Terence O'Keeffe/Keeffe of Lismonihis

Hi Kira,

You have already done quite a bit of work. I hope I can add abit to it.

I found your quesion about Lismonish interesting and I did some tracking down as far as I could. It was almpst certainly a sub-townland of Farrahy. Nowadays many of the sub-townland names have been forgotten. Back in the 1840s they were critical even if they  were only a few fields.

It absolutely did exist. there is an account in a Brisbane newspaper of a Maurice Barry from there who became mayor of Brisbane. I also found something about O'Dea;s who talk about Lismonish.

I saw Terence in Griffiths and also in the Tithe Applotments in 1831. here  he is located in Ballynoe which can be found on the historic map. My guess is that Lismonish was right there.

I have sent you the files showing what I found.

Geraldine

Hi Geraldine,

Thank you for looking into this! I think you pulled some great leads for me. I'll digest these and get back to you with any follow-ups.

In my research I had not run across the term sub-townland but that makes complete sense to me.

Best,

Kira D. Foltz

Greetings, Kieran! Hope you are well! Not sure if this post will go through as I just tried previously and the page was 'not found' but checking in to see if you've had a chance to make any further enquiries into the placename of Lismonish in Farrahy. I am diving back into my KEEFFE family branch and even plan to make a fall trip to Dublin to find further records at the national archives. Best, Kira D. Foltz

Hello, Kieran! Thank you for the reply. Will do! Best, Kira

Hello Kieran and Geraldine and other researchers or volunteers!

I wanted to follow up here with my findings after I did some digging at the National Archives of Ireland and National Library of Ireland, as well as the Valuation Office. I was actually able to find a map from 1754 that had Lissmonaheen (aka Lismonihis) printed on it!

I blogged about it here: https://contagiousgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/placing-my-irish-keeffe-family-on-map.html

And Geraldine, I should reemphasize all of the files you provided were such great leads. The “O’Deas in US” that included a Nora Keaffe, I’m fairly certain was a sister to my 4^th great grandfather Terence Keeffe! Still need to figure that one out completely, but I doubt I’d have discovered her on my own.

Kieran, your boots-on-the-ground efforts are sincerely appreciated! I just want to express my deepest gratitude to you both as well as the entire IrelandXO community. Thank you! They mystery of Lismonihis in North Cork has been SOLVED.

Kira D. Foltz

Hello Kira, Kieran, and Geraldine and other Volunteers! 

I have been also trying to find this parish as my 3g grandfather was from the town of "Lismonish" so I appreciate knowing the records I found linking him to Farrahy Co Cork were similar to those attached above. My 3g grandfather was Thomas Fitzgerald and he married Abby Keeffe also from Lismonish on 5 Feb 1815. Now I am wondering is Abby might be related to Terence, too. I can place him in Farrahy in Griffiths Valuation, marriage record, etc.

I don't have a death date for Thomas Fitzgerald and not sure where to look for his death records-what cemetery, etc. I haven't been able to find anything online so maybe you might know a source or have info that would help in my search. 

What I do know. Thomas and Abby had a son named David Fitzgerald (B. 10 Aug 1816 in Farrahy, Cloyne, Cork). I have a copy of his birth from Catholic parish records.

David had a son Thomas P who was born ABT 1847 and I'm not sure if he was born in Farrahy. I haven't been able to corroborate anything, mainly because I have little info on his father David. Thomas P. emigrated to the US and died here 1918. He is the my g grandfather.

As an aside, I was born and lived in Hatfield, Hampshire Co. Massachusetts where Thomas P emigrated to, a very small town. I alway wondered why he chose such a small place but haven't gotten that far in my research to see if anyone came before him. 

Where might I look to find info on Thomas and Abby? Family search, ancestry, Irish genealogy, Griffiths Valuation, Titthe Allotments have provided some clues but not all. Any insight you might provide to learn more about Abby and Thomas would be appreciated. 

