I can't begin to explain how much this tour helped grow my research skills! It was a great opportunity to learn how different repositories operate and proper etiquette to use in each. Plus, I had the chance to meet plenty of other family history buffs, and every day I learned something new from our courageous leader, Donna Moughty.
Buswells Hotel, Dublin, Ireland
DAY 8
Since we had no formal plans as a research group for our final official day in Dublin, one of the last times to mingle with everyone at once was downstairs in Buswell's restaurant for breakfast, and then everyone would be off in their own directions around the city until dinner time. Donna was there, along with Drew, Janet, and Anne while I dined on some eggs and hot chocolate. We all sat in the back cove at a long table where everyone could come and go as they please. We chatted about our finds throughout the week, updates in the world of online genealogy software, and bits about our lives outside of our family history hobbies.
The week flew by so quickly, I knew my laundry list of things to search was never going to be accomplished in this one trip. So I had to prioritize my final day of research. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I already knew I'd need more time at the Valuation Office than our 1 pre-scheduled visit, so I had Donna book me for a 2nd session at the VO on Friday morning.
I took the Luas tram up to the O'Connell Street stop and then walked a few blocks east over to the VO. Whereas my last visit, I was focused on the Farahy and Meadstown townlands in County Cork that I knew my Keeffe and Meade ancestors had lived, this visit I wanted to focus on a few other locations.
Those places entailed townlands and districts surrounding Farahy and Meadstown in which I found Keeffe or Meade surnames in house books, Griffith's Valuation, and tithes rolls, including Derryvillane, St. Nathlash, Ballyvoddy, Rockmills, Ballinhalisk, and most importantly, Skahabeg North. I do not know how these Keeffes or Meades necessarily relate to me, or if they do at all, but because they were living in nearby towns and areas to my known ancestors, I wanted a chance to see their home ownership patterns and then begin to piece together any relationships I could.
I didn't know what the electoral division for Skahabeg North had been, so I had to request the front desk staff look it up for me. That's how you're able to search through the Cancelled Books at the Valuation Office -- by the electoral division. However, when the staff input the necessary query into their computers, Skahabeg North was nowhere to be found!
I had stumped them. It had clearly been a townland on Griffith's Valuation, but it seemed to be no more. They even passed it around the office to see if anyone had heard of it, or could even pronounce it! They joked "See? Not even native Irish speakers know how to pronounce some of our places." That made me feel better as an American. They said I could get started researching my other locales on their computers while they did some further digging.
Almost straight away in the county of Cork in the electoral division of Derryvillane in the poor law union of Mitchelstown in the barony of Fermoy and civil parish of St. Natlash, I found Nicholas Meade occupying residence 1.1 on Main Street in the townland of Ballyvoddy, a village of Rockmills. So right there, you get a sense of just how critical maps can be when researching the Irish! Check out all of those different placenames and types of districting you need to be aware of! It's a tad overwhelming for sure.
Nicholas Meade was occupying a house and yard on Main Street leased by James Kearney. It was being taxed 1 pound 5 shillings.
Now here's where I made a mistake. I forgot that on the VO's computers, their folders were arranged chronologically backwards and when I started diving in on this Friday morning, I got so excited to jump back into the records, I forgot to be careful about which folder I was starting in exactly and apparently didn't even note it down! Luckily, some of the pages have noted which color ink was used each year. In this book, it appears the initial entries were recorded in 1864/1865 in a lighter black ink and blue ink, then revisions took place in 1867 in darker black ink, 1868 in a pink ink, 1869 in blue ink, 1870 in a pink colored ink, and 1871 in a purple ink.
I can't guarantee now I was 100% accurate in this documentation. But, let's presume I was. If so, the record of Nicholas Meade being taxed 1 pound 5 shillings was recorded in the Cancelled (or Revision) Books circa 1864/1865 in a lighter black ink. There were some revisions to the page in purple ink, which the observations column tells me took place in 1871.
