Emigration from Mayo (Islandeady)

Hi Ian, notice your query not been picked up, there is a lot written about the famine and post famine, poverty is the reason people moved, extreme would be more like it too, any land was on a landlord tenant basis, if as was usual there were a number of children the land was subdivided, making eveyone poorer and was not sustainable, a land lord on this the east side were I live actually took a census in 1852 to see if the properties were sustainable and then gave assisted passage to tenants, this was rare but sometimes the local priest would help, Mayo was one of the worst effected counties and a lot migrated to Liverpool via Drogheda here were I live now. There are no records of passage as it was internal travel at the time, the things we are familiar with applied, fares rose, migrants were sent back if they thought they were unwell and they were not welcome, researching my own ancestors I came across were in Stockport which I think is in Cheshire, there were anti Irish riots in 1852 there. Drogheda was the 2nd busiest emigration port during the famine and the stories of the people from Mayo and the west are horrific.

Following on from your ancestors migration there was a Fenian Rebellion in 1867 (look up the Catalpa and Fremantle for some Aussie stuff) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_rescue This was followed by the land wars etc, look up Mayo man Michael Davitt and also the origins of the word Boycott. There are numerous books on the famine etc

There is a web page on Islandeady here http://www.islandeady.ie/index.php there was also a query on Islandeady here recently. There are a number of Mayo private facebook pages if you want to look for Mayo history or Mayo Genealogy and you may find a local who is tuned in.

At least two Who Do You Think You Are programmes were on Mayo, the British Actress Julie Waters had a good one based around Mayo and an American actress / comedian was on Achill Island, you may find them on You Tube. 

Once you start you will find a lot I think.

Regards

Pat

Thank you Pat for your time in replying to my immigration question. I'll follow up your suggestions to get the background details and will try to find a local who has specific details which have been handed down.

All the best,

Ian

As Pat said, there's plenty written about the post-Famine period.

Irish Genealogy Toolkit has a brief overview of emigration, including migration to Britain. https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com  See topics "Irish immigration to England"

https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-immigration-to-England.ht…; See also pages " Irish immigration to Britain" and "Emigration from Ireland in the 19th century".  A table shows English counties with the largest percentage of Irish-born population on 1851 census. Cheshire was 2nd highest at 5.7%. Lancashire was top with 8.9%. Lancashire was a popular destination for Mayo people.  Main factors influencing choice of place were proximity to Ireland and employment opportunities. There were several ports on the north-west coast of England connecting sea-traffic to Ireland. The port of Liverpool was connected by rail to Manchester in 1830, the oldest inter-city railway in the world. Manchester to Macclesfield railway opened 1849. Trains had 3rd-class carriages for less well-off people. Cheshire had several manufacturing towns, plus mills in rural areas. The county has good farming land and a dairy industry (Cheshire Cheese) . There was work in mills for men, women and children. Some full-time farm work + seasonal.

There was a long tradition of seasonal migration to Britain for agricultural or construction work.

There are informative articles on many topics on this site too. Click on "News" at the top of this page and browse.

There were different patterns of migration. 

Cheshire included Stockport, a town which had grown rapidly during the Industrial Revolution to 30,000 by 1851, manufacturing silk, then cotton and hats. Silk manufacture in Stockport and most other Cheshire towns stopped after 1850. Macclesfield then became the centre of Cheshire's silk industry and was known as "Silk Town". Macclesfield firms exhibited at the Great Exhibition 1851. Two Macclesfield silk weavers emigrated to New Jersey in 1839. They opened mills there, establishing the American silk industry in 1846. When times were hard, Macclesfield folk emigrated to work in the New Jersey silk mills. Fashions changed and Macclesfield silk manufacturing contracted in size. Population of the town declined by 3,000 between 1851 and 1861 due to depression in the silk industry. Paradise Mill, built mid-19thC, is a working museum. Photo of interior, showing looms https://www.macclesfield-live.co.uk/news/old-mill-heart-macclesfield-si… or do an internet search for Paradise Mill or Macclesfield silk museum.

Two other events during 1860s had a detrimental effect on Cheshire's prosperity. 

The "Lancashire Cotton Famine" 1861-5 also affected Cheshire. It was caused in part by interruption of supply of raw cotton during the American Civil War. The cotton industry was a vital part of the British economy. There were 2,100 cotton mills in Lancashire and Cheshire in 1861. Approximately 60% of the spindles and looms were idle by October 1862. An estimated 50% of cotton operatives were unemployed; another 33% were on half-time; approximately 10% were fully employed. The huge increase in poverty caused other businesses e.g. shops to fail. There was a riot in Stalybridge and unrest in other Cheshire towns such as Dukinfield and Hyde. Chester Town Hall was set on fire. 

Cattle plague 1865-6. Cheshire, an important dairying county, was affected worse than any other county in England. Cattle stocks were devastated. Healthy cattle were killed in an effort to halt the spread of the disease. The county was left in debt for the next 30 years. There were 2 other outbreaks of serious diseases of cattle in the decade, including foot-and-mouth.

Did the Moran family emigrate to Australia on an assisted passage?

Browsing census for Macclesfield from 1851 onwards, you may notice other Irish people from Mayo or perhaps recognize common Mayo surnames.  

Thank you Maggie once again. That was a fantastic overview that will help me to dig into this deeper.

