Ellen Leary

It has been a while since the last post. We had just learned that Myles Moriarty of Loughane had drowned in the Kenmare River leaving his wife, Ellen Leary, with five small children.

Before we go on, let's find out a little about this Ellen Leary's background.

Ellen Leary Moriarty Sullivan in Loughane - I think my Aunt Nellie Keohane took this picture. 

We know from www.irishgenealogy.ie that on 26 February 1884 Miles Moriorty of Loughanes marries Helen Leary of Bohocogram. His parents are Miles Moriorty and Debora Sweeney; her parents are Henry Leary and Mary Leary.           

Hannah John L said that Ellen Leary’s mother was Gubby/Mary Leary from Coomnahorna back in Castlecove. 

There were no Learys listed in Coomnahorna in Griffith's Valuation or the 1901 and 1911 Irish Censuses. But 27 January 1841 Mary Leary of Coad was born to Daniel Leary and Mary Sullivan. Sponsors were James Leary and Julia Sullivan. I wonder if this could be our Gubby? Do you remember that Myles Moriarty's parents were Michael Moriarty and Gobnet Sweeney who were originally from Coad before moving to Loughane? Maybe Mary Leary who married Henry Leary was a neighbor of theirs.

Ellen's father, Henry Leary, is from Bohocogram which is a townland of 1044 acres. It is on the Waterville road - maybe 4 - 5 miles from Sneem - before you get to Loughane. It has a beautiful view of the countryside and the Kenmare River. 

View of Bohocogram as you come from Beal on the Waterville road. The old Leary homestead is near the yellow cottage in the cluster of trees in the center.

Johnny Murphy picking up a lamb in Bohocogram when we rented the Leary cottage on a holiday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqxsXUMlPo

I met Catherine Mulvihill in the early 1980s when I stayed at Greta Drummond's B&B in the South Square. Catherine and her husband, Martin Mulvihill, were having a house built in Sneem. I didn't know then that Catherine's mother was a Breen from Bohocogram.

Martin Mulvihill, Chris, Anne, Gerardine, Greta, Tony Drummond, and Catherine Mulvihill in the 19800s.

Catherine wrote in 2004 for the Sneem Newsletter that back in the 1800s the Breens from Bohocogram had the grass of 20 cows which was a lot at that time. As you might remember, James Francis Bland was the landlord in the early 1850s when Griffith's Valuation was compiled. 

Catherine said that “the first O’Leary man was a blacksmith/farrier who came to Bohocogram from Macroom, Co. Cork.” (A farrier was a horse doctor – it is now a person who shoes horses.) 

This Leary, the blacksmith, married a Breen daughter from Bohocogram. Kate Mulvihill states that Mr. Breen gave a share of his land to his new son-in-law. I guess this traveling man needed a place to settle down.

I'm told this was the original Bohocogram homestead of Henry Leary. Taken in 1984.

When I looked up Bohocogram in Griffith's Valuation, I found a couple of Breens and Learys. So the blacksmith must have arrived well before 1850 if he was the first Leary in the area.

Daniel Breen is paying 6+ British pounds for Lot 7 which has more than 86 acres of land with a house and outbuildings.

Jeremiah Breen is renting Lot 9 A & B - he has about 21 acres of land with a house and outbuildings. He pays 2 British pounds in rent.

So is this Daniel Breen the one with land for 20 cows? 86 acres? That doesn't sound like too much. Is Jeremiah his son, his brother, or maybe even his father? 

And what about the Learys? Michael Leary has more land than both Breens combined! 
He is renting: 
Lot 4 A which has 185 acres of land and some sheds 
Lot 4 B which is 59 acres of land
Lot 4 C which has a house, sheds, and 30 acres of land 
Total: 272 acres. 
Michael Leary is paying about 18 British pounds in rent for all of the above. 

Plus he is also renting 81 acres of land with John Hussey. Looks like they are paying about 6 shillings rent for this. (John Hussey probably had the land where his descendant Vincent Casey of Loughane now lives - closer to Beal.) 

There is also John Leary renting Lot 12 - 
John has Lot 12 A which consists of a house, sheds, and about 15 acres of land. 
John is renting Lot 12 B to a Patrick Leary for a house and garden. John pays just over 2 British pounds in rent, and Patrick pays 6 shillings.