Nicholas Meade is an important entry for me, because there was a Nicholas Meade who attended the same church (Kildorrery) as my ancestors, who baptized a son named William within a few months of my 4th great grandparents baptizing their daughter Honora. This tells me that Nicholas may have been in relatively the same generation as my 4th great grandparents, and therefore could possibly be a candidate for being a sibling to my 4th great grandmother Anne Meade.
Nicholas was married to Mary Henessy. The witnesses at their son William's birth were Thomas Henessy and Honora Mead. These could be clues to family relationships. It's quite likely Thomas Henessy was Nicholas' brother-in-law and Honora Mead was his biological sister. If he was a sibling of Anne Meade, then this could potentially lead me to two 4th great grandaunt and uncles. The baptismal record also gave their current residence as Meadstown -- where my Anne was from! On Griffith's Valuation, Nicholas Meade was living in Ballyvoddy but on Shanbally Road, not Main Street. Considering the Cancelled Book entry was from about 10 years after Griffith's, it's a possibility Nicholas Meade in the Cancelled Book was a son (or other relation) of Nicholas Meade in Griffith's and not the same one. Nicholas Meade was also a sponsor to the baptism of Mary Keating at Kildorrery Church, daughter of Michael Keating and Honora Meade, in 1844 (another indication Honora was Nicholas' sister).
Another reason to flag this entry is because the Nicholas Meade on Griffith's Valuation (recorded circa 1848) was an occupier paying rent to landlord M. O'B. Kearney in Ballyvoddy as well as to Arthur O'Keeffe. And now the Nicholas Meade around 1865 and 1871 in Ballyvoddy is paying rent to James Kearney, indicating this could be the same Nicholas or family member of Nicholas paying rent to the same Kearney family a couple decades later.
The Kearney family is also significant to me, because the Arthur Keeffe who was tried for the 1823 murder of Henry Franks and family, was married to a daughter of James Kearney (likely deceased before 1823). Henry Franks' son (who was also murdered) was engaged to another daughter of this same (likely deceased) James Kearney. And the murdered Franks family owned the land that Anne Meade's family occupied in Meadstown, so you see, there are lots of close-knit relationships in these communities that need to be researched thoroughly and detangled.
Further into the Cancelled Book, we find more occupiers of Ballyvoddy. This time, the book indicates that these are living on land not considered to be part of the Village of Rockmills.
This page is important because it includes multiple people of interest to my research: Patrick Meade, William Meade, James Meade, and Arthur O'Keeffe.
Patrick Meade is occupying residence 2A owned by James Kearney. The property originally only included land measuring 17 acres, 1 rood, and 20 perches and valued at 11 pounds. However, in subsequent years around 1865/66, revisions were made in which the description was updated to include a new house valued at 1 pound. Residence 2B next door (an additional 6+ acres), which was also owned by James Kearney, operated as The Duhallow Hunt Club, run by Richard Charles D. Oliver. Richard was the son of Charles D. Oliver (of Spa Hill, Kilfinane), known to be the only other major land owning gentleman in the area aside from Henry Cole Bowen.
Charles D. Oliver was the nephew of Colonel Richard Alworth of Newmarket's wife. Charles inherited Rockmills and Rockmills Lodge from Colonel Alworth and came to reside there in 1824. He also inherited his uncle's property at Castletownroche, which included Ballydoyle Wood, opposite Annesgrove. Colonel Alworth was the cousin of Lord Doneraile and owner of townlands Rahard and Rathnadarrihy, all of these facts according to Daisy Chambers who published the following site, Rockforest Lodge or Cottage: Rockmills House Formerly Lodge and Ballynahallisk on 18 October 2016:
https://silo.tips/download/rockforest-lodge-or-cottage-rockmills-house-formerly-lodge-and-ballynahallisk-to#
The above were historical and topographical notes, which appear to have come from one of the Field or House books of the area, likely published in 1910. For now, I have no reason to believe the above is inaccurate in any way, but when it comes time to write up a formal report, I'll need to track down the original source of these notes and compare.
