Torpey, Kilkeary, Ryder & Cavanagh Families around Borrisokane, Sopwell & Ballingarry in Co Tipperary

Hi Kathleen,

Greetings from  Borrisokane. You seem to have already accessed all available records in tracing your ancestors but the good news is that Torpey and Cavanagh family names  are still quite prevalent in the greater Borrisokane, Ballingarry, Cloughjordan area. I'll make contact with some of the present day family members and see if any of the ancestors you have mentioned ring any bells with them. I will certainly be able to point you in the right direction re graveyards where your ancestors are likely to be buried when you visit in August.  Am I to presume that you will be travelling from Western Victoria.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Tom Kennedy

tkencos@gmail.com

Hi Tom,

I was very pleased to get your reply.

I have been doing a bit more digging, trawling the Shinrone Marriage records after 1844 and I have come up with a number of possible Torpey female marriages from Lissadonna. I also discovered that Michael and Mary Torpy swapped houses with their son John and his family. They moved to Clicka and John moved to their house in Lissadonna.

I am not surprised that there are still lots of Torpeys in the Borrisokane area, as they all seem to have had so many children. Fourteen seemed about standard.

I am one tiny step closer to establishing the identity of Daniel Torpey and Mary Ryder. In 1916 their son Michael applied for a pension and on the form it has a Daniel and Mary Torpey as his parents and living at Lissadonna. So far not been able to prove she is Mary Ryder.

I am going to put together a Torpey family tree from what I have discovered so far. I'll bring a copy and who knows there maybe a Torpey who knows their history going way back.

I also looked at Grifiths Valuation maps and compared them to Google present day maps and am looking forward to seeing and photographing Lissadonna and Clicka.

We are in Dublin 16 Aug and will drive straight to Killenaule where we are staying at an organic farm and B&B for the eight days and then off to Lisbon! We leave from Sydney, as I live in NSW now, although born in Melbourne Victoria.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply. 

all the best

Kathleen Fanning

Hello again Kathleen,

I have shown your 2 messages to a man named John Torpey who lives near Borrisokane and he is familiar with all the Torpey, Kavanagh and Cleary names that you mention. He is aware of the house swapping in Lissadonna and is pretty certain that most of the Torpey graves are in Ballingarry Graveyard - he thinks he knows the exact location of the grave of Michael Torpey and Honor Cleary , marked by a flat slab. It seems pretty certain that this present day John is a blood relative to you and he is more than happy to meet up with you in August and help with your tracing. Killenaule is about 70 km, 45 miles from Borrisokane while Ballingarry / Lisadonna / Cricka are all within 15mins drive of John's home.

None of us are able to throw any light on Ryder and Kilkeary families but who knows something might show up.

My e-mail for most convenient contact is   tkencos@gmail.com . You might forward your e-mail to me and I will then put yourself and John in direct contact and ye can take it from there.

Best wishes,

Tom Kennedy.