John and Mary (nee Ryan) Boney lived in Lackamore Townland, Kilvellane Civil Parish, County Tipperary before moving to America. The John Boney family lived next to our ancestors, Batt and Eliza Ryan, in Brule County, Smith Township, South Dakota. Our Ryan ancestors, including John Boney’s family, attended the same church in Newport, County Tipperary - St. John’s Catholic Church.
The surname, Boney, is not commonly seen in Tipperary but is well known in Lackamore Townland, Kilvellane Civil Parish in North Riding. It wasn’t until after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 that this name appeared in England. Perhaps this name is of Norman origin. ‘Boney’ comes from the Norman word “Bonnie” which is a common nickname for an attractive person. It could also refer to someone who is ‘large or well built’, perhaps a trait well suited for mining work. Variations of this name include Bonnett, Bonney, Bonnet, Bonny, Bonnie among others.
Lackamore lore suggests the Boneys were at one time named ‘Bonaparte’ and originally from France. It would be fun to think this was possible, but seems more legend than fact. However, it is true that old English and Irish songs at the time of Napoleon referenced this fearless Emperor as ‘Boney’.
The map below shows how far Lackamore Townland is from Newport, County Tipperary.
Irish Folklore Commission and the "Boneys"
The following snippet about the Boney family comes from the Irish Folklore Commission:
"The Bowen Family in former days owned most of the land in the Townland of Lackamore. In the bad times they were reduced to poverty and when the Lackamore Mines were working over one hundred years ago three members of the family who remained became shoe-makers by trade and made shoes for the mines.
Jack "Boney" made shoes in farmers houses and while engaged in such works at Dawsons of Curreny fell in love with a daughter of the house and eloped with her. They lived for some years at Garryown where Bill was born. He composed many rhymes and satires.
Bill "Boney" his son came to live in Lackamore. He was an expert at his trade and won a prize for making the upper of a shoe without a single stitch.
Dan "Boney" lived in the Mines and was a nephew of Jack's. He was a farm labourer and while digging potatoes at Hartnedys of Murroe composed that song "Mary from Murroe" and sang it at her home that night. (More about that subject later.)”
John Boney Baptism
John Boney ties into our family tree via marriage to Batt Ryan’s sister, Mary Ryan. John Boney was baptized at St. John’s Catholic Church in Newport on May 19, 1831, to James Boney and Winny (Winifred) Connors of Lackamore Townland. From John’s baptismal record we learn his sponsors were John Boney and his mother. Ed Shaughnessy was St. John’s priest.
John had at least four other siblings according to parish records kept at Newport: Andrew, Catherine, Ellen and Patrick. In Brule County, South Dakota, John Boney was sometimes known as ‘Andrew’, and it is curious why this was so. Sponsor surnames gleaned from Boney baptismal records include McDonnell, Boney, Coffey, Brien, Ryan, Caplis, Mackey, Bresnahan and McNamara.
Map of Lackamore in 1800
Mary Ryan, daughter of James Ryan and Nancy Campbell, married John Boney on April 17, 1856. Their wedding witnesses were Richard Mackey and Mary Commons. Once married John and Mary Boney lived in Lackamore where they had their first child, Annie. Annie Boney was baptized at St. John's Catholic Church in Newport, County Tipperary, on July 29, 1857. Annie was their only child born in Ireland.