The valuation in 1868 appears to increase to a total of 15 pounds and 15 shillings as they combined the two properties, 2A and 2B under Patrick Meade's occupancy.
Patrick Meade is significant as he was likely the Patrick of Ballyvoddy to marry Catherine/Kate Whitty/Whybbs in Kildorrery Church 7 February 1861. Their wedding was witnessed by William Meade and Bridgett Gilbert. It would make sense that William Meade was his brother and that the two lived nearby to one another.
William Meade is occupying residence 6 in Ballyvoddy owned by James Kearney. This property had also originally just been a plot of 12 acres, 2 roods, and 3 perches taxable at 8 pounds. By 1864/65, a house had been built valued at 1 pound, increasing the total rateable annual valuation to 9 pounds 0 shillings.
William Meade is significant as he could be the William who witnessed my 4th great grandparents' wedding on 25 January 1826 and the baptism of their 2nd child, Catharine on 28 February 1830. If so, he'd be likely to be Anne Meade's brother. Or this William could be the son of Nicholas Meade and Mary Henessy.
James Meade is occupying residence 7 in Ballyvoddy owned by James Kearney. This property was said to include herds, a house, office, and lands. It measured 24 acres, 3 roods, and 9 perches. The land was valued at 10 pounds 10 shillings. The buildings were valued at 1 pound with a total valuation of 11 pounds 10 shillings. There were no changes or revisions made to the entry in the Cancelled Book.
James Meade is significant as he could be the other witness to my 4th great grandparents' wedding in 1826 and the sponsor for my 3rd great grandmother Margaret's baptism in 1844. Living next door to both William Meade and Arthur O'Keeffe could certainly imply a familial relationship to one or both of them.
Arthur O'Keeffe is occupying residence 8 in Ballyvoddy owned by J. J. L. McQuay (could be G.J.L. McQuay). The tenement description is recorded as "Caretakers hos. + land." Its acreage entails 94 acres, 1 rood, and 12 perches valued at 65 pounds 5 shillings. The house is valued at only 15 shillings. In 1867 a revision in the Cancelled Books updated this to be recorded as residence numbers 8 and 9, adding 1 acre, 14 perches to the property valued at 1 pound with a house on it valued at 10 shillings bringing the total of both properties to 67 pounds 10 shillings. There was an observation jotted down in the right hand column in 1867, but my photo of the image makes it indistinguishable; likely not too important but probably describing the addition of residence 9 to the valuation.
Arthur O'Keeffe is the most significant character because he would be an excellent candidate for the man accused of murdering the Franks family in 1823 with a mob of agrarian rioters. It's important to note the existence of this Arthur between the years 1864/5 and 1867, as the Arthur O'Keeffe who would have been Terence's father (and my 5th great grandfather) had died by September 1848 when the Bowen rent rolls list the occupiers of Lismonihis as the "legal reps. of Arthur O'Keeffe." Because Terence was also already living on that land and paying tithes in 1831, it's even likely my 5th great grandfather Arthur had died before that earlier year. So this Arthur O'Keeffe in Ballyvoddy can not be my 5th great grandfather, but another Arthur O'Keeffe. He also would not be my 3rd great granduncle Arthur Keeffe, who was living in the United States in the 1860s.
Because this Arthur was living in such close proximity to the Meades in Ballyvoddy, he was likely the same Arthur O'Keeffe who owned the Ballyvoddy property that Nicholas Meade was occupying on Griffith's Valuation on Shanbally Road. Because that land is closer to the area of Rockmills, I'd venture this Arthur is an even stronger candidate for being the Franks family murderer than my 5th great grandfather Arthur (of course, a relationship could exist between the two Arthurs as well, and likely does). Looking further at the witnesses called in the trial to testify in regards to Arthur's character may help tease apart these two Arthur's identities.
