Hello Ben,
As mentioned in the previous communication, John “Dillane” and Sara Meaney were married in the Bruff Catholic Parish. The marriage took place on 17 February 1817.
Dillane is one one of the Anglo-Norman spellings of Dillon/Dylon, etc. See: https://is.gd/0CA0tr
The information that John and Sara were married in Bruff comes from a marriage transcription I found at the free Find My Past (FMP) website, which is mainly a subscription-based or Pay-As-You-Go website, but does not charge to search Irish Catholic baptisms, marriages, and available church burial transcriptions for all of Ireland for much of the 19th century.
The search engine for the FMP baptism transcriptions can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/jnmqmuv
The search engine for Catholic marriages can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/jzylkjy
For Catholic Parish burial transcriptions go to the search engine at: http://tinyurl.com/j9qe5p9
However that not all Catholic Church Parishes in Ireland kept burial records.
Attached to the FMP baptism, marriage, and burial transcriptions are links that will take you to copies of the original parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.
To search the Catholic Parish records at FMP you’ll first have to register with the site. Registration is free.
The FMP marriage transcription for Joannes (John) Dillane and Sara Meany can be accessed at the following:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FMAR%2F1054494%2F1
Joannes is the Latin for of John.
Attached to the transcription is a link to the Bruff Parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland. To view a copy of the original church marriage record for John and Sara, go to: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634942#page/151/mode/1up
The are two facing pages to the Bruff marriage register. The marriage for John and Sara is the last entry on the right-hand page. The entry is in Latin and so may be a challenge to read.
You can enlarge the page by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.
The name of one of the witnesses to the marriage appears to be Donatus Meany. Donatus is the Latin for “donate,” and can also mean “God Given.” The first name of the second witness is Johanna, though I can’t clearly make out her last name. It may be Cusack.
Irish tradition holds that marriages take place in the bride’s parish, which means it’s possible that the Bruff Catholic Parish would have been the parish of Sara and her family. It’s not clear however, if Sara had been living in Bruff at the time of marriage or in one of the surrounding towns within the Bruff Civil Parish.
It’s also not clear from the marriage record if John Dillane was from Bruff, as within a year he and Sara would be residing in the Fedamore Civil Parish. I suspect, but cannot prove, that his home parish was Fedamore. The Catholic Parish in this section of Limerick is also called Fedamore, and is located north of Bruff, but not that far away, as a Google Map shows that the town of Fedamore is, by the shortest route, 6.9 miles from Bruff. See: https://is.gd/lZtZiS
The Catholic Church in Bruff is called Saints Peter and Paul, though John and Sara would not have been married in the current church structure. According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, the building of the present day church was started in 1828. Construction was finished by 1833. The Buildings of Ireland site does not mention whether Saints Peter and Paul was constructed on the site of an older Catholic Chapel in Bruff. See the Buildings of Ireland description of the church, as well as a slide show of the church at: https://is.gd/VtPpBZ
Also Ben, I am not completely sure if John and Sara would have been married in Bruff at all. They may have lived in a townland with a Catholic Chapel nearby that was also in the Bruff Catholic Parish. For example, the 1837 edition of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland notes that, aside from the Catholic Church in Bruff, there were two other chapels in the Bruff Catholic Parish. One at Grange and one at Meanas, though there’s no way of knowing, from the records I’ve uncovered, if Sara and her family had lived near one of these chapels.
See the Topographical Dictionary’s entry for Bruff at the following link:
https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/B/Bruff-Coshma-Limerick.php
For the location of Saints Peter and Paul Church and cemetery on a Buildings of Ireland map of Bruff, see: http://webgis.buildingsofireland.ie/HistoricEnvironment/?REG_NO=21803002
And for Google Street Views of the church and cemetery, go to the following links:
https://is.gd/5ZThde and https://is.gd/AMS54s
There is a Find A Grave webpage for the Saint Peter and Paul Church cemetery, but thus far no body has added information about the graves of any Dillons or Meanys. The oldest grave in the cemetery dates from 1838.
