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Hewitt in County Cork

Hello,

This is a long shot, I know, as I have so little information.  I am searching for any Hewitts who might have a connection to either Widnes, Cheshire or St Helens, Lancashire, UK.  My paternal aunt told me many years ago that a 3 or 4 times great grandfather came from Ireland to Yorkshire and presumably subsequent generations moved to Lancashire/Cheshire.  I can find no Yorkshire or Irish connection in any of the great grandparents I have found so have hit a brick wall.  I remember that my mother said that my father's family came from Cork (County or city?) and I know that my aunt visited "family" in Cork, again no idea whether county or city.  There is also a connection with the name Molloy in that branch of the family and with Egan in County Tipperary. 

On my mother's side of the family my roots are in Roscommon, Kilkenny and Wexford and I would love to be able to add to my Irish heritage. 

Best wishes to all.

Ann

annielee@btint…

4 replies

Hello Ann, without dates and possibe parents names it is neigh impossible, for early records we rely on church records so a religion is helpful. I had a look at the tithes applottments records online, register of taxpayers who held land and there are Hewitts in Cork, but again which one is yours if any as you had to hold over an acre, it is a free site http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp I notice a lot of them are in Corkbeg which is Whitegate when I searched or around Whitegate, not all of them but a lot, this is in east county Cork towards Waterford, largest town Midleton, famous now for whiskey production. 

I also looked in Griffiths Valuation, a land survey done between 1848 and 1864 and is fairly detailed as regards maps etc however only gives head of house or land owner and tenant, there is a lot of Hewitt landlords in Cork I notice, again free here http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch again a Thomas Hewitt is a landlord and appears to hold a lot of land in Cork. There are over 120 entries but not all different people as such but this Thomas man is a big landowner.

The church records for Cork are free online but records for the Church of Ireland (Anglican) were lost in the civil war, over 40% of them, Protestant marriages are recorded in the civil register from 1845 and all BMDs are on the civil records from 1864, most can be viewed free online here, click church for Cork records, you have to sign in but free. https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ 

However Ann I am afraid to make a definite link we really need more information, all we can say from this is that there were Hewitt families in Cork and without knowing I would guess they are Anglican just from the name, biased by the fact I have a neighbour of that name but from Cavan, a good neighbour too. 

You may find some local Facebook pages on the areas in question, usually private and apply to join, or try a general search of you could ask the Cork Library if they have any information on hte family name that ties to their occuppation etc

Good Luck

Pat

 

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Pat,

Thank you so much for all the time and trouble you have taken to try to help me in my search - I knew that it would be a well-nigh impossible task but you have given me some sources that I can look at which is great.  I am beginning to think that when my mother told me that my father's family came from Cork, she must have thought that because his aunt married a Molloy from Cork and his sister used to go over to visit them.  My mother probably assumed that "visiting family" meant Hewitts.  The only other Hewitt connection to Ireland that I have found is a 4 or 5 times great aunt who married an Egan whose family were from County Tipperary. I have found no evidence of anyone coming over from Ireland to Yorkshire in the Hewitt family lines here, they are all from the same area in Lancashire going back 5 generations and more.  All were Anglicans or in the case of more recent generations Dissenting Catholics and the first real Catholic connection was my great grandmother who converted along with five or six of her brothers (only 1 brother didn't convert).  The first marriage in a Catholic church was that of my Hewitt grandparents, which surprised me as I had been led to believe that that side of the family came from a long line of staunch Catholics!  I think therefore that the information my aunt gave me was some sort of fairy tale that she had been told in her youth, or possibly that she misunderstood. 

I had assumed that any Hewitts in Ireland would have been Anglicans/Church of Ireland and possibly landlords, which is something I would not be happy about, so perhaps I should take comfort in the thought that I am unlikely to have those connections.

So, although I have always felt a tremendous affinity with Ireland and always feel that I am home when I am there and that Ireland is where I should be, I will probably have to make do with my maternal Irish roots for which I am very grateful.  My Ancestry DNA test shows that I am 43% Irish, not enough but better than nothing.  

Thank you once again Pat and very best wishes to you.

Ann

annielee@btint…

Hi Ann, I just had a quick look at the Tithes again to see if there were any Molloy living near Hewitt back in the day and only one area turns  up, Kilbrogan, which is Bandon, now this is purely guessing and tentative, Bandon is however a town with Protestant or Presbyterian connections (there is some indication it may have links to the families who famously went on the Mayflower to the US, i think it is based on the family names in the area), it is mentioned I think on some website about the town, oddly east Cork where we mentioned a lot of Hewitts has connections to Sir Walter Raleigh and John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrims Progress, I spent a holiday in the area about 25 years ago and was luckey enough to get a tour of an old country estate house, my interest in history was not great at the time so just remember bits, they lived in the area for a time I understood. I leave it to you to follow up but if interested you could look at the Cork library website local studies section. Actuall Sir Walter Raleighs house in Youghal was on sale recently, if you Google Red House Youghal you should see a little mention of him, he may not have owned it but was a renter. 

Just to assist you in any search of names of places you can check townlands and parish's here, these are civil boundaries as church parish areas may be the same the local bishop may from time to time vary the size by including extra townlands to a poorer parish from a richer one to balanc the books  in a parish, the site has maps etc https://www.townlands.ie/ and another one if you cannot find it there is https://www.logainm.ie/en/ the ainm is gaelic for name. The old maps can be viewed on the site here https://www.osi.ie/ this is the kind of stuff you can do on lockdown but again I am guessing about the areas.

Cork was a major trading port and has a large natural harbour, I have been in discussion with a lady who is investigating some families who settled there in the late 1500s as traders, it was also a pirate hotspot around that time apparently, mind you I lived there in the 1960/70s and it is a lovely place.

Hopefully the DNA will help but I think it can be head wrecking at times.

Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Pat,

You are an absolute treasure, you have given me so much information and sources, I can see not much is going to get done around here for quite some time!  I haven't actually been into Cork, but often passed through Youghal, Bandon, Mallow and other places in the county and always wondered if my ancestors did actually come from there.  If we manage our annual trip to Ireland next year, I will hopefull have more idea of where I should look. 

I've looked at some of my notes again and see that my great aunt Ann Hewitt married a Thomas Molloy (in Lancashire in 1912) and that Thomas's father was a Patrick Molloy, a dock labourer in Cork.  For some reason I omitted to make a note of the source of this information and haven't managed to find it again on Ancestry or any other site so I have ordered a copy of the marriage certificate to see if that sheds any light, witnesses etc. Thomas was born here according to the 1901 census, but of course people were not always truthful about their place of birth, especially if it was likely to lead to racism.  I can find no solid evidence of Patrick as there are so many of appropriate age in the area.  Even though this is only a connection by marriage to Ireland and not a direct connection as I had been led to believe, I am a great one for getting to the bottom of things so will spend a bit more time on it.  I really must be more organised!!

I think you are right about the DNA, it confirms my Irish genes but has failed to link me to my half sister (same father) - probably I have inherited more genes from my maternal side and she has inherited her mother's genes, or maybe our father's.  Genetics is such a complicated and difficult subject it's impossible to know without consulting an expert.

Thank you again Pat for all your help, it is much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Ann

annielee@btint…

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