Brennans and Quinns in Barnafea

Hi Kathleen,

You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/ . Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. 

The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie) will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing what happened to any land the family may have owned (as it usually passed on to a relation). Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

There is lots of useful information to be found in the 1901 and 1911 census records. You can find this here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ .

I wish you the best of luck with your search. 

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support

Ireland Reaching Out

Contact me for further info.

I am working on the Brennan Of Rivana ( or Reevanagh ) family tree at present as my Gt-Gt-Grandfather John Bradley of Coon married Mary Brennan of Rivana-------and I also have DNA cousins with possibly that root as well

Thank you!  I don't have any information on the parents of John Brennan, but I believe they were Denis Brennan and Ellen Bergen.  Desmond Brennan, who was born in Baurnafea but now lives in County Kildare, sent me information on his family, which was another Brennan family that lived in Baurnafea.  His father was John Brennan, who had brothers named Martin, Michael, and Patrick and sisters named Alice, Mary, Margaret and Bridget.  Des told me that John Brennan and Mary Quinn Brennan lived in an area known as "The Woods."  I have some information on Des' own family if you are not already in contact with him.  I have a public family tree on Ancestry.com if you are interested in that.

My research goes back to about 1800 as my 2 DNA cousins in the USA and Canada had people who emigrated around that time----Martin Edmund Catherine Pierce were some of the first names-----relations were Comerfords Bradleys Murphys Cains my own name plus others-----would like to see your tree

My tree on Ancestry.com is named Brennan-Johnson.  It is a public tree, so you can view it.  I would be interested in seeing yours if it is available online.

I live in the Laois / Kilkenny area----could you possibly e-mail me at johnheaden@gmail.com thanks