Madden's of Bourney & Couraguneen

Dear Ed

I will pass this to the Bournea Parish volunteers and make them aware of the attachments you have provided.

Many thanks for taking the time to contact us. 

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

These are most of the surnames found in the Excel file I posted on 1 July. Please take a look at it if you recognize any, thanks!

Bennett, Birgan, Boyin, Bray, Buckley, Butler, Byrne, Calsin, Cantwell, Cashers, Cody, Cooper,

Degan, Devan, Dignan, Dillon, Doherty, Dooly, Dowling, Egan, Farrell, Fitzpatrick, Fogarty, Fox,

Gavin, Geoghegan, Grimes, Guilfoyle, Hackett, Hamill, Harrold, Hennessy, Higgins, Hynes,

Kelly, Kennedy, Lahy, Lethsome, Londen, Mack, Maher, Malone, Maorony, Martan, McDonald,

McGrath, Meagher, Middleton, Monahan, Morrissey, Morton, Moylan, Murphy, Nowlan, O’Donnell,

O'Shea, O'Sullivan, Ryan, Shanahan, Spooner, Sullivan, Tracy, Whelan.

Hello Ed Madden. I notice you have the name Kennedy in the file you posted. My great great grandmother was Mary Kennedy ( 1816-1880) I think. She married Michael Conway & had 4 children, all baptised in Bourney Church - 1837 unnamed child, 1841 Kitty, 1844 Margaret , 1846 Michael, 1850 Johanna. 

Margaret was my great grandmother. She emigrated to Australia in about 1865, married James McMahon in 1867 & bore 11 children. You can read some more about her on the Roscrea Parish board of IrelandXO. 

I cannot find any information about this family - Have no record of their marriage. It seems the name Conway was unusual in these parts. I would appreciate any information you may have.

regards

Denyse Darbyshire

Hi Denyse,

Looking at the information I have, which is the file I posted, I see no Conway’s at all, Kennedy is interesting however:

On 14 Feb 1838 a Michael Kennedy and a Catherine Doherty were baptism sponsors of my great grandfather, Daniel Madden. Daniel is a son of Ellen Doherty and Edward “Ned” Madden & my GG grandparents. This Michael Kennedy probably knew the Doherty’s & Madden’s pretty well being a baptism sponsor for the infant Daniel and I presume Catherine Doherty is related to my GG grandmother Ellen Doherty. On our headstone at Couraganeen you can see the photo I posted both Daniel, died 31 March 1878, and “Ned” died 17 Feb 1887 are named.

About 13 years later, in Griffin’s Valuation of 1851, a Michael Kennedy is in the townland of Shanballynahagh on Lot 2a & 3. Couraganeen Church, built 1812 is on lot 6; Edward “Ned” Madden resided there and his father, Edward “Carpenter” Madden died there 16 March 1881. “Ned” was present at the death and registered it May 24.

Also in Griffin’s, a Mary Kennedy and an Eliza Kennedy are in the townland of Gortnaskey. It’s not much more than a mile south of Couraganeen.

Unfortunately, none of this is proof of your Kennedy, but the possibility may be worth pursuing. It would be pretty great if this post got read by anyone attending the Couraganeen Walk (in about 13 hours from now) and you & I both learn something!

Ed Madden
Ridgefield, WA

Hi Ed, 

Thank you for your reply. I think I need to concentrate more on the Kennedy side of the family - there seem to be more of them in the area! With sketchy information, it's hard to know if the person you've just " discovered " is really part of the family.

I agree it would be great if the walk today jogs some memories, or at least a discussion.

Regards

Denyse from Sunny Queensland