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Egans and Duffys of Ahascragh

GalwayAhascragh (Galway)

Dear Ireland Reaching Out,

I am seeking information about the death and burial places of my great-great grandparents Bridget "Delia" Duffy and John Egan from Ahascragh, where they died in the 1870s.

Bridget we believe was the daughter of Michael Duffy and Ellen Ryan. Bridget had at least five siblings: John, Kate (married a Tully), Maria (married a McCarthy), Patrick and Ellen (b. 1844. married a Glynn).

John Egan's parents are unknown to us. He had at least three siblings: Andrew, Patrick, and Margaret. In the Griffith's Valuations, John Egan appears to be living in Ervallagh Oughter.

John and Bridget had eight children:

  • John Egan
  • Michael Egan
  • Margaret Egan, b. 1860
  • Catherine J. Egan, b 4 Oct 1863
  • Ellen Egan, b. 16 Feb. 1866 Ahascragh
  • Marie Egan, b. 6 April 1868 Ahascragh
  • Bridget "Delia" M. Egan, b. 28 March 1871 Ahascragh
  • Elizabeth Egan, b. 15 July 1873 Ahascragh

The last child, Elizabeth, was my great-grandmother. She emigrated to California in aboaut 1896.

Our oral family history says that Elizabeth's mother, Bridget, died giving birth to Elizabeth or relatively soon afterwards. John Egan was thus left a widow with many kids. The family history says that he was trained as an engineer, but I don't know if that is true. In any case, he fell ill with appendicitus not many years after his wife died (maybe only three or so years after her death). Family lore says that the doctor operated on John on the kitchen table, but he could not be saved and died.

The children were thus left as orphans. Several of the older ones emigrated to the US. My great-grandmother Elizabeth had to stay in Ireland until all her brothers were married, and then she too emigrated to the US.

I have looked for many years for more precise information about when Bridget and John died and where they are buried but have found nothing. I would be very grateful if this is something you might be able to help with.

My mother and I will be visiting Ahascragh in June 2015, and we would love to be able to pay our respects.

We are also curious if there are any related Egans or Duffys who might still live in the area. On you-tube, we saw that in 2013 there was a John Egan who was the head of the Ahascragh Development Association and we wondered if he might be related to the same Egan family or not.

Thanks very much for any assistance you might be able to give us.

Best wishes,

Carolyn M.

IrelandXO member

11 replies

Carolyn,

There was one Egan family still farming in Ervallagh Oughter in 1901 (from a total of about 20 households in the townland):

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Ahascragh/Ervallagh_Oughter/1366359/

And in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Ahascragh/Ervallagh__Oughter/447562/

I?d be inclined to call at the farm today to see who is there and if they have any knowledge of the family. They will also likely to be able to give advice on burial plots in the area. (The farm is on the modern R358 road).

 

Elwyn

 

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Carolyn: The Catholic church in Ahascragh is St. Cuan's. I don't have an e-mail address but here is the phone number for the parish priest. I also located two possible civil death index records for Bridget and John and based on the facts in your message. You can get copies of these records from the General Register Office for around 4 euros each. If you want to get copies let me know and I will forward instructions.

Roger McDonnell

AHASCRAGH (AHASCRAGH AND CALTRA) Very Rev Kevin Reynolds MHM PP Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, Co Galway Tel: 090 9688617 Rev Vincent McDevitt CSSp Caltra, Ballinasloe, Co Galway Tel: 090 9678125

First name(s) Bridget Last name Egan Birth year 1832 Age at death 45 Registered year 1877 Registered quarter/year 1877 Registration district Ballinasloe Volume 14 Page 9

First name(s) John Last name Egan Birth year 1828 Age at death 54 Registered year 1882 Registered quarter/year Jul - Sep 1882 Registration district Ballinasloe Volume 4 Page 21

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Carolyn:

The online Irish phone book http://www.eircomphonebook.ie/#

has two Egan entries in Ahascragh. You may want to contact these individuals.

When you search in Co. Galway make sure you use the Residential Tab.

Our privacy rules do not allow us to provide the information directly.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks so much, Elwyn. I appreciate the  help!

Could you possibly share any tips about how I might figure out which modern-day building corresponds to the Egan locations enumerated in the earlier censuses?

I have some approximate sense of where the elder John Egan's fields in Ervallagh Oughter were in 1856-ish from the  Grifftith's valuation but not sure if that is the same locations as in the more recent censuses.

thanks again!

