James Nolan

All the records I have researched pertain to the Parish of Templemichael / Ballymacormick (Longford?). These were gleaned from the Irish Genealogy website.

James' parents were William Nolan and Mary Carr - my great-great-grandparents. They were probably born in, or near, Longford in County Longford in Ireland. Record searches have revealed their marriage took place in Longford on the 6th October 1844 and was witnessed by Nicholas Skelly and Mary Duffey. The priest who officiated was Father J. O’Donohoe. I think this may have been the old Chapel which was next to where St Mel's is today.

William and Mary had at least eight children.

Their first child Maria (Mary) was baptised on the 15th September 1845 - she must have died sometime time later as another Maria was to follow. Maragret (Margaret?) was baptised sometime in 1845. Thomas was baptised on the 10th March 1850. My great-grandfather James Nolan (their fourth child) was baptised in Longford on the 16th October 1852. The second Maria was baptised on the 3rd December 1854. Gerard was baptised on the 26th April 1857. John was baptised on the 6th July 1861. Anne was baptised on the 5th April 1863.

James was to eventually arrive in Wishaw, Scotland. How, is only a matter of conjecture. Ireland at that time being an integral part of the United Kingdom, there are no ship’s manifests or passenger lists recording the movement of citizens from one country in the Union to another. Ireland was still recovering from The Great Famine of course so perhaps the family (or the remaining family) left Ireland in the years which followed. I have no other records of the family apart from my great-grandfather and his brother Gerard.

There is no earlier evidence of James being in Scotland in the years before meeting and marrying Catherine Burns on the 29th November 1877 in Saint Ignatius’ Catholic Church, Wishaw. They began their married life in the Berryhill Rows, Wishaw. The Berryhill Rows were in the Parish of Cambusnethan, Wishaw, and were the property of the Glasgow Iron Company. They were single-storey rows and were occupied by iron workers and miners. The living conditions can only be imagined. The community was mainly Irish and poor. It was here that my grandfather James came into this world. Circumstances were marked by the poverty prevalent in the Irish community at that time. It was here that my grandfather James came into this world along with six other brothers and sisters.

James Nolan, baptised in Longford, Ireland, on the 16th October 1852, died in Wishaw, Scotland, on the 14th March 1889. Two days earlier he had applied for and was granted Poor Relief from the Church of Scotland, Parish of Cambusnethan Poor fund. The family had been awarded 6/-. I am unsure for how long that was presumed to last. but I do know that the request for help was repeated.

[Supplementary discoveries related to Gerard who was to marry an Annie (Agnes) Campbell on the 29th July 1877 in Longford. Their first child Mary was born / baptised on the 7th April 1878 / 26th May 1878, when they stayed in Bog Lane, Longford. I have since misplaced or lost the records for these events. Their second child James was also born / baptised in Longford on the 20th July 1879. Their third child, Elizabeth, was also baptised / born in Longford on the 12th February 1881. Their fourth child Ann (Annie) was baptised in Longford sometime on the 25th November 1883. Gerard was to also arrive in Wishaw, Scotland sometime after Ann's baptism and the birth of the fifth child Thomas, who was born on the 7th May 1886 in Wishaw. A further 9 children were born to Gerard and Annie in Wishaw.]