See the Find A Grave site at for the Bruff cemetery at::
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2640281/st-peter-and-paul%E2%80%99s…
At the historicgraves.com link there are 55 memorials listed in the Saints Peter and Paul cemetery, but once again I didn’t find any submissions for the Dillon or Meany/Meaney surname. See the historicgraves.com link at: https://historicgraves.com/graveyard/st-peter-paul-s/li-ppbr
As you saw in the FMP transcription, John Dillane and Sara Meany were married in 1817. According to the National Library of Ireland website, the Bruff Catholic baptisms as well as well as marriages, begin in 1808. See: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0870
This means there will not be baptism records for either John Dillon or Sara Meany in the Bruff Catholic Parish registers, as both were born before the Bruff Parish registers commence. Nor would there be church marriage records for their parents. There won’t be statutory, or civil registration birth or marriage records either. Civil registration began in Ireland on 1 April 1845 when the government recorded civil marriages as well as Protestant marriages, but not Catholic Church marriages.
Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for all religious denomination began in Ireland in 1864.
Just to recap, I suspect, though can’t prove with complete certainty, that John Dillon or Dillane, was from the Fedemore area of County Limerick, rather than from the area near Bruff, based on the baptisms of his and Sara’s children in the Fedamore Catholic Parish.
THE FEDAMORE DILLANE/ DILLON BAPTISMS
The FMP website shows that two sons named Dillane were baptized in the Fedamore Catholic Parish in the same year and less than a month from one another. One of these is Edmundus, or Edmund. The other is Patritius.
Edward was baptized on 20 January 1818 while Patrick was baptized on 22 February 1818.
The transcription shows that Edward’s father was Joanne (John) Dillane and that his mother was Sara “McAny,” which I take to be either a misspelling of Meany or an alternate form of the name. See the transcription at: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6958719
But, the link to his baptism in the Fedamore Catholic registers for 20 January 1818 does not exist, as far as I can see. See the Fedamore baptism registers for January 1818 at the following links: https://is.gd/3sIvLG and https://is.gd/7XdeTK
The person who transcribed the baptism for Edmund may have typed in his baptism month, day, or year incorrectly, or have mixed it up with another baptism for an Edmundus Dillon.
For example, there is the baptism for an Edmundus, son of Edmundo Dillane and Honora Toole. Edmundus was baptized on February 4, 1818. His is the first entry on the right-hand register page at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634980#page/46/mode/1up
The baptism record for Patrick Dillane on February 22, 1818 is on the same page as Edmundus, son of Edmundo Dillane and Honora Toole. Patrick’s baptism is the 2nd entry up from the bottom of the page. Patrick’s godparents are Bryan Sheahan and Catherine Kelly.
I looked for the baptism of Edmundus, son of Joanne Dillane and Sara “McAny” in several pages, covering many months of the Fedamore register for 1817 and 1818, as well as 1819, but failed to uncover it. I may have missed locating it altogether, or it may be an error in the FMP transcription.
Next, Michael Dillane was baptized on 7 March 1820. His FMP baptism transcription can be viewed at:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F7026823
A copy of Michael’s original baptism record is the 4th entry up from the bottom of the right-hand register page, Number 7, at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634980#page/62/mode/1up
Michael’s godfather is Joanne (John) Hartigan and his godmother Honora Crimin.
The FMP website does not have another baptism record for a child of John Dillane/Dillon and Sara Meany for 9 years after Michael’s 1820 baptism.
Timotheus (Timothy) Dillane was baptized in 1829.
Checking the Fedamore Catholic Church baptisms at the National Library of Ireland site, I found that baptisms for the parish are not available after 29 January 1822, or before 4 January 1826. See: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0883
There are also gaps in the baptism records for 1826, as only January, February, March, and April baptisms are available.
