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THE BOURKE(S) FAJVIILIES OF IRELAND THE BOURNE(S) FAMILIES of IRELAND by Mary, A. Strange 0oPYRIOH'f' 0 1070 'rrt.F. $TRAM.,._n C ORPORATlON PRINrf.,[) IN UNITF.D STATES OF AMl3RICA The genealogical material contained in this book was collected by the author and ELIZABETH BACON FITZGERALD 'Awus:-Jk~azuwand •indii2J 1ioo nttdlcls ~ oii, amf mfuse- <i Sa#howiod6k~~cf t&thiu4 ands~saks. ~:,..Ona: nmdh, ~ lhe' eo~, C! g<UW ~!ivo~~~ otlwtail~. Granted 15 October 1901 by Sir Arthur E. Vicars, Ulster King of Arms, to George Smith Bournes of the Rossport family. Illustration prepared by the Genealogical Office, Dublin Castle, Dublin. Foreword :Many family histories or genealogies are finally ,vritten because a family legend, passed down through the years from one generation to another, eventually caught and held some­ one's interest. Our family legend, especially as it pertained to Hannah Maria Bournes (nee Maxwell), so captured the in­ terest of Elizabeth B. Fitzgerald and the author that we were inspired to begin a further search for the records of our great grandmother and her family. Fortunately, many of these records were found and, equally important, we began to see that our legend was largely based on fact. The information collected by Elizabeth B. Fitzgerald on the background of our Irish kin was, of course, molded and shaped by different generations as they re-told the story. Certain sec­ tions were embellished, others were unfortunately forgotten, but the largest portion of the legend was amazingly accurate. No actual records were known to have been kept by our family during their years in Ireland, or, if they were, none has sur­ vived. A Bible belonging to Hannah Maria's youngest daugh­ ter was our only written evidence and it is concerned primarily with the vital statistics of our parents and grandparents generations. The legend told by Ellen Bournes, second oldest daughter of Hannah Maria, was the most important source of informa­ tion that we had. Its value became more apparent as we searched the repositories in Ireland and in this country. Since IX this legend formed the basis of our search, we felt it might be of interest to paraphrase the story for others to see. The earliest members of the Bournes family to come to Ireland were four brothers who were said to have received grants of land for faithful service during the Cromwellian period. The names of these brothers are not known but their lands, or estates, were inherited by descendants. One estate was at Castleconnor, Co. Sligo and the owner's name was thought to be either James or Robert Bournes. Another estate was that of Matthew Bournes of Ballinakill,1 he was a physi­ cian and had at least two daughters, Eleanor and Jane. Our grandmother was Cecelia Bournes who married Malachi Maxwell, an Episcopal clergyman. The Bournes came from the area of Ireland that is on the northwestern coast. 2 Here they had a leasehold of salmon fisheries until 1848 when the lease expired. The daughter of Reverend Maxwell and his wife, Cecelia Bournes, was Hannah Maria Maxwell, born in Ballina 1809. The Reverend died soon after her birth and the widow and only child went to live with his brother, a bachelor and a clergyman also. Hannah Maria J\faxwell married her cousin, William Bournes, about 1830 or 1833. They met while he was a student at Trinity College in Dublin and following their marriage returned to the leasehold to live. William Bournes was the son of John and Ellen Bournes and one of nine children. The other children's names were John, Thomas, Matthew, Mar­ garet, Jane, Alicia, Eliza and Mary Anne. One of William Bournes' brothers, John Bournes, owned an estate at Castlebar and was a solicitor. This same brother had a son who practiced law in Dublin. Another brother was a doctor and the three brothers were joint heirs to the Rosserieke estate. 3 Mary Anne married Captain Green who became head of the Rosserieke 1 There are several "Ballinakills" in Ireland and as no county was given by Ellen Bournes, we have been unable to verify this. It is interesting that there is a Ballinakill in Queen's Co. See the Bourne family of Terenure. 2 We assume that Ellen is referring to her grandmother's family. 3 Rosserieke is the ancient spelling for Rosserk, a townland near Ballina, Co. Mayo. X estate but later sold his interest to Colonel Arthur Gore. The names of Green, Rutledge, Foster and Lloyd are all family names. 