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Mulcahys in Newcastle

I finally found my 3rd great grandfather Tom Mulcahy and his parents and siblings, but the religious/civil designations are confusing to me.  I would appreciate any help in pinpointing where this family lived, and perhaps some suggestions for where else to look.  Here's the data.

Tom Mulcahy was baptized in "Newcastle Diocese of Waterford and Lismore | Counties of Tipperary," on 20 Apr 1836.  Born to Patrick Mulcahy and Johanna Flynn. I see at least five or six siblings as well.  I understand, I think, that this church parish straddles Waterford and Tipperary.  So where did they live? In Waterford? I'm not good with the Tithe books and Griffiths. Would you be able to find them?  And assuming they lived in Waterford, where was the church?  Was it in Newcastle, Tipperary?  

According to his obituary, Tom emigrated to the USA in 1852. In 1860, he married Alice Ahearn in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.  I previously found Alice and her family in Ardfinnan Parish. So how close did Tom live to the Ahearns? They must have known each other before they emigrated, don't you think?  At least one of Tom's brothers, William, also married a woman from the same woman from the same area, Margaret Newgent. I think multiple people from this group emigrated more or less together. Is that enough info to go on?  I can provide more.  Many thanks for your help.  This is very exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Kern

5 replies

Kevin:

I'm not from the area, in fact I live in the States. The parish of Newcastle and Fourmilewater covers both counties as you indicated. I believe the Newcastle chapel was in Newcastle civil parish in Co. Tipperary and the Fourmilewater chapel was in Kilronan civil parish in Co. Waterford.

Assuming Patrick Mulcahy was alive in 1850 and leasing land, I looked at the Griffiths Valuation head of household listings for the two civil parishes-- Newcastle and Kilronan. There were Mulcahys in Newcastle civil parish but no Patrick and three Patrick Mulcahys listed in Kilronan parish Co. Waterford. So I'd be inclined to believe that your family lived in Co. Waterford.  By the way, Newcastle is five miles from Ardfinnan so possibly Thomas and Alice knew each other in Ireland.

https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/tipperary/newcastle.htm

https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/waterford/kilronan.htm

Below are some history links and a Facebook link to the combined RC parish.

More history  https://www.johngrenham.com/records/lewis.php?civilparishid=2417&civilp…

                       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle,_County_Tipperary

https://www.facebook.com/Fourmilewater-and-newcastle-parish-churches-10…

Let me know if you have any questions.

Roger McDonnell

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks so much for responding; I'm very grateful.  Let me be sure I understand. 

Kevin Kern

Thanks so much for responding. I'm following one of your other conversations, so I'm grateful for your help. Let me ask a follow-up. Or two.

I'm looking at the first page of the Parish Register microfilm online at the NLI, where it says "PARISH: Kilronan, Newcastle, and Mulough."  So is this saying there is one religious parish that includes three separate civil parishes by those names, each of which corresponds to an area of land on the map?  Is that how it works?  And would each civil parish area have a church, or would that depend on where most of the people lived?  I would think the latter.

By the way, if anyone reading this is interested, I would love to connect with my relatives in Ireland.  A link to my tree, including DNA relatives, follows below.  Tom Mulcahy and his wife Alice Ahearn (from up the road in Ardfinnan, I think) were married in 1860 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. They had a number of children, including my great grandmother Mary.  Like so many Irish in the USA at that time, he fought in the US civil war from 1861-1865. He was part of Memphis's Irish Regiment, a Teamster, and thereafter was always part of his unit's heavy tank brigade, thereby being fairly removed from the high mortality close conflict.  This Irish Regiment performed quite admirably in a couple of small but deadly conflicts at the outset of the war, but it was shredded in the first large scale confrontation, the bloody battle of Shiloh Tennessee, and was quickly collapsed with another unit, and then another, and so on. It is impossible to know this for sure, but I read one secondary source saying that only five men from the Memphis Irish Regiment survived the war. Tom went on to use his teamster skills well and became a very respected employee of Orgill Brothers, one of Memphis's original hardware businesses, and still in business today.  Tom died in 1882 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Memphis, where I live.  The way he lived - his skills and his character - in a very real way helped give me the opportunity to live a relatively comfortable lifestyle and provide for my family.  So to me, he is, like many others of his generation, a hero.  

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/pt/RSVP.aspx?dat=MTEzMDg4MDI5OzswMTcxOTQxYi0wMDAxLTAwMDAtMDAwMC0wMDAwMDAwMDAwMDA7MjAyMTA0MjkwNzMyMDY7MQ==&mac=qylHJZyJtyMEtaLHXMW8HA==

 

 

Kevin Kern

Kevin:

Normally, the locations shown are where chapels existed within the RC parish which was headed by the priest in Newcastle.In fact, he may have been the only priest for the parish. The locations shown are normally civil parishes but are not always. I can't find Mulough which is not a civil parish.

Not all civil parishes have an RC church. (It really depends on the size of the civil parish).and likely as you indicated where there was a good number of people.living.

By the way, could you add Tom Mulcahy to our XO Chronicles site? It is a great story.    https://irelandxo.com/ireland/waterford/kilronan-glenahiry

FYI There are actually two Kilronan civil parishes in Co. Waterford. Your parish is on the Tipp border and there is a much smaller Kilronan civil parish in the eastern part of the county.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Again, thanks so much. I'm zeroing in on my people.  Thirty five years in the making.  I'll add the story,

Kevin Kern

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