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Thomas Hayes, draper, of Mohill and his wife Sarah Burns

LongfordMohill (Longford)

I would very much like to connect with anyone related to this family, or anyone who can tell me more-!

Thomas Hayes (1822-1885) was my great-great-grandmother's firstborn child. She married James Hayes in Clonguish parish and had three children with him... then he died and after a couple of years she married John Lynden and had five more. I'm descended from her eldest Lynden child, Richard Alexander. The Hayes and Lynden children seem to have been close; it is certain that Thomas Hayes remained close to his mother...literally, since he is buried only a few feet from her in the Ballymacormack churchyard.

Thomas Hayes married Sarah Burns in Mohill on 1 Sep 1846. She died in January 1854. Local historian Luke Baxter found me this death notice:"Jan 19th 1854 at Mohill, in the prime of life, after her confinement, the wife of Thomas Hayes." The only child of theirs I have found (because she inherited something from Thomas'sestate) is Sarah Christiane Hayes. I don't know if she was the baby born in January 1854.

Thomas quickly remarried (as a man left with an infant is wont to do if he can!). His second wife's name is Mary Jane Cochrane (1838-1915). She is buried with him.

MEANWHILE ... in 1871, Richard Alexander Lynden and his wife Anna Maria McManus had my grandfather, John Ross Lynden, born in Strokestown. He was also a draper, so must have been either mentored by his older brother Thomas Hayes or at least influenced by his success... but Richard went bankrupt and he and Annie took off for America in late 1872, leaving my (toddler) grandfather and his (infant) brother Jimmie behind. For many years, my sisters and cousins and I have puzzled over WHERE my grandfather was left, and with whom! Then, just this week, I stumbled across a note in my mother's handwriting that her father was born in Strokestown and lived in Mohill. Eureka! Thomas and Mary Jane must have been the ones who took him in.

My grandfather and his brother came to America in 1888, while still teenagers. My grandfather brought with him a Testament inscribed to him by Thomas Hayes. It must have meant a great deal to him as he kept it all his life.

I am now quite anxious to learn all I can about Mohill and especially the Burns and Hayes families there, if any still remain.

DianeFarr

4 replies

Diane, hello we have corresponded on Johnson previously in Leitrim, this is a quick answer and I will revisit late in the week. The Old Mohill Facebook page last night or today had a poster who put up a death cert for Burns if you want to have a look.

I see your Burns on Griffiths Valuation in Mohill main street, renting two properties from both Crofton and the infamous Lord Leitrim, they also owned a piece of property in Mohill, using the Ask About Ireland site you can get plot numbers and maps but a tricky read or manipulation. Knowing the site or plot number you can see it on the OSI site I think. If in Dublin you can visit the Valuation Office and see who owned the plot up to about 1970, getting there is the issue but free then, a solicitor or lawyer to you could probably trace it for you too but probably expensive to just get an address.

Oddly I recently found ancestors in Clonguish, before Christmas on a Longford Genealogy page someone posted a link to the PBS station in the US were some actress was briefly in Clonguish for ancestors or it was mentioned, it was apparently on the stations site for awhile but probably gone now, however I am on the Longford FB age and can check if you want.

I am rushing just now but will have another look on Tuesday if you wish.

Good Luck,

Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Diane, obviously need sleep, that Facebook page is the County Letrim History & Genealogy page, the place I think is Ballinamore. Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Diane, the only child on Roots Ireland born to a Thomas Hayes and Sarah (no surname) was a James in 1852,

Name:  James Hayes      Date of Birth:    

 Date of Baptism:             02-Jun-1852

Address:  Mohill   Parish/District:  MOHILL CHURCH OF IRELAND

Gender:  Male      County Co. Leitrim

Denomination:  Church of Ireland

Father: Thomas Hayes   Mother:   Sarah Not Recorded

You should be able to get the civil record of the marriage but it is not free on Irish Genealogy as those records are not yet transcribed, Church of Ireland marriages are registered from 1845. The Roots Ireland site does not show a suitable birth for Catherine, I searched nationally, the list on the Church representative body library confirms that records for this period exist in Mohill, see https://www.ireland.anglican.org/about/rcb-library/online-parish-records 

There are Burns but no Hayes mentioned on Tom Coughlan's site https://www.yourleitrimancestors.ie/surname_index.htm , 

Griffiths Valuation for Leitrim in 1857 has only 5 Hayes entries all for Thomas, he is landlord to a Gallagher in one case, http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

I can find no Cochrane marriages to suit over a 20 year period, indeeed there are only 7 in all that time.  Assuming the marriage etc were Church of Ireland, however if marriage was Presbyterian the records may not be online.

There are 36 Burns entries but only 3 in Mohill, all different people. Landlords are Lord Leitrim and Morgan Crofton, two local big shots, Lord Leitrim lived in Lough Rynn, now a hotel and Croftons house is still in the middle of Mohill. Some info here http://www.loughrynn.net/ 

Clonguish in north Longford adjoins South Leitrim.

Regards

Pat

 

 

 

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer
Pat, thank you!! I so much appreciate your research on my behalf. I'm not sure why I am just seeing this now; apparently you posted it nearly three years ago! I will follow up your hints today, with great pleasure. As for Thomas Hayes's wife Sarah Burns, my notes on Ancestry.com include: Death notice: "Jan 19th 1854 at Mohill, in the prime of life, after her confinement, the wife of Thomas Hayes" -- research by Luke Baxter. Also: "At Mohill. Sarah, wife of Mr. Thomas Hayes, cloth merchant." The "confinement" that killed her resulted in the birth of Sarah Christiana Hayes, who married a William Wallace in 1886. I found the marriage of Thomas Hayes and Mary Jane Cochrane in the Ireland, Civil Registration Marriages Index, 1845-1958. They were married in Dublin in 1854. I thought at first you couldn't find them because they were Methodist, but recent research has revealed to me that they were strong believers that Methodists should continue as part of the COI and not break off to form their own denomination. In fact, the group that believed this were called "Hayesites" for a while because Thomas Hayes seems to have led them. (All in vain, in the end, of course, since the Methodists are now separate!) So they were married at St. Thomas Old Church (COI). I have found no record of any issue from their marriage. Thanks especially for the information that Clonguish parish is so close to Co. Leitrim. This clarifies a great deal. I was wondering how this branch of my family ended up in Mohill! Since my original post, I have discovered reason to believe that the Hayeses took in my grandfather (and perhaps his little brother) rather later than when they were both babies. For one thing, my grandfather's brother was still an infant when their parents headed to America. I'm thinking the children were left originally with the Holtons in Strokestown -- Mrs. Holton was their maternal aunt and would have, at that time, been able to breastfeed, which Thomas Hayes's wife could not. I think my grandfather went to school in Strokestown and then came to Mohill to work in the Burns's grocery/general store. I still have many details to sort out and confirm, however. You say that you haven't found records of "Catherine" but I'm not sure who you mean...perhaps that note was meant for someone else you are helping? I am planning my first trip to Ireland for this coming April and am very excited about it.
DianeFarr

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