 

Best, Carolyn

IrelandXO member

Thank you too, Roger, for both of your very helpful emails. It is exciting to get a few more clues. My mother is so happy to have the opportunity to visit Ahascragh, and I am too.

Yes, I would be very pleased to have information about how to order materials from the General Register Office.

thanks again!

Best, Carolyn

IrelandXO member

Carolyn:

Go to this link https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Apply-for-Certificates.aspx    Print out the death form (one for each request), fill it out to the best of your ability, make sure you only ask for a copy. Include the info from the index record year or qtr./Year of the death, registration district and volume and page number. You have to mail the request to GRO in Co. Roscommon (address is provided when you print out the form) but you can ask GRO to e-mail the copy (s) back. Usually takes about two weeks. I provide a credit card number and have not had any issues.

Roger

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Carolyn,

You can see where the farms are/were using the maps on the Griffiths Valuation site. John Egan is shown on plot 4, where he had just over 21 acres of land. Next door on plot 3 was Margaret with nearly 36 acres. So she?ll likely be a relation. Normally when a woman appears in Griffiths, she?s a widow. So possibly John?s sister-in-law. Each plot comprises several parcels of land.

Note that in neither case are they living on those plots. Both John & Margaret are simply farming the land, so they lived somewhere else. If they were living there, Griffiths would record that they had a house and land. Not just land. In John?s case there is a house there, and it?s vacant - 4B(a). If they don?t appear in Griffiths as a householder in an adjacent townland, then I?d guess they were lodging with someone nearby.

You can follow the valuation records forward to see who succeeded them on those plots. The revaluation records run through to around 1929. Those for Northern Ireland are on-line but those for the Republic of Ireland are not, at present, though they are due to be put on-line some time in the next year or so. In the meantime you either need to go to the Valuation Office in Dublin or contact them and see if they will look the records up for you.

However it appears that by 1901 one of those farms was occupied by Egans actually living there. I can?t say whether it was plot 3 or 4. Or indeed they might have been combined by then.

The Griffiths on-line maps have a slider bar in the top rh corner which allows you to overlay a modern map of the area. Plots 3a & 4b are on the north side of the R358 road. 4b and 3c are on the south side. That?s about a mile east of Ahascragh village. If you find navigating by maps tricky, you may just need to ask for directions locally to Ervallagh Oughter (as opposed to Ervallagh Eighter). I had a look at the area on Google Earth but the picture of the area is particularly useless, so I can?t tell you what is on the two farms today. (It looks to still be agricultural land but you might find some modern replacement dwellings. People here don?t much care for cramped, damp old farmhouses, and tend to pull them down and replace them with more modern structures).

The modern postal addresses for these farms will just be Ervallagh Oughter, Ahascragh, as they were 100 years ago, so I can?t give you any more specific directions that way. Satnav won?t help you either.

I looked to see who was farming in Ervallagh Oughter in the tithe applotment records for the parish (1824). The whole townland was farmed then by a Peter Corgriff. So, it looks as though the Egans arrived there after 1824.

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

 

Elwyn

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Dear Elwyn and Roger,

Thanks again for the detailed directions. That is very helpful.

But suddenly I am having an attack of shyness about calling people, even Father Reynolds, out of the blue. I'm more than 50% Irish by heritage, but so conscious of being American and not knowing the social niceties of Irish culture.

Would it be better for me to send a letter first before calling, if I can find a postal address? I don't want to bother people. It's just pretty thrilling to have the opportunity to come back to Ireland and to see Ahascragh, and to appreciate the many gifts Ireland has given the world, including, for me, the gift of being alive in the first place.

Elizabeth Egan, my great-grandmother who had to leave Ahascragh for the US, was brave. She almost died in a gas leak incident while traveling to her new home in California, but she survived. I don't think she ever was able to go back home to Ireland to visit, so it is very special to go back home for her.

So coming back to Ireland is a big event for Irish-Americans like me, but I don't know how it feels for Irish in Ireland to have Americans suddenly calling with family history questions.

Can you advise if sending a letter first is better?

thanks so much for your help and kindness!

Best, Carolyn

 

 

IrelandXO member

Carolyn:

Send letters and provide your e-mail address.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks, Roger. That sounds like a good approach.

Best, Carolyn

IrelandXO member

Hi, just came across this post. Did you find the information you were looking for?

I live in the house in Ervallagh/Killuppaun that you are talking about! Please get in touch and I will send photos and help you in anyway that I can.

Chris.

 

 

Christina James

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