A Familiar Last Name

Its been 5 years since I’ve updated this blog, and since then the amount of information available on the web has increased exponentially! With the rapid availability of data I’ve been able to find much more of my family tree. Lets dive right in.

In past posts I’ve identified my great-grandparents John and Lizzie living in Muinganear (also spelled Muingvauha or Muingvaur), Laccabaun (or Lackabawn), in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. I decided to dig a little deeper into this area to learn more about my great-grandfather John. From census records we know:

1. JOHN CONNOR was born around 1868 (he is 43 in the 1911 census).

2. JOHN CONNOR and LIZZIE CARMODY were married around 1888, because it states they've been married 13 years in 1901 census.

3. JOHN CONNOR’s father was JAMES CONNOR, born around 1831. John’s mother is unknown, but we know his father James was widowed before the 1901 census.

Upon searching www.irishgenealogy.ie I found a baptism record for a JOHN CONNOR that seems to match my great-grandfather.

Baptism of JOHN CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 5 July 1868

Name   JOHN CONNOR

Date of Birth   1 July 1868

Address           MOINGANEIR

Father  JAMES CONNOR

Mother            JULIA GEANY

Further details in the record

Father Occupation      NR

Sponsor 1        PATRICK CONNOR

Sponsor 2        MARY KERBY

Priest   REV.P.MORIARTY

About the record

Book Number Page     Entry Number Record_Identifier

1          10       N/R    KY-RC-BA-360263

This is an index only record, which means it is transcribed from the original parish records of Knocknagoshel, but it includes 3 facts that verify this is my great-grandfather:

1) The location Moinganeir is yet ANOTHER spelling of Muinganear. I verified this by doing a general search of baptisms for Moinganeir (there were only 48) and verified that the last names (Connor, Cremins, Fleming, Carmody, Murphy, Curtain, Kerby, Keane, and Ahearn) matched the last names of those in the town of Muinganear in the 1901 and 1911 census. 

2) His father is JAMES CONNOR.

3) The date of birth matches John’s census records.

However, I now have many more questions.

1. We’ve learned that John’s mother is JULIA GEANY. (Note that John’s first daughter is named Julia for his mother). However, John’s wife ELIZABETH CARMODY has a mother named JOHANA GEANEY. Could Julia and Johana be related? (If they are sisters, that would make John and his wife Elizabeth first cousins. My first guess is that they aren’t sisters because of the slightly different spelling of the last name, but that would be very curious!)

2. We find 2 new names to investigate on this document, Witnesses: PATRICK CONNOR and MARY KERBY. Unfortunately, we don’t know their relation to JOHN, but they may be puzzle pieces we can fit in later…

3. If we know JOHN had at least a brother BRYAN, and a sister MARY (both single and living with John and his father JAMES in the 1901 census), could we also find their baptismal records?

With the last question in mind I did a new search on www.irishgenealogy.ie and found the following:

Area - KERRY (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation - KNOCKNAGOSHEL

Baptism of MARY CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 22 August 1870

Name	MARY CONNOR
Date of Birth	19 August 1870
Address	MOINGANEIR
Father	JAMES CONNOR
Mother	JULIA GEANY

Further details in the record

Father Occupation	NR
Sponsor 1	PATRICK CONNOR
Sponsor 2	MARY CONNOR
Priest	REV.J.O CONNOR

About the record

Book Number	Page	Entry Number	Record_Identifier
1	23	N/R	KY-RC-BA-360462

Area - KERRY (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation - KNOCKNAGOSHEL

Baptism of JULIA CONNOR of MOINGANEIR on 21 December 1873

Name	JULIA CONNOR
Date of Birth	19 December 1873
Address	MOINGANEIR
Father	JAMES CONNOR
Mother	JULIA GEANY

Further details in the record

Father Occupation	NR
Sponsor 1	PATRICK CONNOR
Sponsor 2	BRIDGET FOLEY
Priest	REV.P.PIERSE

About the record

Book Number	Page	Entry Number	Record_Identifier
1	46	N/R	KY-RC-BA-360823

There is no mention of BRYAN, but we did find his sister MARY and another sister unknown until now, JULIA CONNOR. Also, note that PATRICK CONNOR is a witness at all 3 baptisms. I’m going to assume that he is one of JAMES’ brothers for now.