Other Boney Baptisms and Deaths
Our John Boney’s parents were James Boney and Winifred ‘Winny’ Connors of Lackamore. However, there were other Boney men raising families in Lackamore at approximately the same time as John’s parents. Their children were baptized at St. John’s Catholic Church in Newport, County Tipperary too. They are as follow:
1. Andrew Boney and Norry Coffey
Mary (baptized Feb 16, 1828); Margaret (baptized Feb. 13, 1834), Norry (baptized August 10, 1838); Catherine (baptized November 8, 1840); and Terry (baptized June 1, 1843)
2. James Boney and Winny Connors
Patrick (baptized Feb 23, 1835); Andrew (baptized January 8, 1833); John (baptized May 18, 1831); Catherine (baptized Jan 11, 1838); and Ellen (baptized June 29, 1838)
3. John Boney and Anny Dawson
Patrick (baptized October 1, 1843)
4. Patrick Boney and Ellen/Nelly Caplis
James (baptized January 9, 1836); Richard (baptized February 21, 1838); John (baptized May 18, 1840); Patrick (baptized May 3, 1842); David (baptized May 1, 1844); and Margaret (June 19, 1846)
Have we missed any baptismal records? Sure. We did not do an exhaustive search of parish records in order to identify all possible Boney family members. Interesting enough we could not find any early marriage records for Boneys in either Counties Limerick or Tipperary. We assume the Boney family has been living in Lackamore for many, many years. Too often female siblings are overlooked when tracing one’s genealogy. In this case we were able to find at least two married Boney women who lived in Lackamore. They are as follows:
5. Patrick Mackey and Catherine Boney
Mary (baptized February 25, 1835) and Catherine (baptized June 1, 1839)
6. Patrick Mancell and Sally Boney
John (baptized February 13, 1833); Catherine (baptized May 5, 1837); and Bridget (baptized February 1, 1842)
There is an Irish death recorded in Nenagh for James Boney, aged 67, born in 1798 and dying in 1865.
Nenagh Guardian from Nenagh, page 8; June 20, 1936
MR. JOHN BONEY, LACKAMORE, NEWPORT. The death took place on Tuesday, of Mr. John Boney, Lackamore, Newport. The deceased, who had reached an advanced age, was a member of a well-known and popular family in the district. The funeral took place on Wednesday at Limerick, where the Interment took place.
1848 Griffith Valuation of Ireland - Lackamore Townland
The following Boney names are listed in the Griffith Valuation Survey of Ireland, which is considered a major census substitute but generally lists only the head of household who holds the lease.
Andrew Boney House and Land
Patrick Boney House
James Boney House and Garden
Other Boney men lived in this Townland and worked for the Copper Mine located there. However, most tenant leases were long term, some perhaps as long as 25 years. Land was sublet into smaller parcels so other families could build a small cottage. As mining was the main industry in this Townland, most able bodied men would have been employed at the Copper Works.
MURDER IN LACKAMORE
I cannot help but think about all the violence incurred upon family members in Ireland. The following news article tells us Andrew Boney was murdered by a young man, Patrick Molony, who took offense at a ‘harmless joke’ played on him by the deceased. We believe Andrew mentioned below was our John Boney’s uncle.
June 23, 1852 - Belfast News-Letter - Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland
MURDER.-- The Nenagh Guardian says:-- Within the present week a most unprovoked murder has been committed at the Lackamore Copper-mines, in this county, upon an honest, industrious farmer, who was also a workman in the mine, named Andrew Boney. The melancholy occurrence originated in a harmless joke, carried on between deceased and a few other workmen, at which one of them, named Patrick Molony, a young lad, took offence, and, before he could be prevented, struck the deceased a violent blow on the head with an iron jumper, from the effects of which the unfortunate man only survived a few days. A reward of 20 pounds has been offered for the apprehension of Molony.
It does not appear young Molony ever spent any time in prison for killing Andrew Boney. There were some pre-June jail records for a young man named Patrick Moloney, but most were for minor crimes such as a stealing carrots, stealing a frock, assault or concealment in a garden. Molony disappeared from the Emerald Isles, possibly slipping aboard a ship headed to the Americas.
JOHN BONEY AT NEWPORT ASSIZES
The following news item is not about Mary Ryan’s husband, John Boney. There were other John Boneys living in Newport Parish in the Eighteen Sixties. This is an odd piece as Ann Bourke asked the court to force John Boney pay for leather without her having any sales record. Ann’s clerk told the court he could not conclusively prove John owed this money or paid his debt due to missing pages in the accounts book. For some reason I was reminded of ‘Judge Judy’ and how she would react.
Limerick Reporter; October 29, 1867; Limerick City, County Limerick
Newport Assizes
Mrs. Mary Anne Bourke v. John Boney, for leather sold to defendant 1 pound 19 shillings and 11 1/2 pence. Mrs. Bourke proved to the above amount being due to her. Mr. John O'Donnell, Solicitor, defended Boney. The account book being produced, some of the leaves of the account were cut out, by accident, as Mrs. Bourke's clerk explained.
The case was dismissed.