4 As our search progressed we discovered that Ireland had been well populated with Bournes families in all four prov­ inces. Although the Bournes of Connaught were of greatest interest to us, we decided to include in this book, the other families whose records we were gradually collecting in our search. While it is possible to show that there may be some relationship between the various Bournes families of Con­ naught and elsewhere, it is disappointing not to be able to prove the connection. Numerous records, many from pre­ viously unpublished sources, will be found in the Appendix. Some of these records we have been unable to fit into the matrix of our account of the several families, but it is our hope that they may assist others. We had also hoped to find the origin of the Connaught Bournes family. Certain evidence which is given in the chapter devoted to the history of Ireland and the history of the barony of Erris, leads one to believe that they came from England. Other evidence indicates they may have originated in Scotland (see the Rossport Bournes family). Still further evidence indicates that there were Bournes among the Huguenots who sought refuge in Ireland from religious persecution. In this connection, it is interesting to note that there was a Huguenot settlement at Killala, Co. Mayo in the late eighteenth century. It should be mentioned that there are various spellings of this name in the official and unofficial records. The original name was Bourne, but clerical errors and the phonetic spelling of the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries created many variants. To name a few, we found Born, Bourn, Bourns, Bournes, Boarnes, Bowens, Burns and occasionally Byrne. We have attempted to use caution with these variants 4 Green, Rutledge and Lloyd were proven subsequently to be "family names"; Foster was not. The name Fawcett (Faussett), however, was found among the many Bournes family records. Is it not likely that Foster and Fawcett were confused in the re-telling of the family legend? XI and did not assume we had a "Bourne" unless we found sufficient evidence or proof. Individual families adopted the spelling that they preferred, e.g. the Rossport family adhered to Bournes, Dublin and Cork families retained the original spelling of Bourne, while other groups wavered between Bourn, Bourns and Bournes. Today many descendants of the Bourne families in Ireland and the United States have chosen Burns as their preferred spelling. In order to make the genealogy and history of the family simpler for the reader, the name in this text will be spelled as Bournes, 5 unless actual records are cited or quoted. In doing this we apologize to those who have adopted one of the other spellings. In the interest of clarity, we have also endeavored to achieve a comfortable balance between the phraseology used in Irish and American genealogies. The chapters, included in Parts One and Three, are devoted to the Bourne(s) families of western Ireland, as well as those who resided elsewhere in this country. The families are classified according to the geo­ graphical areas, or lands, on which they lived and the in­ dividual pedigrees begin with the first known generation, designated by a Roman Numeral I. A chart pedigree, found in the Appendix, shows the established relationships between the Connaught Bournes families, as well as the relationships based solely on conjecture. Vital statistics are given, as found, even though in some cases the results may be rather startling. One example is that of our own great grandmother, Hannah Maria Bournes, nee Maxwell, who left the British Isles at 44 years of age. Accord­ ing to the ship's manifest, she was 40 years old but by the time she was located in an American census enumeration seven years later, she was recorded as being only 35 ! She had, there­ fore, become progressively "younger" after sailing. Our concern with the story of Hannah Maria and her seven 5 With the exception of the Cork and Dublin Bourne families. XII daughters (see Part Two) has given the distaff side of this par­ ticular family a greater prominence than is usually found in genealogies. For this, we offer no apology. After all, Hannah Maria was the one who stimulated our interest in Irish genealogical research! In conclusion, we wish to say that although we regret that we have been unable to trace each family group to the present day, we have indeed tried. :Many descendants have been approached, and the material that was received is presented as sent to us. Others unfortunately, did not reply to letters seeking information. Therefore, incomplete as this family history is, we hope it will be enjoyed by the many descendants of the Bourne(s) of Ireland, as well as other readers. Elizabeth B. Fitzgerald Mary A. Strange XIII Table of Contents Foreword . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1x Acknowledgements.................................................................. xvn Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations .................................. xxi Part One-The Bournes Family I Historical Background . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 II Erris . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11 III Castleconnor ...................................................... 17 IV Rossport .............................................................. 31 V Stonefield............................................................ 61 VI Carrowteige and Portacloy .

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