Bridget Greenan McCarville
Family Genealogy
It’s a new year for genealogy research. Recently while going through the 'familysearch.org' website I noticed the following bit of information - Bridget Greenan McCarville's death information. The item appears below.
Her death certificate shows her parents were named Bernard and Alice Greenan. Bridget was born In 1807, and was 90 years old at the time of her death. We believe Bridget’s sister is our own great-great grandmother, Catharine (née Greenan) Smyth. Catharine is 'Irish' John Smith's mother. Catharine's husband, Peter Smyt
h, died circa 1847 in Ireland during the Great Irish Famine. In America Catharine married William Rooney perhaps at Madison, Wisconsin, and lived in Bear Creek Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin. Living beside the Catharine was her brother, Terence Greenan. Also living in Bear Creek were three sons of Bridget Greenan and Hugh McCarville - James, Hugh John, and Francis.
Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Urcher Townland; Kilmore Civil Parish; County Monaghan.
Bernard Greenan of Urcher
Is it possible to find this family's whereabouts in Ireland? Perhaps. We can look at the Tithe Composition lists recorded between 1823 to 1832. The National Archives of Ireland shows only one Bernard Greenan listed in tithe records for County Monaghan. Bernard Greenan lived in Urcher Townland, Kilmore Civil Parish. The Kilmore tithe records were compiled on April 28, 1825.
In 1908 'Irish' John Smith visited his cousin Terry Greenan (age 69) in Urcher. The following people also lived with Terry Greenan: Catharine (wife, age 30), Bridget (daughter, age 10), and older brother Bernard (age 74). We have known about the Urcher connection for several years now. In the 19th century there was no standardization for Irish place names. Sometimes this Townland appears as 'Urcher' and sometimes it appears as 'Turcher'.
The map below shows Urcher. This Townland has 168 acres.
The map below show where Urcher is in relation to “Irish” John’s birthplace - East Rossnaglogh Townland. The following Townlands are shown: (1) East Rossnaglogh in Aghabog Parish; (2) Corravilla in Aghabog Parish; (3) Loyst in Kilmore Parish, and (4) Urcher in Kilmore Parish.
Barney Greenan of Lisnaveanne
'Barney' is a variant for 'Bernard'. The tithe records for County Monaghan show one record for 'Barney Greenan' of Lisseveanne (Lisnaveanne), Ematris Civil Parish, County Monaghan. Lisnaveanne is actually fairly close to East Rossnaglogh where our great grandfather, John Smith, was born. This is a second possibility.
This Townland is of genealogical interest to our family. 'Irish' John also visited Greenan cousins who lived in Milltown, Ematris Civil Parish, County Monaghan. Their family history suggests a possible connection to the Greenans of Lisnaveanne Townland.
In Lisnaveanne the following Greenan men leased land: Patt Greenan, Barney Greenan, Thomas Greenan, Long Patt Greenan, and Edward Greenan. 'Long Patt' is an interesting moniker, for it possibly referenced a tall man. The map below shows the location of Lisnaveanne in relation to East Rossnaglogh Townland. As you will notice Lisnaveane is much closer to East Rosnaglogh than it is from Urcher to East Rossnaglogh. The following Townlands are indicated on the following map: (1) East Rossnaglogh in Aghabog Parish; (2) Corravilla in Aghabog Parish; (3) Faltagh in Aghabog Parish; and (4) Lisnaveane (Lissevene) in Ematris Parish.
Other Early 19th Century Records
The most typical documents used to verify early Irish ancestors are the Tithe Composition lists compiled between 1824 and 1836. Other possiblities include old parish records if they exist or other sources. Unfortunately most early Catholic parish records do not exist. The reason for this is that these records traveled with the priest and did not stay in the parish. Over time these records got lost, stored in private hands or destroyed after the priest’s death. The following court record is dated 1832.
We discovered that the court in 1832 decreed the following Aghabog tenants guilty of ‘over holding’: Peter Greenan, Peter Sharkey, Denis McPhillips and Bernard Greenan.
Overholding is defined as “the act of keeping possession by the tenant, without the consent of the landlord of premises which the latter, or those under whom he claims, had leased to the former, after the term has expired. When a proper notice has been given, this injury is remedied by, ejectment, or, under local regulations, by summary proceedings”.
It is possible these individual tenants did not pay for their lease; thus, they may have been evicted for non-payment. So where did they go if that was the case? We do not see Peter Greenan listed in later records. Perhaps he left for America. What happened to ‘Bernard Greenan’ listed in this record?
Griffith’s Valuation of Ireland
The Griffith Valuation was taken circa 1848 to 1863 in Ireland. We know Greenan relatives lived here during the 19th century. What makes this interesting is we also see two unexpected entries - one for Catharine Smyth and the other for Bridget McCarval. Catharine and Bridget lived next to each other. Is this one of our links to Ireland? Perhaps we shall never know.
Lyons in America
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Children and Grandchildren of Kathryn McCarville and James Lyons, Evergreen, New York Source: ancestry.com Written by one of the descendents of Kathryn and James Lyons
Click to Enlarge Photo |
Most likely taken at the home of the Lyons sisters (lived with their parents and grandmother). Sitting in the front row (left to right) - Virginia Heisler, most likely Joseph Frank Baxter, the little boy on his shoulder is Roger Heisler Jr, then Roger Joseph Sr, Gloria Heisler Brennan (my grandmother) leaning on her father's shoulder. The row behind them (I need some assistance id the aunts) - Aunt ?, Aunt ?, Aunt Mary (she always was sitting as she had small legs that stopped growing when she had polio as a child), Mary Denehan Boylan. Last row - Mary Boylan Lyons, James Henry Lyons (Mary Lyons' husband), Loretta Lyons Heisler, Aunt ?, Lorraine Heisler Borzilleri). The unknown aunts (though I am just not sure who is which Aunt) are Alice, Florence "Florie", Angela and Kathryn. Though I think Kathryn is not in the picture as she would have just had two small children at home.
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