I’m going to take a short break from my current project of chronicling family lines descending from Thomas Brooks (abt. 1745 – 1805) and wife Margaret (probably Beaumont/Beamon) of Frederick and Wythe Counties, Virginia, to talk about another project on which I’ve recently been working. It’s a genealogical project that involves sorting through old family photos, unidentified ones, and trying to use clues provided on those photos to identify the unknown persons in the photos.
Tithe Applotment listing for Edd Tobin,Deerpark townland, Rossinan civil parish, County Kilkenny, 1833
Or, Subtitled: In the Absence of Records Necessary to Prove Genealogical Connections, One Goes A-Fishing
In a previous posting, I explained my reasons for concluding that my ancestor Bridget Tobin, who was born in 1818 in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and who married Valentine Ryan, son of John Ryan and Margaret Oates, in Kilmacow parish on 20 January 1833, perhaps had a sister Catherine who married John Walsh in the same parish on 20 January 1833. The same posting notes that Daniel Tobin married Bridget Walsh in Kilmacow parish on 12 February 1832. My posting asks if it’s possible that Daniel Tobin is another sibling of Bridget Tobin Ryan. I also noted that Edmond Tobin married Mary Comerford in Templeorum parish on 23 July 1839, with the marriage record stating that the couple lived at Buckstown. That would place Daniel in the same area as Bridget, Catherine, and Daniel, and would point to the possibility that he could be another sibling of Bridget.
Engraving of Bessborough House, County Kilkenny, Ireland, from John Preston Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland , vol. 2 (London : Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1820), p. 273
Or, Subtitled: Papers of Landed Estates as Sources of Genealogical Information
In previous postings (here and here), I’ve told you that the earliest ancestor I’ve been able to prove in my southern County Kilkenny, Ireland, Ryan family is a John Ryan who appears to have been born prior to 1785, and who married Margaret, daughter of John Oates and Eleanor Thompson of Tybroughney/Tibberaghney, a townland in the civil parish of Fiddown in County Kilkenny. As the postings that I’ve just linked tell you, I first catch sight of John and Margaret Oates Ryan in the register of their Catholic parish, Templeorum, when their first child, a son named Valentine, was baptized in that parish on 6 May 1805.
Map of County Kilkenny from John Savage, Picturesque Ireland : A Literary and Artistic Delineation of the Natural Scenery, Remarkable Places, etc. (New York: T. Kelly, 1885), highlighting Mullinavat
Or, Subtitled: Interesting Connections Between 19th-Centutry Ryans, Costellos (and Tobins and Walshes) in Buckstown (Killahy Civil Parish, Inchacarran Townland), County Kilkenny, Ireland
In my previous posting, I shared how I have used early 19th-century Catholic parish records (which are often sparse) of baptisms, marriages, and deaths to tease out some new clues regarding possible relatives of my ancestor Bridget Tobin, who married Valentine Ryan, son of John Ryan and Margaret Oates of Templeorum Catholic parish, on 21 September 1836 in Kilmacow Catholic parish. As a map I included in the posting I have just linked shows, Templeorum parish is contiguous to Mullinavat Catholic parish, where Valentine and Bridget Tobin Ryan lived following their marriage. As that posting also states, Mullinavat parish was separated from Kilmacow parish in 1842; the map shows that Mullinavat and Kilmacow are adjoining Catholic parishes.
Record of the marriage of Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin, Kilmacow Catholic parish, County Kilkenny, Ireland, 21 September 1836, from Ossory diocesan transcript of parish records in a microfilm copy at the National Library of Ireland under the title Catholic Parish Registers (microfilm 05028/04)
Or, Subtitled: The Challenge of Teasing Genealogical Clues from Sparse Early 19th-Century Irish Catholic Records
I’ve told you that I have not been able to find information about the family of my 2nd-great-grandmother Bridget Ryan, who married Valentine Ryan in Kilmacow Catholic parish, County Kilkenny, Ireland, on 21 September 1836 with Edmond Hayden and Margaret Fitzgerald as witnesses. The marriage took place at Mullinavat, where Valentine and Bridget lived after marrying, and from which they and their children emigrated to America.
Watercolor painting of the ship James Nesmith by artist Duncan McFarlane (1818-1865), online at the invaluable website, from an auction held by Bourgeault-Horan Antiquarians in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in August 2008
Or, Subtitled: Things Are Seldom Quite as Simple as One Would Like in Genealogical Research, Are They?
Throwback Thursday they call it, right? This posting is a throwback to a series of posts I did in April 2018, which began with this posting entitled “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan.” The series that begins with the linked posting above (you can follow the whole series by clicking on the next posting at the bottom of the page) tracks the roots of Valentine Ryan (1811-1881) and wife Bridget Tobin (1818-1873) of southern County Kilkenny, Ireland. As the series explains, Valentine was the son of John Ryan and Margaret Oates of Templeorum Catholic parish — the family lived in Belline and Rogerstown townland in Fiddown civil parish, at a place in that townland called Logriach or Loughreagh, which is part of Piltown.[1] Margaret,the daughter of John Oates and Eleanor Thompson, was from nearby Tybroughney/Tibberaghny, also part of Piltown. Tybroughney/Tibberaghny is the townland bordering Belline and Rogerstown to the east.
Tombstone of Bridget Tobin Ryan, Orion Cemetery, Grant County, Arkansas. Inscription reads, “May her soul rest in Pais, Bridget Ryan, Died November 19, 1873, aged 55 years.” In the lower right corner is an inscription saying, “Eracted by V. Ryne,” with the name “J. Gill” carved beneath this.
Begats and Bequeathals 