No Fedamore baptisms are available for the year 1827 either.
For the year 1828, baptisms for the month of May are missing.
There is the probability that John and Sara had more children baptized in the Fedamore Parish from 1821 to 1828, but that these baptisms unfortunately no longer exist.
Timotheus Dillane was baptized in the Fedamore Catholic Parish on 17 May 1829. See the following FMP link: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6406528
Timothy’s original Fedamore baptism record can be found at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634981#page/18/mode/1up
His baptism is on the left-hand register page, 3rd entry up from the bottom. The first name of the godfather is Joannis, or John. A portion of his last name is buried in the fold of the page, but the first three letters of his last name are “Ben.” It could be Bennett. Michael’s godmother is Catherine Moore.
Martinus (Martin) Dillon was baptized on 6 September 1831 according to the FMP transcription at:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F6406718
A copy of his original Fedamore Catholic Parish baptism record is the last entry on the left-hand page at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634981#page/49/mode/1up
The godparents are Jacabo (James) Dee and Anna Hartigan.
The youngest child whose FMP baptism transcription I found is for Jacobus (James) Dillon. His baptism took place on 12 October 1833: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F5192164
A copy of James’s original baptism record is on the left-hand page, 10th entry down from the top at:
https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634982#page/8/mode/1up
James’s godparents are Roberto Dee and Maria Kelly.
None of the baptism records, unfortunately give the residence of the Dillon family. They may have lived in Fedamore or in one of the surrounding towns in the Civil Parish as well as Catholic Parish of Fedamore.
The Fedamore Catholic Church is called Saint John the Baptist. You can see the location of the church on a Google Map of Fedamore at: https://is.gd/pjagox
A Google Street View of the church can be viewed at: https://is.gd/fFQVbw
Not all of the Dillon children would have been baptized in this church structure. According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, the church was constructed in the year 1830, the year after Timothy Dillon was baptized in 1829, and the year before Martin was baptized in 1831.
Martin and his brother James may have been baptized in the church you see in the street view.
For information about the architectural details and a slide show of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/t8AHPZ
The church is located in a section of Fedamore called Ballyea.
You can see the location of the “R.C. Chapel” in Ballyea, Fedamore, on an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time period at the GeoHive link at: http://bit.ly/2THa9EN
On the Ordnance Survey Map compiled between 1888 and 1913, the church is now called “St. John the Baptist’s R.C. Chapel.” Go to the GeoHive link at: http://bit.ly/3cLuiBc
The Google Street View of Saint John the Baptist Church shows a small graveyard on one side of it. I suspect these may be the graves of the parish priests who served the church over the years and not a burial ground for the parishioners of Saint John the Baptist. I tried to find the exact location of the old Catholic cemetery in Fedamore, but was unsuccessful, though I did uncover information about the Old Fedamore graveyard at: http://limerickdioceseheritage.org/Fedamore/gyFedamore.htm
This site gives a brief description of the present day graveyard in Fedamore, below which is a description of the old graveyard and photos, but does not say where the cemetery is located. The oldest grave in this cemetery dates back to 1732.
The Find A Grave site lists three cemeteries in or near Fedamore, but doesn’t mention if they are Protestant or Catholic. See: https://is.gd/e61x7y
The first Fedamore cemetery listed in Find A Grave may be the one east of the town. You can see A Google Street View of the cemetery at: https://is.gd/MuDtat
But again, I’m not sure if this is a Catholic or Protestant cemetery.
If John and Sara didn’t emigrate out of Ireland, they could be buried in the old Fedamore cemetery. But, if John and Sara Dillons had died during the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849, there may not be a gravestone for them, as their older children may have been too poor to afford a grave marker for them.
What you can do is post a query to the Ireland Reaching Out XO Ancestors for the Fedamore Parish, and see if anyone knows where the old Fedamore Catholic cemetery is located. Perhaps someone familiar with the cemetery will be able to walk through it to see if any of your Dillons are buried there.
