Hi,

Have you requested marriage and death records from the State of Pennsylvania for Bridget Bowan and John Ronan? Sometimes they include parents' names and birth locations. Have you requested a death record for Honora Kinnie Scollen?

For volunteers that aren't registered with FamilySearch Michael Scollen had a sister Margaret born in Ireland about 1844.She married Peter Rogers about 1868 and had a son Frank in about 1869. They came to America in 1870.

I found an article on Ancestry that mentioned that Michael was born in England, that the family went back to Ireland before heading to America. I will try to find again.

Regards- Mary

Hi Roger McDonnell,

Thanks for the Meet and Greet Submission Form. I will complete those and send them in.

As for the Bowens in Moneygall, I have seen Michael Bowen in Moneygall and am currently building trees to see how we might connect there. The DNA match from Elizabeth tracks back to Roderick Bowen and Eliza Ryan in Ballyrehy and Barna, which aren't that far from Moneygall.

I think that Bridget Bowen came to New York in 1853. The ship manifest doesn't list her town or County but I'd like to know if there are any other records in Ireland for people who left? For instance, at the town hall or church records?

I've seen many different spellings for the Scollins name. However, it is helpful to know which areas to focus on. I'm going to look again at DNA matches from both of the areas that you suggested.

Regards,

Ann

Hi Mary,

Thanks for your suggestions. I have sent inquiries to the relevant counties in Pennsylvania and am waiting for replies.

I think this is the article you found?

http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/bios/scollins-john-j.txt

JOHN JOSEPH SCOLLINS, Justice of the Peace, at Houtzdale, Pa., is one of the

best known of the younger generation of business men in the Borough. He was

born at Houtzdale, May 12, 1885, and is a son of Michael and Alicia (Ronan)

Scollins.

Michael Scollins, his father, was born in England but was reared in Ireland

and came from there to America at an early age. He lived at Tioga County, prior

to coming to Houtzdale in the early 80's. He followed mining as an occupation,

and for a time conducted a licensed restaurant and the Woodward Hotel at

Houtzdale, retiring from this business in 1899. He then went to Pittsburgh and

worked for some years in the employ of the Carnegie Steel Company. He returned

to Houtzdale, where he died in 1905. He married Alicia Ronan, who was born in

Huntingdon County. Her father, John Ronan, was a miner and a man of

considerable prominence at Dudley, where he served on the School Board, and as

its secretary, for thirty years. Mrs. Scollins still survives. Seven children

were born to Michael Scollins and his wife, namely: Nora, who is the wife of

Charles W. Pie, of Somerset, Pa.; Margaret, who died in infancy; John; Agnes;

Mary, who died at the age of twelve years; Paul and Catherine.

John Scollins received his primary education in the parochial school at

Houtzdale and in 1903 graduated from the Houtzdale High School. While a student

at the High School he was appointed to the office of Town Clerk, which position

he held continuously until 1909, when he resigned to assume the duties of his

present office. Upon graduation, he became connected with the law offices of W.

H. Patterson and J. A. Gleason, took the necessary examination and secured a

teacher's certificate, following which he taught one term at the Beaverton

School in Decatur Township, and was then elected to teach the Moshannon School

at Osceola. He was crippled in infancy and about this time, owing to his active

life, his injury developed to an extent that caused the loss of a leg, in 1904.

In the meantime he opened a fire insurance agency, which he still conducts in

conjunction with his other work. He is recognized as a young man of more than

the usual amount of ability, while his personality is such that he has hosts of

friends. He succeeded to the office of Justice of the Peace by appointment of

Governor Stuart; and is now serving a full term having been elected to this

office on the Democratic ticket. He is deeply interested in educational

affairs; was one of the organizers of the Alumni Association of the Houtzdale

High School, and its secretary since organization; is a member of the Roman

Catholic Church, and is identified with the Knights of Columbus.

Regards,

Ann

Ann,

You probably already have read, From-

Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens Scollins are on pages 974-976

Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens : Swoope, Roland D. (Roland Davis), 1885- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hello Elwyn,

Thanks for your message and investigations. 

I will go back to our DNA matches with this information in mind to see if I can find a more precise location in County Derry. 

Regards,

Ann

Ann,

Yes, that was the article. I think we were sending about the same time.

Ann.

Places you might want to check out along the way.

Kylemore Abbey - Wikipedia in Galway

In 2019 Swinford had its 250 anniversary. They put together a booklet. You might want to contact the local government to see if books are still available.

Mellett's Emporium | Swinford | Facebook They have been around for 228 years. They might be able to help.

I don't know what denomination you are but Our Lady Help of Christian Church (Catholic), built in 1891 has beautiful stained-glass windows. Previously the Catholic Church was called the Barn Chapel which was built on land leased from the Brabazon family. Barn Chapel was a long, narrow, plain building with a thatched roof. It no longer exists because the new Church was built on the same site.

There are bogs in the area so artifacts have been found. Also because of the bogs early on children brought bricks of peat to school to warm the classrooms.

Unique bar has grocery store in front. Interesting to see.

Padraic Horkan's Grocer's & Lounge Bar © Pamela Norrington cc-by-sa/2.0 :: Geograph Ireland

The North Mayo Heritage Centre: Where Heritage Meets Nature

Horkans Castlebar

About Knock Shrine | Knock Shrine

Kilconduff Cemetery in Swinford, County Mayo - Find a Grave Cemetery

Trim Castle and Newgrange if you are in the area are worth stopping at.

