sandy,

I've gone to www.rootsireland.ie and searched for thomas cosgrove b 1834  but the nearest that i could find in the country was thomas cosgrove b. 1831   father john cosgrove  mother catherine.  in Co. westmeath in the parish of Kinnegad.

Is this your family?

Anne

Hi Anne

Those are certainly the right first names for the parents and we know that Cosgrave (my family) and Cosgrove are sometimes interchangeable. But he was clear in the family about coming from "Ballasalla, Wexford." It is on his death certificate and I have it on record from my great-aunt, his daughter. Not sure what to think of your info. Did you search Cosgrave or Cosgrove? Any thoughts about where I might search?

My cousins are coming over to do research and enjoy your lovely country in August. How can we find out if there are Parish records for them to look at?

I certainly appreciate your help! Thank you so much. :)) One of the joys of genealogy is connecting with kind folks around the world.

Sandy

sandy,

All I can suggest at this time is to go to the census and scroll through all the townslands in wexford.   I went to www.askabout ireland.ie and onto the Griffith valuation tab.   you can click on the menu bar that says"name books search" and imput just some of the word balla.    This will throw up all the townslands in the country with that beginning.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

by the way the name I researches was  cosgrave.

all the best 

Anne

Hi Sandy,

I'm not able to trace the Thomas, born in 1834, that you speak of, however you also mentioned he had a brother Jeremiah (Jerry). There is a grave in Castle Ellis graveyard about 8 miles east of Enniscorthy in which this Jeremiah and his parents are buried (I hope it is the same person) It reads: "Erected by Jeremiah Cosgrave of Ballysilla in memory of his father John Cosgrave who dept this life June 3rd 1868 aged 64 years. Also his mother Catherine Cosgrave who departed this life May 19th 1870 aged 68 years. Also his sister Margaret dept this life Oct 28th 1850 aged 17 years. Also the above Jeremiah Cosgrave who dept this life 29th Sept 1893 aged 53 years.” (Some words are difficuly to make out)

Incidentally there are 4 headstones together in a row, all Cosgraves and my Great grandparents and my GG grandparents are buried there beside this Jeremiah. Incidentally our family left Ballysilla in 1828 and travelled 6 miles west of Enniscorthy and have been farming there since. I have been trying to establish a direct connection between Jeremiah and my family, but as yet am unable to establish that link, though I feel sure this connection exists but cannot be proven as registers do not go back far enough to prove this, Jeremiah had 3 children who are registered in the Ballymurn parish register. I think the register in Ballymurn was quite late starting so I don’t believe Jeremiah (born in 1840) or indeed his brother Thomas are in the register. I shall make enquiries locally on this point. Incidentally I visited the ruin of the old Cosgrave homestead some years ago, but unfortunately little remains. I hope this is of some help to you and if I can help further please let me know.

Best of luck with your research,

Nick C

Hi Nick

Thank you, thank you! This is so exciting! It sounds like you have found our Cosgraves-- the names are all the same as those we know, including the daughter. I wonder if Jerry married someone in your family. Do you know who his wife was?

We also have a brother Martin without a birthdate. Is there any way of finding more about the parents, John and Catherine? She was born O'Connor.

My cousins are coming over there in August and would love to visit the location of the Cosgrave homestead, and I would like to see it on Google maps. Can you tell me exactly where it is?

Again, thank you so much. this is quite wonderful!

Sandy

Hi Nick

Could you please tell me exactly where the cemetery is with the Cosgraves? I am sure my cousins will want to visit the graves. You don't have a photo by any chance? And where is Ballymurn parish?

Sorry to bother you with so many questions. I am eager to learn everything and see it on google streetview!

Thanks so much,

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

I’m delighted this information is useful to you, I will do my best to help you further. The Ballymurn register shows Jeremiah Cosgrave and Catherine Sunderland (our family name is Cosgrave) had 3 children:

Mar 11 1869 Catherine, sponsors Patrick Sunderland, Mary Murphy

Mar 7 1870 John Cosgrave, sponsors Martin Cosgrave, Mary Sunderland

June 5 1871 Thomas Cosgrave, sponsors, Thomas Sunderland, Mary Connolly.

Another family of Cosgrave lived at a place called Gorry, also in the parish of Ballymurn. This was a Bartholomew who had 5 children in the 1856-1867 period. I cannot say what the relationship was. I contacted the Ballymurn parish office today with the view to reviewing the registers. I plan to do that, but it could be a number of weeks before I can get round to it, work commitments and the office is open only 2 mornings a week. The start date for the register could be back as far as 1794, the lady was not certain. I know that 2 of Jerry’s children died without issue, but the John went to England and trace of him was lost. I do have a photo of him with his wife and Thomas on a hurling team.

As far as the location of the Cosgrave homestead is concerned I suggest you go into Griffith’s Valuations of 1850 at this link: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Enter the following detail: Name: Cosgrave, Forename: John (or leave blank) County: Wexford. Parish: Killmallock (the old parish name before Ballymurn). In this you will find the list of holdings at Ballysilla of which John Cosgrave had 2 and Catherine Sunderland had a house, offices and land (38 acres & 5 acres) You will also find a map of the holdings and this will give you a good idea of the exact location. There are Martin Cosgraves in the registers for some of the adjacent parishes during the 1840 -1870 period, but none that I can see for Ballymurn. I can check that when I look at the registers or indeed your cousins could do that when they are over. That can be quite a tedious job,

I attach a photo of the 4 gravestones in Castle Ellis graveyard, but unfortunately the one for Jerry is on the right and it is not easily read from the photo. Ballymurn parish has recently joined with Crossabeg and both are administered from Crossabeg. I suggest you Google both Ballymurn and Castle Ellis and you will get quite a bit of background information on the area.

Good luck with your researches and do come back to me for any further information. If your cousins wish to meet when they visit, I’m sure we can be of some help to them.

Nick

Hi Nick

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. I cannot get the attachment to open! Can you email it to me directly at sandra.eaton@gmail.com? That would be wonderful. 

How might my cousins best reach you?

Sandy