So that gives us Michael, John, and Patrick Leary about 1852 when Griffith's was undertaken in the Sneem area. What is the relation between all these Learys? Would one of these be Harry's father? I want to think so. How can we find out?

Years ago when I visited the Mormon Library in Weston, Massachusetts, I found that Henry Leary is listed as renting Lots 8 and 9a in Bohocogram as of 1874. Daniel O'Brien Corkery is the landlord.

Lot 8 is 59 acres and Lot 9a is 30 acres - a total of 89 acres - Lot 9a has a house on it. It looks like James Leary takes over Lot 8 in 1917 - this is likely Henry's son, Bridget Leary takes over in 1927 - this is probably James wife, and Michael Leary takes over in 1928 - James's son. There is a map on: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/  
This shows the location of these lots, but unfortunately it is under maintenance for the next few weeks so I can't include a copy.

My mother was in touch with a Bernie Brennan whose grandmother was Bridget Leary Shea - she was our Ellen Leary Moriarty's sister. Below is a note that my mother made after talking to Bernie. He had heard the story of the traveling blacksmith marrying into the Breens, and Mr. Breen dividing the land in half - giving half to the blacksmith - up the hill from Glenlough Church.

Bernie also told my mother that Ellen Leary's father was called Harry even though his name was Henry.

Bernie told my mother that there were seven children in Harry's family - Jim who inherited the farm (in 1917 as we saw above,) Mike, and John and then the four sisters - Hannah who went to Hartford, Bridget/Bridie Shea - Bernie's grandmother, Julia/Judy Curran who married "Patsy Cran," and Ellen Moriarty, my great grandmother.

I tried looking up a baptismal certificate for Henry/Harry Leary but found none on www.irishgenealogy.ie. Neither did I find a marriage certificate. But I did find some of Henry Leary and Mary Leary's other children.

1. Bridget Leary Shea - I didn't find a baptismal record for her, but on 7 February 1874 Bridget Leary marries John Shea of Miniflugh. Henry Leary is the witness. If she were 17 years old when she married, Bridget would have been born in 1857.
2. Mary Leary of Bohocogoum is baptized 5 January 1860 - parents are Harry Leary and Mary Leary. Sponsors are Daniel Leary and Catherine Leary. Now this is a name that no one mentioned, but I found Mary Leary on www.irishgenealogy.ie. 
3. John Leary of Bohocogoroum is baptized 21 June 1864 - parents are Harry Leary and Mary Leary. Sponsors are Patrick Kelly and Honora Breen. We heard that John emigrated to the USA.
4. Our Ellen Leary is baptized 1 April 1867. Sponsors are Patrick Leary and Ellen Sullivan.
5. Julia Leary of Bohocogram is baptized 27 July 1869 - parents are Henry Leary and Mary Leary. Sponsors are Patrick Kelly and Mary Sullivan. Julia marries Patrick "Patsy Cran" Currane of Ardmore (his parents were Denis Currane and Johanna Cahillane) 11 February 1890.
6. Patrick Leary of Bohocogram is baptized 9 November 1875 - parents are Henry Leary and Mary Leary. Sponsors are John Leary and Mary Leary. This is another name not mentioned previously but found on www.irishgenealogy.ie.  
7. Joanna Leary of Bohocogram is baptized 21 October 1877 - parents are Henry Leary and Mary Leary. Sponsors are John Shea and Mary Moriarty. We heard that Hannah Leary emigrated to Hartford, Connecticut in the USA - this must be her - Johanna?
8. Michael Leary - I found no record for him on www.irishgenealogy.ie. We heard that Mike Leary went to Hartford, but I'm not sure if that is correct.
9. James Leary - I found no baptismal record for him on www.irishgenealogy.ie, but we know that he inherited the homestead from Henry as noted in Lot 8 above.

So it looks like Ellen Leary has a few brothers and sisters. She also has many cousins in Bohocogram as well as in the surrounding townlands according to the baptisms on www.irishgenealogy.ie - if all the Learys are related!

So we know that our Ellen Leary is a young widow with 5 children - she has refused to leave her children with relatives and go to Amercia. How will she - how will they - survive?