Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Book Report: Ballymachugh & Drumloman South


Ballymachugh & Drumloman South: 
Our Home Place by Sheelin’s Side, County Cavan, Ireland
By Ballymachugh History & Heritage Society, 2008
Printed by R & S Printers, Ltd, Monaghan, Ireland

“Ballymachugh and Drumloman South is a Roman Catholic parish in the barony of Clanmohon in the estreme south of County Cavan, Ireland, bordering the counties of Westmeath and Longford and in the Diocese of Ardagh.”

Contents:
Location, Geology & Archaeology
Civil History
Landlordism
Tithes in the Parish
Ecclesiastical History
Education
Townlands & Census
Famine & Emigration
Agriculture
Shops & Industries
Services
Lough Sheelin
Organisations in the Parish
The Arts
Sport
Finea

I bought this book in a small post office/shop in Ballynarry, Ireland and kept it in my hand for the flight home. It had been recommended to me by a couple different people during my trip and I was very happy to find a copy. Since then I’ve had time to read it carefully and I am even happier that I have this treasure. I’ve been able to read about locations where my Coyle, Cunningham & Brady families lived: Killykeen, Moate & Finea. I’ve read about the churches they attended including St Mary’s Church in Carrick. I found my family in the Griffith’s Valuation charts included in the book. In general I’ve learned more about the history of the place my ancestors lived. If your family lived in this parish, you will enjoy this book.

5 comments:

  1. It sounds like you got some good advice from people on your trip.

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  2. I just returned home from a trip to Ireland. Met with Fr. Frank Gray Ballymchugh parish St. Mary and he took me around - we are related to Bridget Reilly who married John McArdle. They had Mary, Patrick, James, Eleanor born in mid 1800's. Fr. Frank gave me a copy of this book and I started reading it on the way back to the US. Connect with me if we are related. Coyle and Reilly and McArdle are my family names from that area of Ireland.

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    1. Wonderful. You found the church, your family & a good book! We had a Patrick Brady b 1847 marry Ellen Reilly in Co Cavan. They had Thomas, Peter, Catherine, John, Bartholomew, Patrick, Maryann & Ellen. Some stayed in Ireland & some went to New Jersey.

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  3. "IrishSearch" is my cousin :-) I was shocked to see my family info there until I realized. Aside from the McArdles and Reillys mentioned by my cousin, my other Kilnaleck/Ballymachugh connections are McCahills and McGaughrans (or McGauran/Magaghran/or 5 other spellings.)

    My other branches are from Donegal and Dublin (Gillespie and McDermott) and Fox and Daley - still trying to pinpoint their counties.

    I spend 2.5 or 3 weeks a year in Ireland, and had been to the church before. I've chatted with Father Frank Grey by phone about half a dozen times this year, so this summer, I made a date to stop in and meet him. It was the high point of my trip. After tea, and an hour with the records books, Fr Frank produced a cousin from my McGaughran branch. I've only ever pursued the dead, so I was delighted to meet a living relative with stories, who knew where all the old sites were and remembered some of the folks I knew about. We planned to take no more than an hour of Fr Frank's time, and ended up spending about 7 wonderful hours with him and my new cousin...

    Fr Frank gave me a copy of the book, also. I was writing a family history for my brothers and myself. In addition to the narratives, photos, documents, news articles, etc, I was able to use to add some parish history from the book.

    He is the loveliest, most peaceful, gentle, generous man - with a great sense of humor. I hope to be able to see him again next year.

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