With all of this new information, the Connor Family tree is starting to take form. I’ll sign off with the following depiction of John’s family tree:

More about the Connor Family at the turn of the century

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

In my last update, I had found my grandfather Denis O’Connor’s immediate family in Laccabaun, in the 1911 census. John and Lizzie Connor (my great grandparents) were married around 1888, and had their first child on March 15^th in 1899. So I went back to the 1901 census, to see if they we’re in Laccabaun 10 years earlier. It actually brought me back one more generation:

In 1901 John and Lizzie (or rather Elizabeth here) have had James and Edward, whose ages match up with their known birth dates, verifying the document. Here’s what clues it give us:

1. Bryan Connor (John’s older brother) was born sometime around 1869, and was still single in 1901. From my family records I know he is later married and has 4 children.
2. Mary Connor (John’s younger sister) was born sometime around 1873, and was single in 1901.
3. Kate Carmody (Lizzie’s younger sister) was born sometime in 1885, and is single in 1901. She has a listed profession as a “General Servant Domestic.” It was actually this clue of Kate that made me re-investigate the Carmody family. More on that later…
4. James Connor (John’s father, my great-great grandfather) was born sometime around 1831, and is a retired farmer living with his son. This document also tells us he spoke Irish (some would say Gaelic) and English, was widowed before 1901, and he never learned to read or write.

When I found that James Connor had never learned to read or write I was afraid I might have reached the end of the line for my Connor family investigation. I have no record of James’ wife, and if he couldn’t read or write, what hope could I have for finding records of him? I was about to conclude that James’ wife died sometime before 1901, and that James died sometime between 1901 and 1911, when I found a clue in comparing the Laccabaun building returns from 1901 and 1911:

In 1911 there is a James Connor living next door to John and Lizzie and their 6 children. This record also states the John owns the home that James is living in, so I checked the Return of Out-Offices and Farm-Steading (Form B.2) for Lackbawn, to find that John’s estate (Home #13) has a stable, a cow house and a piggery. (I don’t know what a piggery is, and I think I’m okay with that…)

Next door at James Connor’s place (Home #14, which is really owned by his son John), there are no out-offices or farm-steadings, which seems to be uncommon for the township. I checked the census records and I found James and Bryan in 1911:

Here Bryan is 44 and still single (I’m a little curious as to why) and I can’t help but comment on how he has labeled himself twice now as an “agricultural labourer” instead of just “Farmer.” Perhaps this is my American ignorance talking, but is there a difference? It seems that he and his father didn’t have a farm, so maybe Bryan worked on John’s farm? I think I will have to ask around in the family for more.

Finding the O'Connors! Kind of...

Things a Novice has learned about Irish Genealogy:

1. The most important information to have about an ancestor is their name, the year they were born, and what town they are from. If you can find out the County, Parliamentary Division, Poor Law Union, District Electoral Division (DED), Townland, Barony and/or Parish, then you have a good shot at finding their records. Even though countrywide records may be consolidated for historical purposes, they are still categorized by location.

2. When searching in historical records it is essential that you try alternate spellings of the baronies, townships, streets, and names. Often towns can have many records in the same year with different phonetic spellings. Also, last names can have many different spellings and people’s first names in their later years can be a nickname that does not match their birth certificate.

I’m still trying to find my grandfather’s immediate family in 1911. As I’ve mentioned, ‘cousin John’ is the keeper of the records, so I went to him with what I’ve found. He knew about my grandfather living in Ballyduff with the Carmodys, and furthers that his father (my grandfather’s twin) was with the rest of the family in Muinganear, Knocknagashal. Because the area around Knocknagoshel is divided strangely among parishes and baronies in 1911, I decided to do some research.