Regarding your question about assisted passage, yes they did indeed apply for assisted passage. You'll see Michael and Rose Moran near the top of this passenger list and my great grandmother Sarah Moran further down that column ... https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1269953#

Best regards, Ian

I noticed many Mayo surnames on that passenger list, including mine and several relatives. English surnames seemed few. 

Hi Ian

My name is Walter Cooney, my family came from Derrycrieve Islandeady, I still have family in the area , like alot of people my father migrated to England in 1950, he was following in the footsteps of his brothers who had gone before him and they mainly ended up in London working on the building sites around the South east of England. The main reason for them to leave was economic to make a better life for themselves as job opportunities  were far and few between in and around Castlebar.

The first brother to go to England was Thomas the oldest son he was encouraged to go over by the UK government in 1946 to help rebuild the country after WW2, they paid him £10 and provided him a job in Hampshire on a farm, he then changed occupation and went to work in the building industry which he did until he reitired and he finally settled in Birmingham.His brothers then follow him once he was settled over time.

I notice you ancestor was a  Rose Needham, my Great grandfather Peter Cooney married a Margaret Needham, she was from Derrycrieve and that is how my family settled there, originally the Cooney's were evicted form Achill Island and settled in Derrinumera between Newport and Castlebar, Peter met Margaret and married, they were then given land to build next to her family in Derrycrieve.

My Grand father's brother and sisters all migrated to the US in the early 1900's following other relatives who had gone before them, it appears most left Mayo for economic reasons.

Walter Cooney

Hello Walter:

Thankyou for posting that info about your family. It's very interesting that the name Cooney came up in some correspondence I received recently (I’ll try and find that presently), and the name Margaret Needham crops up quite frequently as well. I can't confirm it but I believe that Rose had a sister called Margaret – she may be the same Margaret Needham you referred to. Do you have any information about Margaret?

I have previously been in touch with Mary Jo Needham who lives at Achill.  Her brother Gerald and his son who live in Castlebar both DNA match with me. Mary Jo and Gerald’s great grandfather was Austin Needham, but I’ve not be able to connect him to Rose. I’ve also been in touch with a Margaret Needham who grew up in Lismolin. Her father was Henry.

Rose Needham and Michael Moran lived near Doo Lough (the small lough midway between Castlebar and Westport)  (https://www.google.com/maps/@53.8182781,-9.4621744,3a,75y,319.19h,93.18t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1s13K3s0KAs2OPsAJy6IWdQg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i41). I’ll also send a google screenshot of the property. Is Derrycreeve close to this location?

Best regards,

Ian

My family name is Neary which is fairly common in Mayo. My ancestors came to England in the 1850s and went down pit in southern Yorkshire. They appear in the records for Doncaster

John Neary 

Hi Ian

Derrycrieve is a townland between Leitir and Corha and Lenarevagh on the google map you highlighted it is the road with no townland name off the L1810, on the irish census it had approx 10 families there is only one family living in the townland now in the Coony's old house at the end of that road. There is a river there and the Needham's lived on the other side, I believe that Margaret Needham's mother could have been Bridget Needham, as she was present at the the birth of one of Margaret's children a daughter Anne who later immigrated to the US when Peter Cooney and Margaret lived in Ashbridge near Derrinumera. We have contact with the family in the US who are descendants of Anne, they have visited Mayo 2 years ago. There was other Needham's in Derrycrieve but there line has died out, and who would hve been related to my family.

My cousin Catherine Cooney has just done her DNA test with Ancestry, she is 90 plus per cent Irish, her father Walter and my father James Cooney are brothers,their father was Thomas Cooney who was Margaret Needham's son.

Talk soon Walter Cooney

Hi Walt:

Google is showing that Derrycrieve is very close to where Michael Moran and Rose Needham were living - about 6 km (3-4 miles) or so.

I wrote a spec letter to a Margaret Needham a year or so ago, and about last xmas time her daughter (also Margaret) emailed me back. Here is part of what she said …

“I am not sure how much help we can be to you but it seems likely we must be related. I grew up in Lismolin, Islandeady and I am familiar with Clogher lake and and the other lake you mentioned in the letter. We know very little about the Needham ancestry but I can give you some information which might be useful.  My father was Henry Needham, and he passed away in 1997. He had two sisters Anne and Maisie (both of whom have also died) and brothers Richie, Brendan, PaddyJoe (RIP), Peter (RIP) and Michael. To my knowledge they knew very little about their ancestry, as their father Patrick Needham died when they were all relatively young.”

Are you familiar with this Margaret and her family?

I have DNA tested with Ancestry as well. Perhaps your cousin could search for a match? My “Match name” is Ian Perry when she searches. I’d be interested to see if we have a match.

Thanks for all your information,

Ian

Hi Ian, I am not familiar with this Needham family, there are Needhams in the area, I know the family who run the Halfway House pub on the Westport/Castlebar Road they could be related to the family you have mentioned.

I known the Needhams related to me who lived across the river, they probably came under Corha or Derrycrieve died out, the last person there was Sean (John) Needham and his wife Mary they had only one daughter Margo but she was disabled and died afew years ago.He had inherited the family home and land, I know he had a relative George Needham not too sure how they were related. I will have to speak to my Uncle Walter who is 85 yers old he will remember more.

I will speak to my cousin about the DNA match!

Cheers Walter