O’Donnells in Ballypatrick Ballypatrick is in Templetenny Civil parish but was in Kilcash in the 1901/1911 censuses. It is immediately adjacent to Kilcash townland, and often records for a family interchange between Kilcash and Kilpatrick even living in the same house. 1 Edmond O’Donnell born 1809 In the Griffiths evaluation, Edmond O’Donnell held 46 acres.1 He died 2nd September, 1884, aged 75, still in Ballypatrick.2 This means he was born 1809. Kate O’Donnell, granddaughter was present at death. His wife died before him, as he was a widow. Edmond O’Donnell was only shown in the Griffiths Field books (1852). I did not find a house books entry. The Tithes list do not hold any O’Donnells/Daniels for Ballypatrick. I believe Edmond moved in to Ballypatrick between 1830 and 1846. Mentions of extensive family in the records show he came from an established family from another townland. The 1901 Census mentions that a cousin, Ellen Tobin, was visiting from Ballylooby, so this is a possible origin of Edmond. He could also be from the Ballyclrahan line (see below). Regarding Edmond’s immediate family, we know the following: • He married, as he was a widow at death. • He had at least one son, as his granddaughter Kate O’Donnell was present at his death. There was only one O’Donnell household in Ballypatrick in the 1850s Griffiths evaluation (held by Edmond) and only one O’Donnell (John) in Ballypatrick in both the 1889 Basset’s Directory, and in the 1901 Census. Regarding the 1889 entry, Edmond had died 5 years before, so it seems his son John took over the house. The household in 1901 was most likely the children of Edmond: Residents of a house 1 in Ballypatrick (Kilcash, Tipperary)3 • O'Donnell, John, 52, Head of Family • O'Donnell, Mary Anne, 48, Sister • O'Donnell, Margaret, 42, Sister • Tobin, Ellen A, 48, Cousin All registered as not married. This shows that Edmond had at least three children, all of whom remained unmarried Mary died on the 13th July, 1902, aged 53 (recorded as Mary Anne).4 She was specified as a spinster, which matches the census, and 53 years old, half-way between the 1901 census age, and her baptism record. He brother John O’Donnell was present at death. By the 1911 Census, only John is in the house. Margaret either died or moved elsewhere. Residents of a house 21 in Ballypatrick (Kilcash, Tipperary)5 • ODonnell, John, 63, Head of Family • Gibbs, Joseph, 17, Servant 1 http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tipperary/Kilcash/Ballypatrick/1712082/ 2 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1887/06202/4774205.pdf 3 http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tipperary/Kilcash/Ballypatrick/1712082/ 4 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1902/05684/4602070.pdf 5 http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tipperary/Kilcash/Ballypatrick/908803/ There is a death record for a John O’Donnell of Ballypatrick, died 27th July, 1927.6 His age was given as 87, which puts him born 1840. He was recorded as a bachelor, which matches his single status in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. Note also that John’s cousin Edmond O’Donnell was present at death. This implies that Edmond born 1807 had a brother who had a son Edmond. As regards Edmond’s marriage and the baptisms of his children, there are two possibilities: POSSIBILITY 1 From baptism records, Edmond O’Donnell married Catherine Hayes c.1838 (from the baptisms below, there are no church records for Kilsheelan&Kilcash prior to 1840). Note that there was one household of Hayes in Ballypatrick in the 1846 House books, headed by John Hayes with a very large house (55x22x16). However, no O’Donnells were present at that time (nor in the earlier Tithe books). However, in the 1852 Field books, there is no entry for Hayes, but there is now an entry for Edmond O’Donnell, with 46 acres. I also note that one version of the house books shows the Hayes house as 31a (the most recent number, earlier ones crossed out) and in the later field books O’Donnell had lot 31. In general, “a”, “b”, etc. were used for the houses in a lot. And in the 1901 census, the O’Donnells occupied the biggest house in Ballypatrick, and no Hayes were present. It seems Edmond married into the farm owned by the Hayes, taking over from John Hayes, who I assume to be Catherine’s father. Edmond and Catherine had several children (all baptised in Kilsheelan parish, which included Ballypatrick at that point): • John, baptised 25 Jul 1840.7 • Mary, baptised 1 Nov 1844.8 Sponsor: Anastasia O’Donnell. • Catherine, baptised 27 Jul 1848.9 Sponsor: Margaret