Barack Obama Plaza - Wikipedia in Moneygall

Regards- Mary

Not sure how much info you already have about Lissanumera, but I also have family from near that townland, so I can share some info which might be of interest.

At this link you can see more info about the townland itself, including links to other sites and an interactive map letting you move around to see what's nearby:

https://www.townlands.ie/mayo/gallen/kilconduff/brackloon/lissanumera/

If you use the link at the bottom of that page for Griffith's Valuation (mid-1800's), you can see that there was just one Doyle tenant listed, and one Lynskey, so there are good odds that they are your ancestors (or at least relatives, if your own ancestors had emigrated before then). If you follow the link to the 1901 census, you can see that there was still just one Lynskey family there then, and one Doyle family. The map shows Lissanumera as about halfway between Swinford and Bohola. My relatives (including some distant Lynskey ones) lived more towards Bohola.

If you'd like to research the parish registers for Kilconduff/Swineford (slight variation from the spelling of the town name), you can view them online (and download any pages of interest) at this link (the registers go back as far as 1808, with some gaps):

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0133

One thing to keep in mind when searching birth records from 1864 on (when civil records for Catholics began) is that Swinford was the local registration district, covering not only the parish of Kilconduff/Swineford, but also some surrounding parishes, so a person listed as being born in Swinford was not necessarily born in the town itself, or even in Swineford parish (often, the record will also mention the relevant townland).

In Irish, the townland name is Lios an Iomaire. A lios is an enclosed ring or area, often referring to what is known as a "fairy fort" (but which was probably just a walled homestead at some point in the past), and an iomaire is a ridge in a plowed field. The surnames Lynskey/Lynsky/Lenskey are all anglicizations of the Irish surname Ó Loinscigh, found principally in Mayo and Galway. The name is sometimes found in older parish registers as “Lynsk” or “Lensk”. The families in the area would have been entirely Irish-speaking in the mid-1800’s (and most were still speaking it as late as the early 1900's, as were my relatives), but most did not know how to write Irish (they were taught to read and write English in school, where Irish was not usually allowed). As pronounced in Irish, the name could be misheard by an English-speaker as something like “Lenshky” or “Lenshk”, and even the priest who made the register entry may have been unsure how to spell it. In later years, it settled down in most cases as Lynskey or Lynsky, which can be seen in later register entries. There is another surname, Ó Loingsigh, used by several different families in other parts of Ireland, which is believed to be related, but which was usually anglicized as Lynch or Linchy. Ó Loinscigh was also sometimes anglicized as Lynch, but the Lynskey form is much more common in Mayo.

In case you're interested, there's a web site in Ireland which can be helpful to people who have identified a particular parish as relevant to their family history. In the 1930’s, Irish schoolchildren were sent out on class projects where they interviewed mostly older people in their parish about the history and customs of the area. Some of the interviews were conducted in English and some in Irish. Over 250,000 interviews were conducted and they are available online at the Irish National Folklore Collection Project’s site:

https://www.duchas.ie/en

The content of the interviews varied from place to place, but they can cover local history, local place names, people known to the person being interviewed, local myths and superstitions, and other customs, such as how holidays or weddings were celebrated and even on what day of the week people customarily did their washing or baked bread. It’s said to be the largest national folklore collection in the world, and the interviews can be fascinating. The National Folklore Collection Project also has folklore podcasts (“Blúiríní Béaloidis” or “Folklore Fragments”) which one can listen to (in English and Irish) at this site:

https://soundcloud.com/folklore_podcast

Mary,

Your tips are wonderful. There is something for everyone, which is what we need. 

Thank you!

Ann

kevin45sfl

Thanks for the detailed information on Lissanumera and the area. 

I've seen the Griffiths Valuations before, but it was before I knew that the Lynskeys were part of our family. It makes sense, though, because they lived right next to each other! You are correct, both of the households are our ancestors. I'll have to look again at the registers with a new perspective. 

It's fascinating to hear how the Lynskey name would have been pronounced. 

Also, the school children's interviews from the 1930's are very sweet. 

Ann

Ann,

As you probably are aware of on Ancestry many of the trees place John Ronan's birth in Galway.

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I found one which suggested. This son must have died because they christened another son John in 1829, record found on RootsIreland. This son went to Australia.

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Other children, besides those you have on your tree, of John Ronan and Catherine Butler I found on RootsIreland, John was not listed- Thomas 1803, Bridget 1808, Patrick 1817. One of the sponsors' names was Michael Ronan.

St. John's, Kilkenny city, Ossory - Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI

Regards- Mary

Hi Mary,

Yes, I've seen the records for Gill Roonane and Biddy Hanly. They have been ruled out because their John moved to Maryland and was living in Baltimore in 1862.

Michael Ronan and Cathe Burke's son John born in 1827 must have died and they named the second son John in 1829. He must have been the one that left for Australia in 1853.

However, there is a DNA match for a family with ancestors in Kilkenny. They are leading back to Michael Barrett (1791-1866) and Judith Ronan (1811-). Her parents are John Ronan and Catherine Butler. I was hoping to find a John Ronan born to them but it seems that their last child was born in 1822 as you noticed. I still haven't found how Judith could be connected to our family. I'm still digging. Perhaps there is another brother to Michael and John and Judith is a cousin?