LACKAMORE COPPER MINES
We will discuss the Lackamore Copper Mines, which supplied employment to most of the able bodied men in the area including the Boney family. We are certain John Boney, his father and siblings also worked in the mines, and the mines were an important source of income for the Boney families living in Lackamore. The mine also hired minor workers including female workers. (We suspected John Boney had a mining background when we saw his and Batt Ryan’s names in an 1880 census residing at a mining camp in Nevadaville, Colorado.)
The Lackamore mines were located 5 miles east of Newport, and was a major copper producer until it closed in 1859. Another copper mine located in Killeen Townland was owned by the same person. Incidentally, Killeen Townland is adjacent to Killoscully Townland where our ancestors, Edward and Margaret Hill, lived.
In 1842 Lackamore Copper Mines employed over 200 miners, which included a number of young people and children. The demand for workers and miners increased each year until finally in 1849 Lackamore Copper Mines reported employing 1014 persons from the immediate neighborhood. In addition, the mining company provided meals to their workers at what the mining company indicated “at first cost cash price”. In its first twenty years of operation, the mines were extremely profitable and paid high dividends; however, those dividends decreased each year due to higher and higher operating costs. By 1859 the Lackamore mines were no longer profitable and shut down operations.
Lackamore mines employed lots of child workers to make up for its shortfall of adult hands. The Children's Employment Commission of Ireland reported on the hiring and treatment of young persons in South Ireland mines. One is instantly reminded of Charles Dickens and his novels, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, which described life and rigor of child labor. The Commission's report was published on February 11, 1841. What is interesting about this report is that it interviewed young laborers at Lackamore mines and published those interviews with its report. We assume the Boney children all worked in the mines, and that their lives were tedious. Outside of work and church, it does not appear these children had any time for fun activities. Their interviews follow:
(Reports by Frederick Roper, Esq., on the Employment of Children and Young Persons, in Mines and Collieries, in the South of Ireland; and on the State, Condition, and Treatment of such Children and Young Persons.)
EVIDENCE relating to the Lackamore Copper Mine.
No. 35 - Michael Ryan states: -
I am about 11 years of age. I live close by here with my father and mother. I have been working at these works about six months. I am to-day at work feeding the crusher; but generally at work cobbing. I like my work very well. It is not hard work. I get 4d. a-day. I give my wages to my mother. I get paid once a-month. We come to work at six o'clock in the morning when the bell rings. We work till 12, then the bell rings for dinner. We have an hour for dinner and then work till six in the evening, when the bell rings. My dinner is brought to me on the works. I had milk and potatoes for my dinner to day. I generally have the same. We have supper when we go home, potatoes again. I am sometimes a little tired in leaving work. I have day wages and am paid once a-month in the office. I sometimes get a slap when I am not attending my work. I am very well treated in the works. I have nothing to find fault with. I have never been to school. I cannot either read or write. I go to chapel about two miles from home.
No. 36 - John M'Namara states:-
I am about 11 years old. I live with my parents, three miles from these works. I am to day at work picking the ore. I have generally worked at picking; I only began to work at this mine last Monday. I like my work very well. It is not hard work. I would rather be at work here than be idle at home. I come to work at six o'clock and work till 12, dinner time, have an hour and then work till six in the evening. I have supper of potatoes when I go home and sometimes milk. I get 4d. a-day. My dinner is brought to me. I cannot read or write. I have been a little to school. I go to chapel.
No. 37 - Biddy Ryan states: -
I am 14 years old and live with my father and mother about a mile and a half from this. I have been working here about two years. I am the youngest girl at work at these works. All the others are older. I am picking the ore. I always work at picking. I like my work very well. It is not hard work. It agrees very well with me. I am in very good health. I get 5d. a-day but I hope the captain is going to raise my wages. I used to go to school a little. I cannot either read or write. I give my wages to my mother. I can sew a little, my mother taught me. I go to chapel on Sundays, and to catechism after. I am very well treated in the works. I have no complaint to make.