O’Donnell. • Hellen, baptised 15 Feb 1852.10 Sponsors: Joseph O’Donnell and Joanna O’Donnell. Married by a Father M. O’Donnell. • Margaret, baptised 1 Oct 1854.11 Sponsors: James O’Donnell and Bridget O’Donnell. Married by a Father M. O’Donnell. Three of these children are the same as in the house in the 1901 census, in the correct order of age, although the birth years differ from those given in the census.: • John supposedly born 1849 (baptised 1840) • Mary, born 1853 (baptised 1844) • Margaret born 1859 (baptised 1854) However, people often understated their age in the census, so this is possible. The baptism of John matches the age given in the death of John, but not his age in the census, which supports the above proposal. Given he was named as living in Ballypatrick, that is strong evidence. The sponsors here give evidence as to where this Edmond came from. Godparents are most commonly brothers, sisters, spouses of brothers and sisters, or parents. We need to find a family 6 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deathsreturns/deaths1927/04970/4353466.pdf 7 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/4768012 8 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/6106530 9 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/6680780 10 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/6106685 11 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/6443993 with brothers Edmond, Joseph, James, and sisters or sisters-in-law: Anastasia, Margaret, Joanna and Bridget, all born 1810-1820 or so. One possibility is Edmond born 1796, son of Andrew O’Donnell of the Ballyclerahan line. Edmond had brother Joseph, and sisters Margaret and Bridget, and cousins Anastasia and Johanna, all of similar age. Only James is missing. What happened to Catherine and Hellen is not clear, but they probably married and moved elsewhere. One marriage possibility for Catherine, assumes she moved to Clerehan at some point (which elsewhere I hypothesised Edmond came from): • Catherine O’Donnell resident in Clerahan, daughter of Edmond O’Donnell, married Michael Broderick on the 27th April, 1897.12 One support for this is that one of the witnesses was Ellen O’Donnell (Ellen=Hellen), potentially the sister of Catherine mentioned above. However, this has her marrying at 49. NOTE: Guys directory of Munster lists a Patrick O’Donnell in Ballypatrick. Note however it also lists Vincent and Thomas, who are in Kilcash. POSSIBILITY 2 A second possibility for the marriage/children of Edmond: an Edmond Daniel married a Joanna Sweetman on the 3rd August, 1845.13 This was in Gambonsfield and Kilcash Parish. They had two children: • Mary, baptised 5th November, 1848.14 • John, baptised 17th March, 1850.15 (name recorded as Troutman on FindmyPast, but it is Sweetman in the original). Both of these names match the residence of the O’Donnell house in the 1901 census. However, the order of birth is different. Johns birthyear here is consistent with the age in the 1901 census (but not with his death record), but Mary’s is off by 2 years. I could not find a birth for Margaret. No residence is given on the record, just the parish, which covers all of Kilsheelan as well as Kilcash and Ballypatrick. Of the two possibilities, I find the first (with Catherine Hayes) more convincing. Three of the children are accounted for, and in the correct order of age (although census ages are off, but that is common). Also, the age for John at death matches the baptism year. Also, the Hayes house seems to have been taken over by Edmond O’Donnell. 2 Loose ends We are left with some loose ends: • No convincing marriage or death records for Catherine and Hellen. • Edmond’s death record notes a granddaughter Kate O’Donnell present at death. This would imply that either: o Edmond had a son who married and had a daughter Catherine. However, I have not seen any baptism or birth record for another son in this family. Note however that the parish registry for Kilsheelan only starts 1840. A son may have been born before this. Alternatively, the son may have been born after 12 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1897/10456/5807906.pdf 13 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/MAR/0984561/2 14 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/6443901 15 https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE/PRS/BAP/4408558 John, but the baptism could have been mis-transcribed and thus not found via search in FindMyPast. o One of Edmond’s daughters (Hellen or Catherine) married an O’Donnell and had a daughter Catherine. o Edmond had a daughter who had a daughter Catherine out of wedlock.