I do indeed realize that quite some time has passed since my last blog edition! In fact, in my last blog I mentioned the map of central County Wexford that I was working on. That partially finished map is still laying on my office floor where I placed it after writing my last blog. I am delinquent in my "blogging" because I was forced to put aside my favorite pursuit (genealogy) in order to complete some overdo deferred maintenance on my house. I needed to paint the exterior and since I am a "retired" person I decided to do it myself. So preparing to paint, preparation of the surface, a primer coat and a final coat and trim work became rather time consuming over the past couple of months. Just prior to my painting project, we traveled to the Salt Lake City area to visit our son and family and help some friends of our’s with a project. While there, I was only able to squeeze in about six hours at the Family History Library where I had a few follow-up look-ups to do and I sampled some notaire records on microfilm that I believe will prove fruitful in the future. But since then, I haven’t done much genealogy other than responding to e-mails, paid research requests and sale of some publications. But now the house is done and I am ready to get back at it!
The theme of this blog is the Irish Tithe Applotment Books. Most of us have learned that the "Frampton Irish" came to Quebec so early, that there are few sources available in Ireland in the time period prior to their emigration that can locate them there. In the last blog I discussed how a "preponderance of evidence" of an emigrant’s Irish origins can be developed through link analysis. But sometimes there are so few records and information that we might have to settle just for "clues" about a particular location in Ireland. I read an article recently that was making reference to the surname "Doran" in the statement, "a name which suggests a Wexford origin." This statement attracted my attention as my Great Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Doran was indeed from Wexford as was her brother Michael Doran. So sometimes a surname which "suggests" a certain Irish location can focus your attention in the right direction. One of the great Irish sources for finding where certain surnames were predominant is "The Ireland Householders Index." This essentially in a "census substitute" that can locate families of a certain surname in a certain Irish County, civil parish and townland. This source is an index of surnames that were found in the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Primary Valuation Lists. These were tax records that at a minimum listed the name of heads of households living in specific locations. The Applotment Books were made between 1823 to 1838 and Griffith’s Valuation Lists were done between 1847 and 1864. Unfortunately, Griffith’s Valuation Lists were done quite some time after most of the Frampton Irish were in Quebec so its uses are limited to locating the surnames of those who stayed in Ireland only. However, some of the Tithe Applotment Books were done at a time that was prior to the emigration of many of the Frampton Irish. Sometimes the given name and surname found on these lists match exactly those found among the Frampton Irish. But this is not the case in all parishes as many lists are dated after some of the Frampton Irish had left Ireland. Nevertheless, these sources can be used to determine if "a name suggests a certain Irish origin." Then other sources such as surname dictionaries and specific county genealogy guides can be used to support this "suggestion."
In this blog, I will examine three Irish locations to see what "suggestions" can be made. I will examine County Wexford, County Tipperary, and the "North of Ireland." I have selected County Wexford as it is specifically mentioned in the "History of Frampton" published in L’Action Sociale by Fr. Theodore A. Gagnon as the origin of the early settlers. Also more of the Frampton Irish came from County Wexford (and neighboring counties) than any other Irish county. I have selected County Tipperary because a Tipperary Catholic parish called Ballyporeen was used by the Henderson brothers to name one of their "concessions," as mentioned by Fr. Jules Kirouac in Histoire de la Paroisse de Saint Malachie. Then I have selected the "North of Ireland" as place names there were also mentioned by Kirouac and many of the early and later emigrants in the Frampton Irish Protestant community came from those locations.
In the last blog, my "map analysis" resulted in pinpointing the area around the parishes of Kilcormick, Ballyhuskard and Meelnagh (Oulart) in County Wexford as the origins of many of the Frampton Irish. Unfortunately, the Tithe Applotment Books for most of the parishes in this area were taken after many of the Frampton Irish left for Quebec. However, the Applotment Book for the Parish of Kilcormick was taken on September 24, 1825. I have a complete copy of this list. This list contains many of the surnames that can be found among the Frampton Irish. The specific persons I found that may be a match to the Frampton Irish were: Owen Kinshela (Kinsella), Widow Brennan (could have been the mother of Edward Brennan), James Murphy, John Murphy, John Fitzhenry (could have been father of Nicholas Fitzhenry), Thomas Murphy, James Barden, William Walsh, Michael Bryan (O"Brien), Widow Dempsey (could have been mother of Joseph Dempsey), James Kelly, Nicholas Lambert (could have been father of two Lambert wives), Nicholas Murphy, James Doyle, Moses Murphy, Patrick Carroll, Miles Doyle, Edward Whelan, Patrick Bulger, Lawrence Landrigan, Widow Keegan (could have been mother of John Keegan), Widow Redmond (could have been mother of Andrew and Hugh Redmond), Moses Breen, Widow Cullin (could have been mother of Edward Cullen), and John Walsh. The Applotment Book for the Parish of Killegney was taken on March 31, 1826. I have a partial copy of this list and confirmed that Frampton Irish James Furlong’s possible father Peter Furlong was on this list. I also have the book County Wexford, Genealogy & Family History which provides many of the predominant County Wexford surnames. So based upon the Applotment Book for the Parish of Kilcormick, the book County Wexford, Genealogy & Family History, and the knowledge I have about the surnames of the Frampton Irish and some of their Irish origins I can provide a list of which surnames are "a name which suggests a Wexford (or adjacent county) origin." These surnames are: Barden, Breen, Brennan, Bulger, Butler, Byrnes, Carroll, Carton, Colclough, Connors, Conroy, Cullen, Culleton, Dempsey, Devereux, Donahue, Doran, Duff, Erwin, Fitzgerald, Fitzhenry, Foley, Fortune, Furlong, Gillespie, Jordan, Kavanagh, Keegan, Kehoe, Kinsella (Kinsley), Lambert, Lawlor, Madden, Miller, Murphy, Neville, Nowlan, O’Connor, O’Grady, O’Neil, O’Toole, Quigley, Redmond, Reed, Roach, Scallen, Sinnott, West, and Whelan.