Danl. Keeffe is occupying residence 10 in Ballyvoddy owned by Arthur O'Keeffe. This property included house and land measuring 1 acre and 14 perches. The land was valued at 1 pound and the house at 10 shillings. In 1867, this record was completely crossed out and a note in the observations column says to "See 8 & 9." This leads us to realize that the increase of Arthur O'Keeffe's occupied residences at numbers 8 & 9 exactly matches the acreage and valuation crossed off of residence 10. Residence 10 is now known as number 9 rather.
This indicates Daniel Keeffe, whomever he may be, likely either passed away or moved away by 1867. Arthur O'Keeffe (likely of some relation to Daniel), though now occupying his land, must have sold it to his lessor, J. J. L. McQuay. (I learn further on in this blog that Arthur and Daniel were borthers. Daniel was present at Arthur's death, so it's more than likely Daniel remained living on the same property but was no longer recorded as the main occupier; instead, Arthur assumed that role).
Because of the above switcheroo, the residence formerly numbered 9, occupied by John Wallace, and leased out by Ellen O'Keeffe, has now been renumbered as residence 10. That parcel contained a house, office, and land. It measured 27 acres, 1 rood, and 37 perches. The land was valued at 20 pounds and 15 shillings. The buildings were valued at 15 shillings.
To see three Keeffes living in close proximity to one another: Arthur O'Keeffe, Daniel Keeffe, and Ellen Keeffe, it's a good idea to consider possible relationships. These three could be siblings or cousins or possibly aunts/uncles. Because Ellen was listed as a landowner, not just an occupier, and because it encompassed a pretty substantial estate of 27 acres, it could be possible she inherited this land as a widow. She may be a mother or aunt to Arthur and Daniel. Church records could help in determining these relationships.
Ellen Meade lived next door to Daniel Keeffe, occupying residence number 11 of Ballyvoddy. This house and land was leased by James Kearney. It was only 3 acres, 2 roods, and 30 perches. The land was valued at 2 pounds and 5 shillings. The building was valued at 5 shillings. In 1867, "William" was written to the far left of this record in lighter black ink, and then in 1869 in blue ink, Ellen's first name was crossed off and William was written in. It's fair to say Ellen may have moved away or died by around 1867 or as late as 1869.
Continuing on to the townland of Ballyenehan North, there are occupiers Thomas O'Keeffe, Daniel O'Keeffe, and Jeremiah O'Keeffe.
There are occupiers with the surname Bourke in both Aghacross and Newgrove (both in the electoral division of Derryvillane). These folks will be interesting to track because the man tried alongside Arthur O'Keeffe for the murder of the Franks family in 1823 was Thomas Bourke. Finding his family and allegiances may give way for more info on Arthur's.
Then in Ballindangan, at residence 14, a woman named Mary is leasing from Thomas O'Brien. Revisions in the 1870s indicate her surname was formerly something that resembled Rose, but she must have remarried, as O'Keeffe was written in as her new surname. Also, Thomas O'Brien had died. His legal representatives initially took ownership of the property, then Eliza O'Brien did (likely his widow), and then finally in 1874, John Wall owned the property that Mary O'Keeffe was occupying. The National School was on adjacent land. The revisions in these books can be quite the goldmine in seeing land transfer ownership over time.
Further down this page, an Arthur Keeffe had been occupying a house and garden belonging to James O'Brien at residence number 15c. In 1874, he was crossed off and replaced by occupant Mary Carey.
Next door at 15e (later designated 15d), Denis Keeffe was occupying a house, office, and forge belonging to the same James O'Brien.
Also in Ballydeloughy, Thomas O'Keeffe was an occupier of residence number 10, owned by the Earl of Kingston (and later in 1872 by the Countess after his passing). The Earl was said to be fairly strict in collecting tithes on his property, so I've read.
In the townland of Castleterry, a Thomas Burke is found residing at 5b owned by Denis Hayes (and later Denis' representatives in 1873). This could also be a candidate for the man who stood trial alongside Arthur Keeffe in the murder of the Franks.
