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Burns/Mulrooney

RoscommonBaslick (Roscommon)Kilkeevin (Roscommon)

 

I am planning a trip to Ireland this July, and am trying to locate the towland for my Great Great Grandparents.  Patrick Burns was born in approximately 1811 and was married to Ann Mulrooney about 1843. The Civil Parishes of Kilkeevin and neighboring Baslic appear to be the area where they were born, lived and raised a family Unfortunately, a search of the area Catholic parishes of that area, Tulsk (Now Ogulla) and Kilkeevin has failed to yield any record of our Patrick and Ann and their children who emigrated to West Orange, NJ in the United States. An attempt to search the church records from the parishes of Ballinameen, Frenchpark and Tibohine also yielded no real success. In the case of the first two of these, their records begin after the marriage of Patrick and Ann Mulrooney and the births of their children, so no luck there. A review of the Tibohine records, did find a few "Burns" instances and even one "Mulrooney." But no link to any of our Burns ancestors. So we are kind of stuck there, but leaning towards that they came from the Catholic parish of either Tulsk or Kilkeevin.

However, records of their daughter, Bridget Burns, who remained behind in Ireland with her husband Thomas Crane do provide specific evidence as to their location in Co. Roscommon. It is documented in the civil records that they resided in the PLU of Castlerea, the Civil Parish of Baslic, in the townland of Corlis. Corlis immediately borders the Civil Parish of Kilkeevin. Additionally, the church records of the Tulsk parish (now Ogulla) demonstrate that for several of their children, various Mulrooney family members served as baptism sponsors. Presumably, this demonstrates a close relationship between the Burns and Mulrooney families (e.g. uncles, aunts and/or cousins) A search for the Mulrooneys shows them living in a few different townlands in Kilkeevin, all near the Baslic border. This lends credibility to the fact that Patrick and Ann also originated in this area.

Any information would be most welcome.

joekearns1003@…

4 replies

Joe:

They had to come from Tulsk/Ogulla RC parish since the records for Castlerea/Kilkeevin go back to 1803 and are available on the subscription site Roots Ireland. The Tulsk/Ogulla records start in 1865 but for some reason not baptismal records come up for children of Thomas Craine and Bridget Burns. Below are the civil birth reocrds for James and Martin. (I know there were other children).

See second record for 1870 birth of James Crane

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

See ninth record for civil birth of Martin Crane 

 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

The 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing shows a Patrick Beirne in Ballyglass townland in Baslick parish. Ballyglass is three townlands to the northeast of Corlis. See this map  https://leitrim-roscommon.com/MAPS/tulsk.html Beirne was a much more common spelling compared to Burns. I think this is the best lead for where Patrick was from

I also believe that the marriage of Patrick and Ann likely occurred pre-1843. I don't know if Bridget was the oldest child but I believe she was married before 1864.

I will look for death records for Patrick ( I have searched and no good leads so far) and Ann.

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Roger,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and for the research you put into it.

Finding the records on Bridget Burns was a "eureka moment" for me.  All of the records that show her married to Thomas Crane and the births/baptisims of their children in Corlis were great.  And it gave me a good general location as to where Patrick and Ann Mulrooney must have come from.  The reason I also suspected Kilkeevin was that many of the baptismal sponsors for her children were Mulrooneys which, to me, showed a close relationship between the two families. Checking Census records I located some Mulrooneys in Clonfiliv, Emlagh, and Falmore, all in Kilkeevin and since they were relatively close to Corlis, I wondered if Kilkeevin may be involved.  Would crossing from one parish to another have been common in the mid 1800's? Of course, if Bridget was from one of those townlands, how is it she married a fellow from Corlis...they are a number of miles apart?

I take your point as to the spelling of the name, however, it is clear in all of the records related to Bridget that she always used the "Burns" format, as did her parents and siblings.  I know there were many Beirnes and Byrnes families, many of whom emigtrated from the Castlerea and Frenchpark areas to West Orange, NJ to work in the hat factories there.  As did Patrick and his children.

Bridget's death record in 1923 shows her as 79 years of age, which gives a birth year of 1844 which agrees with my estimate.  She was the second child, and had an older sister, Sarah, who I would presume to be born in 1842-43. Therefor I estmate that Patrick and Ann were married around 1842.  Patrick and Ann and the rest of their children: Sarah, Peter, James, Catherine and William emigrated to the U.S. around 1860 and I know they left Bridget behind.  I had presumed this was because she had already married, now I see that she would have only been 15 or so when they left, and in fact married around four years later.  That is a puzzle to me.

I already have the death records of Patrick and Ann.  They both died in Orange, NJ...He in 1878 and she in 1896.

Again, thank you for your efforts on this.  I greatly appreciate it.  If you run into any other information, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Best Regards,

Joe Kearns

 

joekearns1003@…

Joe:

Civil parish boundaries were not an issue for marriages. I estimate that Corlis and Emlagh were about six-seven miles apart which was not unusual for a couple to meet and marry. Many marriages were also arranged by the parents.

Ages on death records were provided by the informant and he or she may not have known exactly how old the deceased was and in fact Bridget may not have know he exact year of birth. Accuracy of ages in the 19th century was not as important as it is for us in the 21 century.

It does seem strange that Bridget would be left at home unmarried while the family emigrated. It would have been hearbreaking for her and her family.

Roger

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

I have an Ellen Mulrooney as my Great-Great Grandmother. She lived in Ballindollaghan (parish of Baslick) She lived 1825 - 1905. I do not know much about her sibling but I am aware of where her home once stood. (where the big red dot is) Would be interesting if we are distantly related. I know Ellen had a son Peter 

vignaysahans@g…

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