Under the 1863 Registration Act, county Kerry was divided into six Superintendant Registrar's Districts, based on the Poor Law Unions. These were subdivided into 33 more districts, grouping the whole or parts of Civil Parishes. Since I know Knocknagoshel is in Tralee Poor Law Union, I’ll focus my search for the O’Connor family in this area. Tralee’s registrar districts were: Brosna, Castleisland, Castlemaine, Kilgobban, and Tralee. These districts are subdivided into DEDs, or District Electoral Divisions. Working backwards, Knocknagoshel is the DED my grandfather lived in, and it’s in the Brosna registrar district. However, Knocknagoshel is part of the Castleisland Parish. Having looked through Brosna and having found no O’Connors that matched my family, I decided to look to the Castleisland area. There in the DED of Laccabaun (now spelt Lackabawn, Lackabaun and Laccabawn), I found them- The O’Connors - But they were not exactly who I was expecting. Here you can see why:

Known Birth Dates of my Grandfather’s Family:

• John O’Connor – born unknown date, married Elizabeth Carmody on an unknown date.
• Elizabeth (Carmody) O’Connor – born 17 February 1871, wife before 1899
• James O’Connor – b. 15 March 1899 – would be 12 in April 1911
• Edmond O’Connor – b. 05 Dec 1900 – would be 10 in April 1911
• Denis O’Connor – (my grandfather) is 8 and living with the Carmodys in 1911
• Jeremiah O’Connor – (Denis’ twin) b. 09 Oct 1902 and would be 8 in April 1911
• John O’Connor – b. 01 Jul 1904 – would be 7 in April 1911
• Patrick O’Connor – b. 07 Oct 1907 – would be 3 in April 1911
• Dan O’Connor – b. 19 Apr 1908 is living with brother Denis & the Carmodys in 1911
• Julia O’Connor – b. 1906 – would be 4 or 5 in April 1911
• Brian O’Connor – b. 10 Apr 1910 – would be 1-ish in April 1911
• Hanna O’Connor (b. 1913) and Tom O’Connor (b. 1915) would not be on the 1911 census.

This is what I found:

The family’s names and ages line up perfectly (except for the exclusion of Patrick?) EXCEPT they’re not O’Connors! They’re Connors!! It completely shocks me that my last name might be less than a century old! Who added the O? And does anyone in my family know about this? I’m not surprised to find out that dad’s cousin John did, but when I showed this to my father he was completed surprised. How weird must it be to know your dad was born to The Connor family, after identifying yourself as an O’Connor your whole life?

What we now know from this document:

1. John Connor was born around 1868
2. This document verifies Elizabeth Carmody's baptism records of 17 February 1871, because she would be 40 in April 1911.
3. Patrick Connor was not with the family in 1911. (where is he?)
4. John Connor and Lizzie Carmody were married around 1888, because it states they've been married 13 years in this census. Also, they have not lost any children.

The Carmody's of Knocknagoshel Parish

My dad says he remembers when his father heard that his uncle Edmond had died. My grandfather had emigrated to the U.S. a long time ago by then, but he was still upset to hear this, because he had always thought of Edmond as his father. Now that I've learned that my grandfather lived in a completely different village than the rest of his family, it really makes sense how he could identify with someone else as his father. It seems to me that the Carmody's tromping grounds were Knocknagoshel, and for the O'Connor roots I should look elsewhere.

Luckily for me, Knocknagoshel has amazing records. I should explain- many census' were taken in Ireland, and many were burned (or some say "exploded" to be more accurate). And in the rare case of Knocknagoshel, many baptism records survived and were later transcribed into a Parish database online!! This database is very Kerry specific so I really lucked out.

I was hoping to find that the Carmodys had deep roots in Knocknagoshel and maybe I could go back another generation or two. No dice, unfortunately. I could not find EDMOND CARMODY or JOHANA GEANEY's baptism records (which would have their parents names). But I did find both of their names on my great-grandmother's birth certificate transcription! (again, I couldn't find an actual image of the baptism records, but the information was rewritten as follows).

