Michael D. Higgins has an ancestral connection to Tulla through his paternal grandmother, Catherine Lynch Higgins.
Catherine Lynch was born in Garruragh, Tulla and baptised on 7 January 1861. She was a daughter of Matthew Lynch and Margaret White, local farmers in the area. Matthew Lynch held lands in Garruragh with Catherine Lynch who was listed as a widow and was probably his mother. They farmed about 35 acres as listed in Griffith's Valuation with two homesteads located thereon. The Lynch family had lived in Garruragh for many years and can be traced back to Garruragh in the Tithe Applotment Books for Clare to the mid-1820s.
Catherine Lynch married Michael Higgins from Newmarket-on-Fergus in Tulla chapel on 10 February 1877. The newly married couple made their home in Newmarket-on-Fergus and raised Michael D.'s father and siblings there.
However, the Lynch family continued to live in Garruragh and James Lynch and his wife, Susan Conheady Lynch were listed in Garruragh in the 1901 and 1911 Censuses. This branch of the Lynch family are buried in Tulla graveyard where they have noted their residence as Garruragh.
We welcome the President to Tulla and are delighted to note his connection with the parish.
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