The link for the XO Ancestors for Fedamore is at: https://irelandxo.com/ireland/limerick/fedamore-limerick
THE TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS
Ben, I next wanted to see if I could locate John Dillon or John Dillane in a record that would be contemporaneous with his living in the Civil Parish and Catholic Parish of Fedamore. The record I went to is what is called the Tithe Applotment Books, which was an agricultural tax record where farmers were taxed on the crops they crew. The tax went for the upkeep of the established church at the time, which was the Church of Ireland.
Catholic farmers, which comprised the majority of farmers in Ireland, did not like to be taxed especially when their tax went to the Church of Ireland.
The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled in all 32 counties of Ireland between 1821 and 1851. The tithe applotment for the Fedamore Civil Parish was taken in 1826, which was between the births and baptisms of Michael Dillon in 1820, and Timothy Dillon in 1829, which means that the Dillon family had probably been living in the Fedamore Civil Parish at the time.
For a more comprehensive explanation about the Tithe Applotment Books, go to the National Archives of Ireland links at:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/about.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/aboutmore.jsp
You can search the Tithe Applotment Books for free at the National Archives of Ireland link at:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp
I didn’t find anyone named John Dillane recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books for the Fedamore Civil Parish,
But I found a John Dillon recorded in two different, but nearby townlands to each other in the Tithe Applotment Books for the Fedamore Civil Parish. One was recorded in the townland of Carnane, and the other townland of Ballyea, where the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church is located. In the Tithe Applotment Books however, you’ll see Ballyea also spelled as “Ballyhay,” and “Ballyhea,” and “Ballyhed,” but they all refer to the same town, as well as the same John Dillon in that town. There are duplicate tithe records, with some variations, for John Dillon in Carnane and John Dillon in Ballyea, but in each town they too refer to the same individual. The name John Dillon was the only Dillon recorded in Fedamore in the Tithe Applotment Books in 1826.
I can’t say with any certainty however, which, if either of these John Dillon landholders is your ancestor. It’s also possible that the same John Dillon leased agricultural land in both Carnane and Ballyea.
To view the indexes of the John Dillons in the Tithe Applotment Books for Fedamore in 1826, go to the National Archives of Ireland of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/AL3Uhm
John Dillon’s name is highlighted in blue in all seven indexes. Click on any one of his names for Carnane and you’ll come to a copy of the original tithe page for him and the other landholders in town. Also click on his name in any of the entries for Ballyea and you’ll come to copies of the original entries for him and others in that townland.
The first Carnane tithe record for John Dillon at Landholder 41, shows he leased 6 acres of 3rd quality land (1st quality being the best), and that his rent was 12 Pounds. The total amount of tithes he had to pay was 6 Shillings.
The second Carnane tithe record shows that John Dillon leased 6 acres of 3rd quality land, that his rent was 12 Pounds, and that the total amount of his tithe was 12 Shillings and 5 Pence.
The third Carnane Tithe record shows that John Dillon leased 6 acres of 3rd quality land, and that his rent was 12 Pounds. But this record also shows that he paid 6 Shillings that went toward the “Vicarial” tithes, and another 12 Shillings and 6 Pence that went to the “Rectorial” tithes.
For an explanation of Vicarial and Rectoral tithes, see: https://is.gd/IsNedB
Predial tithes refer to money paid for products, such as grains and fruits, coming from the earth.
For John Dillon in Ballyea and the tithe record variant tithe spellings of the town, I’ve only given the final total of the rent and tithes he paid so as not to get too bogged down with numbers.
The first “Ballyhay” tithe record shows that John Dillon, Landholder 209, paid rent of 11 Pounds, 13 Shillings, and 1 Pence. The total amount of tithes he paid was 5 Shillings and 10 Pence.
For the second “Ballyhea” tithe entry John Dillon paid 11 Pounds, 13 Shillings, and 1 Pence for rent and 12 Shillings and 1 Pence in Tithes.