In Ballyenehan South, civil parish of Derryvillane, Jeremiah Keeffe occupied residence number 1 owned by John Hyde. This was only land being rented with no house or offices set upon it, meaning Jeremiah must have been living elsewhere and only farming here. A lot of Hennessys, Caseys, Connors, and Quinlans occupied the remainder of this townland.
In Ballynahalisk, which was another village of Rockmills, Michael Meade occupied residence number 10, only about 16 perches with a house and land, owned by representatives of Thomas B. Leader. The property was on a part of Main Street. There was both a Carey and a Magner living a few doors down. These were names that appeared during the Franks murder trial; Carey being a man who may have hid Arthur Keeffe's dog on his farm while the Franks' murderer was on the loose and being hunted. Tracking where known associates of the trail were living could help determine which Arthur Keeffe stood trial.
In the Cancelled Books of Ballyvoddy starting in 1873, there is an observation listed:
"1873 James Kearney a Lunatic In fee"
He still remains the large landowner of the area, but we can extrapolate he is likely in his later years now and potentially senile. Nicholas Meade is still residing in residence number 1, which includes a house and yard. Its value has dropped to 15 shillings. Also, R.C.D. Oliver is still occupying James Kearney's forge and lands. Patrick Meade, William Meade, and James Meade are all still farming or living on Kearney's Ballyvoddy properties, too. Next to James' property an 1875 note says "No changes can be made here -- Travels 16 miles to retain(?) it". Arthur O'Keeffe is also still listed in Ballyvoddy on J.J.L. McQuay's property.
From there, I continued looking into the future of the Derryvillane electoral divisions up into the late 1870s and 1880s. The further I moved away from the years of Griffith's Valuation and into the present day, the more changes became apparent to landholdings in the areas and I began to recognize the names less and less. Some notes did get more interesting in the books though, like this one that mentioned John Burke was dead by 1879 and had lived to be 100 years old:
If that had been my direct ancestor, I would have been very glad to see that. What a gift.
In 1877 in Ballyvoddy, James Meade was crossed off of residence number 7 between William Meade at number 6 and Arthur O'Keeffe at numbers 8 and 9. "Cathrn" was written above his name, which can be a signal that James likely died this year and his widow inherited the property. Then, in 1885, Catherine is crossed off and Patrick has replaced her. Typically, I'd guess this is their son Patrick, but I'm somewhat inclined to think this may be the Patrick still residing down the street at number 2A and 2B (who may be a sibling to James).
Into the 1880s and 1890s, the handwriting in the books significantly changes to a more flourished print.
Note the crossing out and replacement of an O'Keeffe above in Ballyenahan North. This same swap continued on the following page 6 as well.
A notable change came in 1895 to the gate lodge of Rockmills in Ballynahalisk.
At the bottom of the page, residence number 4 on Mill Street shows the current occupant as Catherine Meade. Former occupants crossed out most recently were William Meade, James Meade, and originally Rep. R. C. D. Oliver. The immediate lessor is John Leader, but formerly had been other Oliver and Leader family members. The property was only 33 perches with only vacant lots surrounding it, really giving you a picture of how Mill Street may no longer be considered a thriving or bustling area. Some of the neighborhood entries were only listed as vacant ruins.
Then by 1909 another revision has the gate lodge crossed out altogether, only leaving a garden, with a note that it's roofless. Catherine Meade has been crossed out as the occupier with Denis Grady penned in and Charles Deane Oliver as immediate lessor. This is likely the first time this property has completely fallen out of the Meade family's occupation.
By skipping ahead to the Cancelled Books of the 1900s, we spy several cross outs of Meades and Arthur O'Keeffe. Again, this can help indicate when a homeowner has either died or moved away. You can then input their name in Ireland's civil registration death search database to see if you can't locate their exact record of death. For most of these men, it appeared they were crossed out just a couple years prior to their deaths, so perhaps they willingly transferred occupancy of their homes to kin or moved off their own land and into children's homes for caretaking.