BAPTISM of Elizabeth Carmody of BAILLEDUV on 18 February 1871
Name ELIZABETH CARMODY
Date of Birth 17 February 1871
Address BAILLEDUV
Father EDMOND CARMODY
Mother JOANNA GEANY
Father Occupation NR
Sponsor 1 LAURENCE WRENN
Sponsor 2 ELIZABETH RELIHAN
Priest REV. M. O'FLAHERTY

So, I know have a birth date for my great grandmother - Feb 17th 1871 - making her the oldest of her known siblings thus far. And notice how the Carmodys are from a place called Ballyduff in 1901, that is spelled Bailleduv in 1871. Phonetics is sometimes the rule when finding small townships! (Also notice that Elizabeth's sponsor is Laurence Wrenn, and there is a Wrenn family living next to the Carmodys in 1901-11). Even better, I found 3 more baptism records with the parents EDMOND CARMODY and JOHANA GEANY.

BAPTISM of Denis Carmody of BAILLEBAN on 1 May 1873
Name DENIS CARMODY
Date of Birth 29 April 1873
Address BAILLEBAN
Father EDMOND CARMODY
Mother JOANNA GEANY
Father Occupation NR
Sponsor 1 LAURENCE WRENN
Sponsor 2 MARY WRENN
Priest REV. P. PIERSE
There is no mention of Denis Carmody in Knocknagoshel in 1901 or 1911, but neither is my great-grandmother, so perhaps Denis moved away too. I can't help but gather that the family name 'Denis' (which is huge in our family) started on the Carmody side.

1. 
   

Other CARMODY Baptisms:

CATHERINE CARMODY of BAILLEDUV
M. Joanna Geany, F. Edmond Carmody / Sponsors: Denis Geany, Julia Leane
PATRICK CARMODY on 18 March 1885 (b. 17 March 1875)
Sponsors: Simon Carmody, Mary Carmody (Priest Rev. T. Carmody)

What we now know about the Carmodys:

Edmond Carmody (somehow related to Simon & Mary Carmody- siblings makes most sense) and Johana Geany (somehow related to Denis Geany) had the following children:

ELIZABETH (b. 17 Feb. 1871), DENIS (b. 29 Apr. 1873), PATRICK (b. 17 Mar 1875), DANIEL (b. 1877), BRIDGET (b. 1879), THOMAS (b.1881), EDMOND (b.1883) and CATHERINE (1885).

Parish records are some of the most reliable records for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The Carmodys lived in the Castleisland Parish, but they had a closer church in Knocknagoshel, where a priest from Castleisland would visit. I found one more record of Edmond Carmody, in 1916 when he signed a petition for the Bishop of Kerry to send Knocknagoshel its own priest. I'm working with the preserver of this document to send me a copy with my g-g-grandfather's signature, but until then you can see the transcription here. The petition was granted.

Being a Document Detective...

I was so excited to see me Great-great grandfathers handwriting in 1911, that I forgot to fully process and investigate it- which is super important because historical documents in Ireland are SO hard to come by. Here's what we've learned from his census document in 1911:

1. EDMOND CARMODY (my great-great grandfather) was a farmer, aged 71 (therefor born 1840-ish) speaks Irish and English and is Widowed. Which means...

2. JOHANA GEANEY (my great-great grandmother) died sometime before 1911.

3. JOHANA and EDMOND had the following children: ELIZABETH (my g-grandmother), EDMOND, BRIDGET, and CATHERINE (who has married a NOLAN by 1911 and had a son JOHN NOLAN).

4. CATHERINE NOLAN (my grandfather's aunt) was married to ?? NOLAN around 1908, and lost one child before having JOHN NOLAN.

Along with the census, The National Archives of Ireland provides the "Enumerator's Abstract," "House and Building Returns," as well as an "Out-Offices and Farm-Steadings Return," which you can read more about here. I really like to look at the House and Building returns because it calculates what class of houses are in the villiage, and on what basis they should be taxed. Here's the 1911 Building return of my great-great grandfather EDMOND CARMODY's town of Ballyduff, Knocknagoshel, Co. Kerry.

You can view this document (as well as the others I listed above) much bigger and in greater detail here. From this document I can see that there are other Carmodys living in this small town. I believe that some of them may be Edmond's brothers or sisters, but since there's no documentation to prove it, I put it on the back-burner for now. Meanwhile, from this document I've learned my g-g-grandfather, Edmond Carmody owned his own home, which was 3rd class by English standards. It had a thatch roof, 2 windows, and 2 rooms for 7 people!