For the third “Ballyhed” tithe entry John Dillon paid 11 Pounds, 13 Shillings and 1 Pence for rent, and 12 Shillings and 1 Pence for tithes.
For the fourth “Ballyhea” tithe entry, which is the last entry, John Dillon paid 11 Pounds, 13 Shillings, and 1 Pence for rent. He also paid 5 Shillings and 10 pence in Vicarial Tithes, and 12 Shillings and 2 Pence in Rectorial Tithes.
Once again Ben I don’t know which of the landholders named John Dillon would be your ancestor. But it is possible that one of them is. It is also possible the tithe records pertain to the same individual named John Dillon. There is that possibility too that neither John Dillon in the Tithe Applotment Books is your ancestor. I just do not have enough evidence to conclusively prove that either John Dillon is your direct ancestor based on the Tithe Applotment Books alone.
A Google Map shows that Carnane in the north and Balyea in the south are only 3.5 miles from each other, with Fedamore in between: https://is.gd/l33rcY
For Google Street View looking torward Ballyea, see: https://is.gd/23fkPR
For a Google Street View of Carnane go to: https://is.gd/GGoMkD
For an Ordnance Survey Map of Carnane from the 1837 to 1842 time period go to the GeoHive Link at:
http://bit.ly/3aQT7dk
THE TITHE APPLOTMENTS FOR THE BRUFF CIVIL PARISH
I also wanted to see if the surname Meany/Meaney had been enumerated in the Tithe Applotment Books for the Bruff Civil Parish. If so this landholder may have been related to Sara.
I found only one landholder named Meaney in the Bruff parish. His name was Michael and he is indexed twice, but recorded once in the Tithe Applotment Books for Crawfard Lane, in Bruff itself. The tithe record was recorded in Bruff in 1833.
The index for Michael Meaney can be found at the National Archives of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/ABdXSv
If you click on either of the index entries for Michael you’ll come to a copy of the original Tithe record, which is very faded and difficult to read, but at least we know that there was a landholder named Meaney who was residing in Bruff. As mentioned above, Michael could have been related to Sara. Also, John and Sara named one of their sons Michael, who may have been named after the Bruff Michael Meaney.
Crawford Lane today (the R516 road) is named Crawford Street, and runs into the town centre from the east. See the Google Map at: https://is.gd/kejpAc
Also see the modern map from the Buildings of Ireland website for “Crawford’s”: http://bit.ly/38PJqKK
For a Google Street View of Crawford Street from Main Street in Bruff, go to: https://is.gd/pBg71i
On an ordnance survey map of Bruff from the 1837 to 1842 time period, Crawford Lane is not labeled, nor is Main Street. The “School” however, is noted along Crawford Lane on the map: http://bit.ly/33hHkSH
CONCLUSION
Ben, indications are that your Dillon/Dillane and Meany ancestors came from two different but nearby locations in County Limerick. Based on the 1817 marriage record for John and Sara, it is very likely that Sara’s Catholic Parish as well as her Civil Parish of birth was Bruff. This would also likely be the parish of her parents and siblings. She may have lived in the area of what is today Crawford Street, but was called Crawford Lane in the 1800s.
A year after the marriage John and Sara were in the Fedamore Catholic Parish and the Fedamore Civil Parish. This is an indication that John and his family were residents of the Fedamore area of County Limerick before John married in 1817. On modern Google Maps Bruff and Fedamore are about 7 miles from each other.
I only wish I could have conclusively uncovered the townlands where John and Sara had lived both before and after they married. Based on the Tithe Applotment Book records however, it is feasible that your Dillon family had lived in Ballyea or in Carnane, or maybe farmed the land in both nearby communities. It is also a distinct possibility that Sara Meany and her family lived in what was called Crawford Lane, but what today is Crawford Street.
With Kind Regards Ben,
Dave
