Hugh and brother Michael were transported as convicts to Tasmania in 1818. Hugh, my 4x great-grandfather, died in 1831 in Hobart. I have not been able to find a verifiable record of Hugh's birth - in Ballynascreen, County Derry? I will be travelling to Ireland in 2025, hoping to visit the locations where forebears lived.
Lyn,
Unfortunately the RC baptism records for Ballynascreen do not start till 1836, so that explains why you cannot find any record for Hugh or Michael. No easy way round that. (Few RC parishes in Ulster have any records before the 1820s so this is not an unusual problem).
Looking at the 1831 census for Ballynascreen, there were only 3 McShane households living in the parish at that time. 2 lived in Moneyneany:
And the third lived in Strawmore:
Perhaps your ancestors were related to one of those 3 families? All 3 appear to have been farmers as they are listed in the tithe applotment records (basically a land tax) in 1825:
https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/ballynascreen…
Moneyneany is a small village a few miles from Draperstown. Strawmore is a couple of miles south of Moneyneany on the Doon Rd.
All 3 families had died out or left by the time of Griffiths Valuation in 1859.
Thank you so much Elwyn, this gives me something to work on. Francis (Michael) McShane was the son of Michael. Francis migrated to Tasmania in 1835 with his wife and children, together with his brother John, his wife and family, and Elizabeth (Betsey) McShane, Hugh's daughter. I'm not sure yet who Patrick McShane was, but I'm sure there is a relationship as his abode was next to that of Francis. Most of the family seems to have migrated to Tasmania, so perhaps it is not surprising that there is no mention of them by 1859. Draperstown has also been mentioned by some family historians, so I think we are on the right track. Thank you so much for your response. Kind regards, Lyn
Hi Lyn,
I am a descendant of Michael McShane through his son Charles who left Ireland with his sisters Catherine and Ann, older brother Michael and cousins, Mary and Sarah daughters of Hugh. They arrived in nipaluna Hobart 200 years ago via Sydney, they had travelled in a female convict ship Almorah. In the same gropu of free colonists was Susanna McBride and her family Ann and Daniel. Susanna's husband James had been convicted with the McShane brothers.
As best we know Patrick and Francis McShane are the names of two brothers of Michael and Hugh [Minerva 1818]
A grandson of the brother Francis, Nicholas, made his way to Australia with his mother and settled in South Australia. That family have two surnames in use, McShane and Herriman. The connection has been proved by dna.
Patsy McShane is a connection still in Ireland. You may like to look at the "Descendants of Michael and Hugh McShane" group on facebook, Patsy is a member of that group.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for your message. I think we may have been in touch once before, and you were writing a book from memory?? I'm not on Facebook, but will try to contact Patsy, as it would be great to contact an Irish-based connection. The McShane descendents are very wide-spread! I'll also follow up on Mary and Sarah.
Regards
Lyn
Hi Mary
I am also a descendant of Michael through Catharine. Hi cousin, nice to meet you. I can't seem to find the facebook site you mentioned, does it still exist? Do you have any information on Michael's wife Ann Davey.