No. 38 - Mary Ryan states: -
I am about 18 years of age; I live with my parents about three miles from this. I have been working here about three years. I am to-day at work picking. I generally work at jigging. I get 6d. a-day, for wages for whatever work I am at. I like my work very well, it is not hard work, and agrees very well with me. I have always had good health. We all work in the open air. There are about 15 or 16 females only at work at these works; most of the females are about my age. 6d. a-day is the highest wages we females get. My dinner, which is the only meal I have whilst at work, like the rest of us, is brought to me; we have an hour for dinner. I have several brothers and sisters. I give my wages to my mother, to help to keep the family. I can neither read or write. I have never been to school. I can make my own clothes - my mother taught me this. Most of us girls about here can make our own clothes. We are very regularly paid every month. I used to knit stockings and other things at home before I came to work here but I have never been at any other work but at these works. We are all very well and kindly treated in these works.
No. 39 - John Ryan states:-
I am about 16 years of age. I live with my parents, about two miles from this. I have been working here about five years. I am at work cobbing today. I generally work now at cobbing. I get 8d. a-day. I give my wages to my mother. I get very regularly paid once a-month in the office. I can read, but not write. I have been to school. I have never worked at any other kind of work. I seldom get anything but potatoes and milk for my meals. There is a large family of us.
James Boney Eviction
We reported on this event earlier on our website. In 1869 James Boney of Lackamore was evicted from his home after making major improvements to it. To make matters worse Boney had no recourse in law due to a concept call ‘Tenancy at Will’, which meant the landlord could evict tenants for little or no reason and they did not have to provide any notice of eviction. This court case was cited many times in 19th century case law studies.
Mary From Murroe
The following ditty was composed by William Boney about a young lass named Mary Hartnedy from Abington & Clonken Civil Parish, whom young William wooed. It is a well known song in that part of Ireland and can be found on the world wide web if you are interested in hearing it sung. William met young Mary in the village of Murroe, County Limerick, which is near the town of Newport. Mary’s dancing was legendary and she must have charmed many a young man in that region with her good looks and personality. Much later William said he had been brought into Murroe to assist with the potato harvests in Hartnedy’s fields. As happens with so many young lovers, Mary married another man.
Mary from Murroe -William Boney
If I was at home in Lackamore my pen I’d take and write,
The thought lies in my bosom, in Mary I take delight.
It was in her father’s garden to manhood’s power I grew,
When first I came to court that Dame, called Mary from Murroe.
The evening of a funeral at the cross below the forge,
It was there I met my Mary and she coming down the road.
Alas, alas, our time grew short, her mother came in view,
And I had to quit down by the smith’s with my Mary from Murroe.
We came along together until we came to the boiling well,
We both sat down together until the dark night on us fell.
Oh, dark and dreary was the night that fell around us two,
May the daylight shine forever on my Mary from Murroe.
We moved along together ‘till we came to the shady grove,
Where the woodcock and the pheasant came roving down the brook.
Our enemies were on the road but us they could not view,
Three times I kissed the ruby lips of my Mary from Murroe.
We strolled along together ‘till we came to the painted gate,
‘Go home, go home, dear Mary, I fear it’s getting late,
Go home, go home, my Mary, your footsteps I’ll pursue,
And in spite of fate I’ll come again to court you near Murroe.
If I had all the riches that Lord Damer had in store,
Or half those earthly treasures that lie around Lackamore.
It’s feely I’d bestow them all, to them I’d bid adieu,
To spend one night by Mary’s side in that thatched house near Murroe.
Finally...
A Catholic chapel was within 2 miles of Lackamore, and it was assigned to the the larger church at Newport. Interesting enough though is that the first Boney church record we find in Newport is dated 1828. There are no Boney marriages recorded earlier than 1828 in either Newport or in adjacent Limerick parish of Abington. Boney names do not appear in 1825 Newport tithe records, but we do see many Boney tithe records listed near Lickfinn Parish, Tipperary. A newspaper article below describes a mining accident near New Birmingham which claimed the life of John Boney. Lickfinn is a couple miles away from New Birmingham.
Tipperary Free Press; December 11, 1850
A POOR man named John Boney, a watchman employed by the Mining Company of Ballinastick, near New Birmingham, fell into a coal pit on the 5th inst., and was found dead at the bottom next morning. The pit was upwards of ninety feet deep and the unfortunate man's hut being within a few yards of it, as there was no railing around it, he must have stumbled in. He was upwards of seventy years old.