The Parry family of Talbotshill

G. Macken:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

As far as I can tell, there is not an "active" Anglican church in Gowran. Here is a link to the Diocese http://cashel.anglican.org/

On the right side of the main page, you can hit Kilkenny and see the Anglican churches in that county. I would e-mail the Diocese to find out about the church building in Gowran.

Roger McDonnell

Even though the Church is no longer active, the building still exists and is located off the main street in the town of Gowan. See the location on the c1890 OSI map. A description of the church and the adjacent ruins are mentioned in the entry for the town and parish of Gowran in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of 1837, see the 3rd paragraph.

"..The church, for the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £130, is part of a very ancient cruciform structure, which was restored and fitted up for divine service in 1826; the remainder, which is still a ruin, has some very interesting details in the early English style.."

You can see part of the church on Google Street view, it's to the left of the ruins in this view.

Unfortunatly the early Church of Ireland records for the parish were lost during the fire at the Public Records Office during the Civil War.

St. Mary's Collegiate Church Gowran is now a heritage site - see Heritage Ireland

just posting these for reference while I search for any details on Mary Anne and her familiy...

1911 Census - Mary Anne Parry widow age 77 (c1834), Irish Church born Co. Limerick, daughter Ellen age 28 (c1883) also born Co. Limerick. Mary Anne has noted years married as 35 (c1876) although this is not supposed to be filled in for widows - could mean how long they were married before her husband died - and 11 children born, with 8 still living.

1901 Census - Mary Anne Parry widow age 64 (c1837), Irish Church born Co. Cork, son Daniel age 26 (c1875) and daughter Ellen age 23 (c1877)

different county of birth given on the two census returns - maybe they came from an area on the Cork, Limerick border...

found a birth for Daniel in the right area with his surname as 'Perry', and born 1870, so a little earlier than the age given on the 1901 census would suggest. see this link  (the 3rd entry, his first name has been added a an amendment). 

District Killmallock, Registrar's District Kilfinane - Co. Limerick (the district actually covers parts of both Cork and Limerick)

Date and place of birth : 3rd April 1870, Glenanair
Name/Sex : [] Male
Father's name and dwelling place : William Perry, Glenanair
Mother's Name : Mary Anne Perry formerly Westropp
Rank or Profession of Father : Land Steward
Informant : Jane Ormston (her mark) nurse, present at birth (she registered 3 births the same day)
When registered : 4th April 1870
Amendment - name 'Daniel' tenth October 1870.

The BMD Index shows a likely marriage for William and Mary in 1856 in Manorhamilton registration district, which is based in Co. Leitrim - Volume 8, page 21. Images for marriage record on the GRO/IrishGenealogy website currently only cover from 1882 onward, but these early marriages will be added in time. You can order a research cert costing €4 for this to see the full details - e.g. date and place of marriage, father's names, occupations, witnesses etc...

There's an extract of the civil marriage record on FamiliySearch - this includes some of the details from the original register entry. see : Marriage William Perry & Mary A. Westropp 28th January 1856
Place of marriage is noted as Drumlease, Leit[rim] - this may be a reference to the parish.
Ages are given as 29 and 21, and fathers as James Perry and Thomas Westropp.

Additional details that a research cert would show are occupations for the groom and fathers, and the possibly for the bride, place of residence for the bride & groom, names of witnesses, plus the name of the church or registry office and name of the minister or registrar.

I located a few additional civil records for this Parry/Perry family, including a second Daniel born in 1874, the first Daniel born 1870 seems to have died young and the parents decided to reuse the name.

John 12th December 1867, Glenanair, Co. Limerick  (all the links are to the civil records )
Daniel (1) - 3rd April 1870, Glenanair, Co. Limerick
Agnes - 5th February 1872, Glenanair, Co. Limerick
Daniel (2) - 4th January 1874, Glenanair, Co. Limerick
[unnamed] female - 21st June 1876, Glenanair, Co. Limerick - possibly Ellen ?

There could be additional children born to the couple before the start of civil records in 1864, which would require a search of church baptism records. I also located the death for William in 1894, at Glenville Co. Cork which is located near Watergrasshill to the north of Cork city.

Death of William - 10th May 1894

   Name : William Parry        

   Cork registration district, Registrar's district : Carrignavar
   Date & place of death : 10th May 1894, Glenville
   Male, Married, reported age 64, occupation Land Steward
   Cause of death & duration of illness : Bronchitus Pneumonia, 9 days certified
   Informant, qualification and residence : Daniel Parry, son of deceased, present at death,  Glenville
   Death Registered : 7th June 1894.

That is some wonderful information.
Thank you so very much.
Gary