William Meade of Ballyvoddy died at the age of 72 years on 15 June 1899. His wife Mary was present at his death.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1899/05795/4639324.pdf
Patrick Meade of Ballyvoddy died as a widower at the age of 74 of acute bronchitis on 19 May 1906. Norah Roche of unknown relation was present at his death.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1906/05560/4560473.pdf
Arthur O'Keeffe of Ballyanihan died a bachelor at the age of 88 years old on the 13th of July 1905. His brother Daniel O'Keeffe was present.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1905/05584/4568911.pdf
In 1912 there was another Arthur O'Keeffe living in Carrigdownane Upper occupying residence number 1 from the lessor Emily Aldworth (who inherited the St. Leger Aldworth estates). And another Arthur O'Keeffe living in Castleterry at residence number 7 leased by Mitchelstown No 1 Rural District Council. It's hard to say whether this might be the same Arthur.
Finally, as I was really tiring of searching these random Meades and Keeffes, the Valuation Office staff approached me and let me know they figured out the mystery of Skahabeg North! It was logged under electoral division Blackrock Ward in the County of Cork.
I was definitely ready to hunt for something different! The spelling for Skahabeg North and Skahabeg South varied over the years, which is probably why it got lost in the shuffle. In the Cancelled Book, the index for the Parish of St. Nicholas has each listed as Skanabeg North and South. Also, have you ever heard of "Spital Lands"? I found that to be an interestingly named area.
On page 107 of book 4 of the cancelled books for this area, I quickly found the entries that interested me in Skahabeg South. Farming at number 3a were William & Patrick Keeffe on a plot of land with the immediate lessor being Rev. Edwd. H. Newenham. It was just over an acre of land valued at 4 pounds and 15 shillings. They were also found at residence number 5 on the following page with another acre+ of land. The lessor on that one being Robert Baily. They were crossed off the books in 1861.
Right after their first entry at number 3b was Ellen Keeffe crossed off a piece of land under the same lessor's name. Hers was only 2 roods and 20 perches valued at 1 pound and 15 shillings. Charles McCarthy was written in above her crossed name in blue ink.
In the Spital Lands, there was also a Keeffe member crossed out. It appeared to be an Elvia Keeffe replaced by Michael Kinneally from a small house and garden. This happened in blue ink. And at number 12 in the Spital Lands occupants James and John Keeffe looked over 4 acres of lands and orchards for lessor Terence Fitten. At the end of the Spital Lands enumerations, it notes the blue ink revisions occurred in 1857 and 1858. This was not too long after Griffith's Valuation. And they continued to remain there throughout several more Cancelled Books. I didn't bother to keep looking for the year they vacated, as I have my doubts they are even of relation to me.
Valuation Office, Dublin, Ireland
Honestly, my arms were insanely tired from snapping all the photos of my screen by this point. So it was finally time to call it a day at the VO!
I walked west back in the direction to catch the Luas tram, but first decided to stop by the patisserie I had visited earlier on in the week to grab some coffee. Then it was back to the hotel!
I was greeted by this notice in the lobby. I wasn't on the Rick Steves tour myself, but it was still interesting to see how another tour group was handling the recent spike in European COVID cases. Considering those of us in America had just been told we could throw out our proof of vaccination cards, this seemed an odd choice of requirement. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely believed in boosting our vaccinations for travel, but it was just the timing and misconstrued message that shook me on this. Anyway, it didn't affect me in any case!
So, knowing that I had half a day still open, can you guess where I was off to next? To be honest, I was hoping to make a return to the National Archives, since we had such little time there on Tuesday. But I knew my time would not be well spent having to travel over to that building and putting in request orders with the staff that I'd have to wait for.
