In search of Darby O’Donnell, Anglesborough, County Limerick

In search of Darby O’Donnell, Anglesborough, County Limerick

Mary Butler and her sister-in-law Sue, both from America, had seen online a headstone in Kilbeheny erected by their ancestor Darby O’Donnell.They visited Kilbeheny to find out more about Darby and his family. 

In Kilbeheny they met IrelandXO volunteers Kieran Jordan and Patrick Finnan. Kieran spoke with Jerome and Alan, two Irish descendants of Darby and ascertained a lot of local knowledge on the family. Darby and his wife, Eleanor (Ellen) Maunsel had about 11 children and Jerome and Alan had gathered information on all of them. They were even able to tell Mary that Liam Lynch’s grandmother was a daughter of Darby and Eleanor. 

From records, it could be determined that Darby and his family lived in Brackbawn (a few miles east of Kilbeheny) in the 1820s and 1830s. They then moved to Anglesborough in the early 1840s, as evidenced by a court report from that time. Darby probably died between 1843 and 1850, but there is no record of where he was buried. Eleanor died in 1880 aged 90. 

Darby’s son Terance, Mary’s direct ancestor, had moved to Galbally and married Alice Sullivan. Terance was a shopkeeper in Galbally before he moved, with his family, to America in the 1880s. 

Patrick Finnan, a native of Galbally, was able to give some local history of the village. Mary and Sue were very pleased with their trip to Kilbeheny and Galbally and returned home with a lot more knowledge on their ancestor Darby O’Donnell.