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FLANAGAN in Corcomohide before 1850

LimerickCorcomohide (Limerick)

I traced my husband's FLANAGAN ancestors to this parish via two small bits of information. I would love to confirm that this is, indeed, their homeland origin, as I'm afraid I may have the information wrong.

William and Anna Flanagan were brother and sister. There may have been another brother, Edward, but I am not sure yet whether he was a sibling. These three ended up in Chicago, Illinois, USA, by the 1880s, although each of them got there by wildly different routes. William evidently was "transported" to Australia, and then joined his family in Chicago from there. Anna married Stephen MALLOY, had a daughter Catherine, and by the time that daughter was one year old, Anna's husband sent her a letter stating he was leaving the port of Liverpool for Boston (USA). My husband's family has a copy of that letter, which gave the date of sailing in 1849, and the ship's name (Anglo-Americano), so that I have been able to locate passenger lists verifying that. Anna, never hearing from her husband again, set sail for America to find him, leaving her baby with family. Ultimately her daughter, Catherine, was brought to her. They never found Stephen, and for some reason, decided to settle in Chicago. (I do know that there was a Father Flanagan in their parish in Chicago; perhaps he was a relative.)

Because we have a copy of the letter explaining this, I have February 1849 as reference date. I have death certificate for Anna Flanagan Malloy in Chicago showing birthplace as County Limerick. But I had trouble understanding the handwriting on the letter's envelope, so it has been hard to retrace the steps this letter took to be delivered in 1849. The address looked like:

Anne Moley (on the side, this note was inserted: "in care of John Melan (or Malon?)

Coppanahane

Charleville (in between this line and the one above was inserted on the side the note, "County Cork")

Ireland

Someone explained to me that, although Charleville is in County Cork, the letter was destined for a village just over the county line in County Limerick. Cappanihane, as I now understand it, is a townland in the Limerick Diocese. I read somewhere else that it was in a parish called Ballyagran-Colmanswell.

As for her brother, William, his gravestone in Chicago is proudly engraved, "Native of Parish Ballygran, County Limerick, Ireland." Okay, I realize that "Ballygran" is an error, and that it should be Ballyagran....but I can't specifically find a *parish* listed as Ballyagran. I see that it is listed as a townland in County Limerick, in the civil parish of Corcomohide.

I realize this is a rather long explanation of whom I'm seeking. I've actually left quite a bit of detail out. I posted more explanation of what I'm seeking in a blog post I wrote recently at http://afamilytapestry.blogspot.com/2012/03/to-maps-it-is.html

By the way, I've also written about Ireland Reaching Out on that blog for my St. Patrick's day post. :)

Between the labels of parish, townland, civil parish, and barony, I'm quite confused. Many of the names seem to be the same or similar. I'm hoping I did get the right parish for my FLANAGANs. If not, please excuse me and help me to redirect to the right parish.

Thank you for all you and your volunteers are doing to help connect Ireland's descendants with their homeland. I think this is a wonderful cause!

Jacqi

4 replies

Hi There, i am involved in the IXO project in the counties of LImerick and North Cork, i am currently working with 10 parish communities but unfortunately the community you are trying to get in touch with are not involved with the project yet,

However i can clarify your confusion around the parish versus townland versus barony, see below

The parish of Ballyagran/Colmanswell has had a number of different names over the years. In ancient times the parish formed part of the parish of Corcomohide, which also included the present day parishes of Drumcollogher and Kilmeedy. The parish of Corcomohide was divided up in 1719.

The parish was originally called Castletown MacEnery until Captain George Conyers bought the land of the MacEnerys in 1703. The MacEnerys were the ruling family of Corcomohide and had their seat of power in Castletown. It wasn't until the early 19th century that the parish became Ballyagran.

Colmanswell was part of the parish of Bruree from 1704 until 1859 when it became a separate parish until it joined with Ballyagran in 1892. There is no actual townland of Colmanswell and so the church is situated in the townland of Gortroe.

Ballyagran can be translated as B?al Atha Grean, which means 'the fordmouth of the Gravel' while Colmanswell can be translated as Tobar Cholmain. The old Irish name for Colmanswell was Cluain Comhartha, which means 'the meadow of the sign'. The population of the parish is around 1,100.

So yes where you would seek contact is with the community of Colmanswell/ Ballyagran and what i will do is send your query to one or 2 community members who may be able to lay their hands on some info for you. Community knowledge is an amazing thing!

You are right however that location lies right on the border between County Limerick and County Cork, so it just gets that little bit confusing, for instance you could have a postal address of County Cork but actually be in a LImerick Parish...........maybe i am confusing you more!

Why i picked up on the message is actually "Corcomohide" prononced by the way corkcomheeda, was the title of a book called "From Bruree to Corcomohide" written by Mannix Joyce, because of your query i am going to try and source that publication as well,

As i say i will send your query to some contacts and if there is further information i will post for you,

Also check out our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ireland-Reaching-Out-Ballyhoura-Country/367350423289021?ref=tn_tnmn may be handy as you continue on your journey,

 

All the best

 

Amanda

 

 

 

 

 

IrelandXO member

Go to www.rootsireland.ie Great site !!! It will cost a little, but worth it. They have baptism and marriage records for most of Ireland from roughly 1810-1900

 

IrelandXO member

Hi Jacqi,

I am from the other side of the parish of Ballyagran. I have been looking up online what I could find on Flanagans in the parish. What I can see is:
• In the Tithe Applotments recorded in 1833 for the parish of Corcomohide there were two Flanagan families in the parish (details on members of families are not given)
o Michael Flanagan in the townland of Cloonpasteen
o David Flanagan in the townland of Drummenacree
• I Griffiths Valuation recorded in 1852 in the parish of Corcomohide there is one family  (details on members of families are not given)
o William Flanagan in the townland of Cappananty
• In the 1901 census for the parish of Ballyagran there is a Bess Flanigan (note the spelling) with her son James in the townland of Cappananty
• In the 1911 census for the parish of Ballyagran James Flanigan is still in the townland of Cappananty. Anne Flanigan, a sister of James’s is also recorded.  Bess is not recorded as staying in the house and I have not found her elsewhere

The townlands of Cappananty and Cappanihane are next to each other in the parish.

Be aware that in Ireland up to about 1900 people were leasing property and would have moved around more than they do now. Also be aware that is was not the householders that filled out the Tithe Applotment and Griffiths Valuation documentation. In the case of the census returns they are signed by James Flanigan.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Best Regards
Ger

Ger

I'm noticing the variety of spellings of the surnames you mentioned, and as such I would consider broadening your search beyond the name Malloy/Molloy. The Melan/Malon could also perhaps be Malone/Maloney, and there were Malones living in Cappanihane in both the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-37) and Griffith's Valuation (1848-64).

Also, as a research reference, the Irish Times has a handy map of RC parishes, which were different to the civil parishes listed in the census and land valuations etc.
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/limerickwrc.h…

Best regards,

Norma.

owensnorma

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