Cleary/Nowlan Family
Just returned from a visit to the church and a nice chat with Father at Taghmon school outside Crookedwood. My great great great grandparents, James Cleary and Catherine Nowlan were married at the church November 23, 1815. Their first four children were baptized there as well. Anne (1816), Matthew (1818), Mary (1819), Catherine (1822). Their fifth child, Thomas, was born in Cornwall, Ontario Canada in 1824. Their sixth child, James--my great great grandfather--was born in Cornwall as well, in 1827, followed by Brigitte (1829) and Richard (1831). Their baptismal records and subsequent marriages and children were recorded at St. Andrew's West church in Cornwall. I have a lot of those records, and have traced most of the family for the first two or three generations. (And of course, the family of my great great grandfather James) to the present.
We had a wonderful time visiting the church and the area--were there to watch the all-Ireland Hurling championship at the pub in crookedwood, which was a wonderful experience. Getting a sense of the place and its peaceful beauty was very special to me. Understanding from local historian Ruth Illingworth the potential reasons for the grandparents to emigrate to Canada was fascinating.