While I've learned so much, I now have many more questions.

1. I can't seem to find DENIS O'CONNOR's parents, brothers or sisters in Knocknagoshel in 1911- Where are they?

2. What about my g-g-grandmother JOHANA GEANEY? When did she die? Did she have family?

3. Can I go further back than my g-g-grandfather Edmond who lived in Knocknagoshel?

The last question prompts me to check the 1901 census, for the same town of Knocknagoshel. My grandfather wouldn't have been born yet, but I'm interested to see what Edmond was up to. Here's the same town's building return 10 years earlier, in 1901.

Here he is 10 years earlier; Edmond (Here misspelled as Edward- which I wish could say is uncommon, but searching alternate spellings is VITAL when looking at Irish history). This time his house is classified as 2nd Class! Apparently this house has one more room and window than the house he occupies in 1911. I wonder if he moved, rebuilt, or remodeled to pay less taxes?

We now know:

1. JOHANA (GEANEY) CARMODY was born sometime around 1847, and died after 1901 but before 1911.

2. Johana and Edmond (both Irish speaking) had the following children: ELIZABETH (my g-grandmother), CATHERINE (b. 1875), DANIEL (b. 1877), BRIDGET (b. 1879), THOMAS (b. 1881) and EDMOND (b. 1883)

I feel like I'm learning so much about Elizabeth Carmody's family (who raised my grand father), but where is Elizabeth and her husband John at this time? They are no where to be found in Knocknagoshel. The hunt continues...

Where it all begins...

Genealogy has become such a trend today that it seems it costs a million dollars to find your roots. An international 1 year subscription to Ancestry.com is $300.00!! I may not know much about my ancestors, but I know they weren't made of money. As I was holed up in my apartment sick one day, I decided to see what I could find out via the rarely reliable world wide web for free. I figured with my A+ googling skills, and a metro card (my passport to the metropolitan areas all my grandparents have lived, or there records might be stored) I might be able to find out a little bit more about my lineage.

Thankfully, my dad's cousin John keeps excellent family tree records. I happened to negotiate a copy out of him when he came to see the Christmas Spectacular. I soon realized I would not have been able to find anything without cousin John's comprehensive document. First, I'll show you my tree:

First, let me say I'm embarrassed to say I don't know my grandma's maiden name, so she didn't make the cut on the tree. But thankfully, I now know birth dates and locations for my grandparents on the O'Connor side in Ireland. Apparently my grandfather (DENIS O'CONNOR) was born in a town called Knocknagoshel, Co Kerry, Ireland in 1902. (Luckily, I don't have to pronounce this townships here). His parents were JOHN O'CONNOR and ELIZABETH CARMODY who were born on an unknown date, but both died in Knocknagoshel in the 1950s. Elizabeth Carmody's parent's were EDMOND and JOHANA (GEANEY) CARMODY from the smaller area of Meen, Knocknagoshel. I remember that my grandfather was one of 11 kids (and a twin) and was sent away to live with a relative family called the Carmodys, because there were too many kids to care for in his home. (I can't even begin to imagine what life was like for him.)

After much google searching I finally found a free public records database for Ireland- Thankfully the National Archives of Ireland will let you search the census of 1901 and 1911, online for free here.

Since my grandfather was born in 1902, I start with the 1911 Census. The records are first organized by county, which I know his is Kerry (which my sister is named for). Next I have to l0cate his DED which is District Electorial Divisions- thankfully I find one named Knocknagoshel, but yet there are more subcatagories. I returned to cousin John's records looking for further specification of where in Knocknagoshel Denis Sr. lived, to find a place called Muinganear, but it is not one of the subcategories listed. I randomly started poking through one called Ballyduff (because honestly it sounded like a village in The Shire). There are a million O'Connors in Knocknagoshel, and everytime I see a Denis I get a little excited until I notice they are far too old, or don't have the right parents and siblings. Finally I find a Denis that fits, and at age 8 he's living with The Carmodys. Its definitely him. Here's a copy of the census, filled out by my great-great-grandfather Edmond Carmody.

You can see this Census as a PDF by clicking here. I'm so glad that such a simple search yielded such exciting results.