Hi Jim,
Many thanks for your reply.
I live in the U.S. My ancestors came over during and after the Great Famine from Cavan, Kerry, Limerick, and Roscommon.
Finding death records can be a hit and miss affair, as usually available Catholic Parish death records give the name of the person that died, the date of death, and the parish where the death took place. Sometimes, the town of death is also recorded. There is no other information, generally speaking that is, that you can use to determine if the church death record pertains to your ancestor, or another person in the parish with the same first and last name of your ancestor.
Civil registration death records provide more information than church death records. I’ll have more on this later.
Most Catholic parishes in the 19th century do not have death records available online. But, one of the exceptions to this just happens to be Eglish, Kings County. According to the National Library of Ireland, death/burial records for Eglish are available to search online from 26 February 1819 to 18 April 1829. There is a gap in the registers until they pick up again on 15 June 1837 to 12 May 1846. After another gap the registers are extent from 8 January 1848 to 16 March 1849, and then again for January of 1851. Go to the National Library of Ireland website link to see the availability of Eglish baptisms, marriages, and burials at:
https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0928
As you saw in the previous reply the last child of Patrick Horan and Anne Corcoran who was baptized, was John. His baptism took place in 1839. One of the parents may have died within the first few years after he was born, barring of course that they did not emigrate during the Great Famine of 1845 to 1851.
It is also possible however, that both Patrick and Anne died well into the 19th century when they were in their 80s or 90s..
I found that there is only one death transcription at the FMP website for a Patrick Horan. He died on 11 September 1848. You can view the transcription at the following FMP website link: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBUR%2F0144736
A copy of Patrick Horan’s parish death record in the Eglish register is the 4th entry down from the top of the left-hand page at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000635153#page/15/mode/1up
This death entry shows that Patrick was living in Eglish at the time of death.
But with this death record, there is no way of knowing if this Patrick Horan was the Patrick Horan in your direct line.
I didn’t find an Eglish Parish register death record for Anne Horan.
Civil registration didn’t begin in Ireland until the government began to record civil marriages and Protestant marriages in 1845. Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for all religious denominations commenced in Ireland in 1864.
In civil registration, deaths were recorded in individual civil registration districts located in each county. Each county had several registration districts. In turn, each town was assigned to a registration district where a birth, marriage, or death was recorded. The civil registration district for Eglish and surrounding towns and parishes was Parsonstown/Offaly.
The irishgenealogy.ie website has death indexes only from 1864 to 1877. Copies of original death records are available at irishgeneallgy.ie from 1878 to 1969.
Below you’ll see the death indexes from irishgenealogy.ie for those named Patrick Horan and Anne Horan, who died from 1864 to 1877. All of the following were recorded in the Parsonstown Registration District. The criteria I used to find these death records is that Patrick and Anne would have been born early enough to have married and have children by the year 1827, which is the year that their son Michael was baptized in the Eglish Catholic Parish. To determine if they were old enough to have a child by 1827, I looked at their age at death. They would likely have been born sometime in the late 18th century or early 19th century up to the years 1807-1809:
DEATHS RECORDED IN THE PARSONSTOWN REGISTRATION DISTRICT
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of PATRICK HORAN in 1868
Name PATRICK HORAN
Date of Death 1868
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 65
Returns Year 1868
Returns Quarter 1
Returns Volume No 3
Returns Page No 482
____
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of PATRICK HORAN in 1868
Name PATRICK HORAN
Date of Death 1868
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 74
Returns Year 1868
Returns Quarter 2
Returns Volume No 8
Returns Page No 473
____
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of PATRICK HORAN in 1870
Name PATRICK HORAN
Date of Death 1870
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 71
Returns Year 1870
Returns Quarter 4
Returns Volume No 18
Returns Page No 396
____
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of PATRICK HORAN in 1873
Name PATRICK HORAN
Date of Death 1873
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 70
Returns Year 1873
Returns Quarter 3
Returns Volume No 13
Returns Page No 385
____
ANNE HORAN
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of ANNE HORAN in 1867
Name ANNE HORAN
Date of Death 1867
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 77
Returns Year 1867
Returns Quarter 4
Returns Volume No 18
Returns Page No 429
____
SR District/Reg Area - Parsonstown
Death of ANNE HORAN in 1876
Name ANNE HORAN
Date of Death 1876
Group Registration ID N/R
SR District/Reg Area Parsonstown
Deceased Age at Death 78
Returns Year 1876
Returns Quarter 4
Returns Volume No 18
Returns Page No 409
____
The drawback to death indexes is that they do not give the exact place of birth; the exact date of birth, the occupation of the decedent; whether married, widowed, or never married; the cause of death; and the name and relationship of the person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the local registrar.
DEATHS RECORDED IN THE OFFALY REGISTRATION DISTRICT
All the Horan deaths that I found after 1877 were recorded in the Offaly Registration District. These are copies of the original death records held by the General Register Office (GRO) in Dublin and Roscommon Town, county Roscommon.
Attached to this reply is the death record of a Patrick Horan who died on 15 November 1882. His place of death is very difficult to decipher because the hand writing of the registrar is not very legible. His place of death may be Ballyncurra. Ballynacurra was located in the Eglish Civil Parish and Eglish Catholic Parish in Kings County.
At the time of death he was 87 years old and a widower. His occupation was “Farmer.” The cause of death was, “Old age 3 weeks. No medical attendant.” The causes of death in these old death records are sometimes amusing to read. In this case, Patrick, 87 years old, had acquired old age 3 weeks before he died. The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the local registrar was Patrick’s son Henry.
I didn’t find a baptism record for a Henry Horan, son of Patrick Horan and Anne Corcoran, and so this death record likely does not refer to your Patrick Horan. The death record is attached to this reply. Patrick’s death is at Number 245, which is the last entry in the register.
The other death record I uncovered is for a Patrick Horan who died in Drinagh on 28 December 1898 at the age of 106. Drinagh was in the Eglish Civil Parish. His age of 106 may not be entirely accurate, but he was probably pretty old when he died. The death record shows he was a widower and had been a farmer. The cause of death was, “Old age. No medical attendant.” The person who was present at his death and who reported the death to the local registrar was his nephew, James Horan, of Drinagh. Patrick’s death record is Number 36 in the attached death register.
I only found the death record for one Anne Horan in the Offaly Registration District who would have been old enough to have married and have a child by 1827. She died in the townland of Galros, Civil Parish of Eglish, on 13 April 1879 at the age of 82 years. She is recorded as a widow and a “Farmer’s Widow.” The cause of death was, “Old age. No med. Att.” The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the local registrar was Denis Horan, who is recorded as the “Occupier.” His address was Galros. Usually, in a death record, an Occupier was the head of a workhouse or infirmary. Anne Horan’s death is at Number 94 in the attached death record.
Jim, as you can see from these death indexes and the attached death records, there is no way to tell which, if any pertain to your Patrick and Anne Horan ancestry.
I wish I had better news.
Thank you again for writing and for the kind words.
Dave
