Burial Site Locations - Tullycanna/Ballymitty

Hello,

I am a resident of Tullycanna and an amateur historian. The mill in Tullycanna is/was known by the older people as Rourkes MIll. Mary Rourke did marry a man called Kehoe. As I write this I can not say where they are buried but there are two old garveyards close to the mill and used by residents of Tullycanna. One is Ambrosetown and the other is Kilcaven. Ballymitty cemetery is relatively new with the first burial sometime around about 1915-1920. 

Unfortunately there are very few of the older generation remaining in the area that may remember Mary but I can think of one lady that may be able to help. I do have photos of Tullycanna Mill if you wish to confirm it is the building you visited.

Tullycanna Mill is first mentioned in 1234 and again in 1654 but my guess is that the building there now dates from maybe the 17th or 18th century.

Regards

Michael Martin

Tullycanna

Hello Michael,

Thank you for your response it was most welcome. I am relatively new to this but have benefitted from some very helpful guidance from people supporting this site and elsewhere.

The alternative burial sites are intriguing. Are they accessible? Do you know if anyone has an index of the names on grave markers?

I checked Griffiths Valuation for the mill (1853) and it indicated that the owner and tenant was not named Rourke. It was owned by William Cooper and the tenant was Matthew White. There is a great website that allows you to overlay a modern satellite view over the 1853 map and I am confident of the location, refer to http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/.

The earliest indication I have of Tullycanna residence is the marriage of John Rourke and Anastatia Doran in 1881 (Clongeen) where his profession and residence puts him at the mill. John's father (Thomas) was alive in 1881 and was listed as a farmer.

It is appreciated that it is unlikely anyone living has a memory of the family but I believe Mary was approximately 40 when she married in 1930 and maybe there remains a connection through her whether it be a memory of her or an account of some family history she may have passed on.

My apologies for rambling on.

Best regards,
Ken O'Rourke

Hi Ken,

Yes both burial grounds are accessible and are well kept. A substantial index was completed for Ambrosetown some years ago. Kilcaven, a larger graveyard, does not have an index, even though I commenced the task a number of years ago but had to abondon it due to the other commitments. maybe one day I'll return to it!!

In any event I have spoken to a lady in our parish and she will be sending you a message to update you more on your O' Rourke family. I can say that its believed Mary is buried in Galbally cemetery almost 20 miles away. Apparently the O'Rourke family came from that area. I am familiar with Galbally and townlands around it and know that there are families of O'Rourke still living close by, whether they are related or not I can't say.

I will be passing Galbally cemetery in the next few days and will search for a headstone, if its there I will photograph it for you. Marys husband Eddie Kehoe is buried in Kilcaven cemetery.

I will send photos of the mill in my next post.

Michael

Hello Michael,

The Galbally lead helps to give a focus for additional information on John Rourke (~1850-1930).

Indications are that Mary's husband, Ed Kehoe, most likely came from a Slevoy, Ballymitty farm family. I wonder if the union of Mary and Ed produced children.

I recently had the very good fortune of finding someone's project scanning old newspapers and providing them on line with a dodgy character recognition/search engine. It was difficult but as good or better than visiting the newspaper archives in person. It makes me wonder if the National Library has archives of local newspapers that would include coverage of events in the area. I visited there briefly while we were in Dublin a few days to look up some parish records and came away with a new appreciation for the people that tried to index that material. Similarly, I observed grave markers of the softer stone before too long become difficult to read due to the ravages of the weather, moss and etc.

Best regards,

Ken