Best, 

Gail Fitzgerald Cruise 

Kira, 

I’m in process of reading your blog achives and appreciate your efforts both online and your recent trip to Dublin where you researched Farrahy and your Keeffe ancestors. What a wealth of information you provide about the place and your Keeffe family. I recently completed the first course in BU’s genealogy studies so I’m attempting to apply what I’ve learned and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your research process too! I’ve also gone through the info here and I’m finding it helpful. When I first tried to find Lismonihis, and couldn’t, I almost gave up. Then your blog appeared in my search today and what a find! The responses here have been extremely helpful as I learned about my ancestors’ home in Ireland. Since I typically spend my summers around Dublin every summer, I think a trip to this Cork area is in the near future! Thank you. Gail 

Gail, I'm so glad you found this posting and reached out. I'd love to connect on this further and see if we can't figure out the connection. I think it's very likely Abby and Terence had some sort of relationship! Please email me at FoltzGenealogist@gmail.com to chat further. To answer your question directly on places to look for further info on Thomas and Abby, I'd suggest the House, Tenure, and Quarto Books that were also a part of Griffith's Valuation if you haven't checked those out yet at http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/vob/home.jsp . I also took page by page photos for the most part of the Cancelled/Revision Books at the Valuation Office around Farahy in October. When I have a moment, I'll take a peek through some of my images to see if I can't locate the Fitzgerald home and who may have come to reside there post-Griffith's survey. Since Thomas was living on land owned by Margaret Ahern at the time of Griffith's, I'd also suggest studying her to see if any Ahern family/estate records are still in existence anywhere. You may find the Fitzgeralds mentioned in correspondence or see transactional dealings such as rent rolls/receipts, etc. Hope that helps, but please reach out! I've finally just started really digging into all of the records I found during my October Dublin trip so the Keeffes are very top of mind for me at this second. - Kira

Thanks, Kira, for this helpful info. I am in the process of organizing my Fitzgerald research, and I will definitely reach out once I've had the opportunity to go through my documents and the info you've provided here. I'd also like to try to figure out how Abby and Terence might be connected. What a small world! Many generations down the line and we meet over the search for a tiny ploughland in a small village in Ireland! That's what I love most about genealogy. Thank you for getting back to me.

And gllad you had a wonderful time in Ireland and Dublin. 

Best, Gail 

Greetings Gail,

I apologize that I completely forgot about this connection and thread! It only just occurred to me to doublecheck this message board once again because I will be headed out to Cork in a couple weeks so I felt I needed to put fresh eyes on some of this research. I will also send a message to your Ancestry account as well in the event that you aren't alerted to this message board.

I scanned quickly through again and I do sincerely believe that your Abigail Keeffe was a sister to my Terence Keeffe! So hello cousin. I believe I've found a few more records that may be of interest to you below. Also, you asked what other next steps you might take to discover more. I would suggest pulling the church records for St. Joseph's Church in Hatfield for your family from the diocese if they have them. The originals will sometimes mention names/places from their family's original locality in Ireland and may help to expand your FAN club. Also, The Boston Pilot was really the source that helped me breakthrough on this branch but I know not everyone would be so lucky to have an ad posted there for their family.

Arthur Fitzgerald baptism, a likely MUCH younger brother to your David:

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61039/records/6081851?tid=&pid=&queryId=1b9f7406-0528-4bcd-acf9-444e549ea455&_phsrc=lHm22848&_phstart=successSource

Baptism for James Connors, son of James Connors and Margaret Fitzgerald (James Senior was the likely sponsor to your David Fitzgerald's baptism, potentially because he may have been a brother-in-law to Thomas Fitzgerald....Margaret was likely the sister to your Thomas Fitzgerald):

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61039/records/6085323?tid=&pid=&queryId=92c470b2-c292-4016-9ba8-829a7ff3436d&_phsrc=lHm22866&_phstart=successSource

Unsure how this family unit ties to you, though they probably do, since their residence was Farahy and church was Kildorrery (baptism of Thomas Fitzgerald w/ parents James Fitzgerald and Jane Fitzgibbon):

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61039/images/04994_06_0083?ssrc=&queryId=22ed7f56-6f92-4d86-af4d-4d43167213e6&usePUB=true&pId=6083125

All the best,

Kira D. Foltz