Ballyporeen is a Catholic parish located in the Civil Parish of Templetenny in County Tipperary. It is also a townland in that civil parish. The Applotment Book for the Parish of Templetenny was taken prior to the departure of many of the Frampton Irish. I have a partial copy of this list. The specific persons I found that may be a match to the Frampton Irish were: Thomas Hickey, Edmund Ryan, James Sheehy, John Sheehan, John Walsh, and John McGrath. So based upon the Applotment Book for the Parish of Templetenny and the knowledge I have about the surnames of the Frampton Irish and some of their Irish origins I can provide a list of which surnames are "a name which suggests a Tipperary origin." These surnames are: Dwyer, Healy, Hickey, Humphrey, McGrath, Meagher, Ryan, Shea, and Sheehan.
The "North of Ireland" is a phrase used by the Irish to describe the area that includes Ireland’s northernmost counties of Donegal, Londonderry, Antrim, Armagh, Down, etc. It is also often referred to as the Province of Ulster and much of it is part of Northern Ireland. Part of its unique history is that many of the surnames originated in Scotland as many Scots came to the "North of Ireland" during the plantation of Ulster in the 1600s. My own surname McLane (my Frampton Irish ancestor spelled it McLean) has its origins in County Argyll of Scotland, but my ancestor gave Ireland as his origins in all the Quebec census. The term "Scotch-Irish" or "Scots-Irish" has been used by some to describe this category of people. I have a book, The Book of Scots-Irish Family Names that can be used to help determine which Frampton Irish surnames may be from the "North of Ireland." So based upon this book and the knowledge I have about the surnames of the Frampton Irish and some of their Irish origins I can provide a list of which surnames are "a name which suggests a North of Ireland origin." These surnames are: Bartholomew, Beatty, Black, Boyce, Bradley, Connolly, Coyle, Cunningham, Doherty, Duncan, Falls, Foster, Hamilton, Harbisson, Haslet, Hurley, Lennox, Loughlin, Manes, McCaughry, McDonough, McLaughlin, McLean, McNeely, Morrow, Paisley, Ross, Rutherford, White, and Wilson.
I cannot guarantee that my "suggestions" will all be true. They certainly do not constitute a preponderance of evidence. They serve only to point to a target location for further research and the potential of the Tithe Applotment Books for locating your Frampton Irish ancestors. I have yet to find the origins of my Frampton Irish Great Great Grandfather James McLean’s origin. However, given that he arrived after 1831, and many of the other Frampton Irish arrivals after 1831 coming from the "North of Ireland" the clues all "suggest" that location. I have also found out that his neighbor in Ste. Marguerite, Hugh McDonough, was his cousin. So now I am working on two "North of Ireland" surnames. Using the Tithe Applotment Books can be somewhat time consuming. Also, they tend to just give the given name and surname of the head of household, so there isn’t enough information to make a positive match. But without using them to determine a target location, a lot of time can be wasted looking in the wrong locations. The LDS Family History Library has a complete set of the Tithe Applotment Books. They are sorted in the microfilms (starting with #256560) in alphabetical order according to the name of the civil parish. So if you have in mind screening through the microfilm in a particular Irish county, you will need a reference book that provides you all the names of the parishes in that county. Then unfortunately "bouncing around the alphabet" in that county will require quite a large number of films. That is why consulting the "The Ireland Householders Index" should bedone first as it is sorted according to County first and then civil parish and each parish has pages that show the frequency of the surnames. The www.familysearch.org website has research guides available for downloading that has far more information about these sources than I can provide here. I have given here what these sources have "suggested" to me about the origins of the surnames of the Frampton Irish.
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