National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
So, it was a return trip to the National Library of Ireland! This time, I had placed another order in the Manuscripts Room to be delivered there by 2pm on Friday. Because it was only around 1pm, I had some time to kill, so I first approached the front desk to inquire about a missing manuscript file within the NLI's catalog. The online catalogue kept showing me an item called The Meade Papers, as if there was a manuscript file available for a Meade family. However, the link was never clickable and I could not find what was included in the fond. There was no way to place an order for it. When I inquired, the staff was able to figure out it was part of an "unsorted collection" of papers. And unfortunately, this meant it's not accessible to the general public until the library is able to officially sort through each piece and file it. Bummer! Well, I still had further time, so I jumped on their computers to look through more newspapers under their Irish newspapers subscription.
I mostly browsed more court transcripts from the 1823 Franks family murder case. But I also searched for Meades as well. I got a few hits, and then my manuscript was delivered to the room.
I finished going through the Bowen estate papers. I found a receipt from Henry Cole Bowen, Esqr. to Jon. Connor paying him 17 shillings in 1771 to perform a resurvey of the tenants' lands of Fanihy, as they had been subdivided that year between Mr. Fitzmaurice's, Michl. Keef's, Hanlan, the Smiths, and the Glebe. The land totaled 67 acres, 2 roods, and 24 perches at 3 pounds per acre. This was a good find, as this was the same exact land that had been surveyed on the 1754 map I had discovered on day one in Dublin! Stay tuned for a future blog dedicated to that map, as I've obtained permission from the NLI to publish it here. I'll do a deep dive on everything surrounding that survey.
I also found a typewritten telegram from Mr. Henry Upton to Mr. Bowen from 14 May 1917 in County Westmeath. It was a reply to Bowen that appeared to imply Bowen was searching for a survey map of Farahy. Mr. Upton wrote:
"...it might be worthwhile your looking up the Parish Map of the parish of Pharihy, in the Down Survey in the Record Office, part of it still exists, the other part being burnt in the fire which did such enormous damage to our Records. There is much more detail in the parish maps than the baronial, so I understand..."
It's interesting to hear of a fire destroying some records. Also, why this letter would be coming from County Westmeath, I'm unsure. Mr. Upton also jokes about wanting to know the meaning of "Ballinsmisty." He asks Bowen to inform him of its meaning if he hears from Rev Professor Power. Now, I'm interested, too!
It does seem as though Bowen was doing some studying on the history of Bowen's Court and the lands surrounding. Henry Upton also telegrammed him the following:
"After writing you the enclosed I was looking up the Fiants of Elizabeth and found the following.
Lease to Edm fitz John oge Gibbon fitz Geralds gent, of amongst others ---44s 5d, out of Rich Cushin's lands in Farrehie, 40s out of the Viscount of Fermoie's lands in Garrandorollan, 17s 9d, out of Rich Cushens lands in Mown-tecroban, Co Cork. 14 July 1576.
These are undoubtedly the two lands mentioned in the grant in the Act of Settlement.
Grant to Edmund Fitzgibbon esq called the White Knight, --- 44s 6d ster, out of the castle of Farrehie in the tenure of Richard Cusshen, 40s ster of Garrandrolane in tenure of viscount Iarmoye 17s 9 ster out of Mountecrobbin in the tenure of Richard Cusshen, co Cork. 15 Dec 1590.
Same lands again."
And that became the very last record I discovered on my Dublin genealogy research trip! Not bad! We all met up in the lobby at 5pm to walk to our group dinner at Darwin's Restaurant. It was themed after, you guessed it, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, so there were even gorilla statues around our table. I found this a fitting environment, as we were all there to research the evolution of our ancestor's lives.
Donna Moughty at Darwin's Restaurant, Dublin, Ireland, October 2023
Dinner was spectacular, and I got a chance to try a bunch of different local dipping sauces for bread as my appetizer. Then, after traipsing back to the hotel, we all wished each other goodbyes in the lobby.
Some of us were checking out and headed up to Belfast the next day to join Donna on the second leg of her retirement research trip, some were staying a few more days in Dublin, and some (like myself) were flying back home! Darn it.
While this wrapped up the focus of my trip, I've still got one blog in the hopper surrounding departure day. Until next time!
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