Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Mahony of Kilmorna

Hello, Tom,

I ran across your great website while Google searching for my Mahony descendants. My great grandfather, Bart Sheehan, married Honora Mahony in Mountcollins, Limerick in about 1850. Mountcollins is a village in the corner of Limerick within a “stone’s throw” from both Cork and Kerry (closest Kerry town is Brosna).

As you know, Irish records are poor going back past 1850, so I had no details beyond that time—until I saw Part II of “Mahonys of Kerry” on your website. On the “Mahony of Battersfield” family tree, the top of the tree shows a Denis Mahony of Mountcollins marrying a Honora Sheaghane (Sheehan). Most likely, I am related to both these Mahonys and Sheehans

I am grateful for your putting the historical information on your website—that I was

My dad, David Sheehan, left Ireland in the early 1920’s and settled in Chicago where he married my mother, Catherine O’Sullivan, who was born a few miles from where my dad was born in Mountcollins, Limerick.

Since 1971, I have lived in a suburb of Philadelphia, and I have a daughter who lives in Manhattan.


Thanks and best regards,

JOHN SHEEHAN

4 comments:

John Sheehan said...

Tom, I’m glad that you put my email on your website—and fully agree that making the Mahony information public will help me and other searchers make connections.

I have not yet connected my Mahonys and Sheehans to those listed on the Mahony of Batterfield tree, but it is a pretty good guess that they are related. There is a gap of several generations between the latest Mahonys listed on the Batterfield tree and my known ancestors below--

My great grandmother, Honora Mahony, married Bartholomew/Bart Sheehan in about 1850.
• Bartholomew Sheehan is listed on Griffiths Valuation in the townland of Seeconglas, Limerick (located a few miles outside of the village of Mountcollins. My guess is that the father of Bart Sheehan is David Sheehan who is listed on the approx. 1820 Tithe Valuation in Ballybeg (or Bailebeag), Brosna, Kerry. Ballybeg, located in Brosna, Kerry, is just across the River Feale from the village of Mountcollins.
• Honora Mahony, b. about 1830 and died after 1911, is the daughter of Michael Mahony and Mary Collins.
- Honora had 2 brothers, Daniel and Patrick, that I know of and possibly other siblings—
- Daniel Mahony, b. 1834 in Seeconglas, died Aug. 12, 1904 in Lowell, MA. He married Ellen Lyons about 1860 in Ireland. She is the daughter of Denis Lyons and Mary Daly and was born in 1830 in Ireland and died Dec 17, 1909
- Patrick Mahony, b. 1845 in Seeconglas, Limerick, died Nov 17, 1918 in Lowell, MA. He married Catherine Cronin on Nov 26, 1879 in Lowell, MA. Catherine Cronin was born in June 1843 in Ireland and died Jan 17 1920 in Lowell, MA.

If you know of or run across any Mahonys from the area of Brosna or Mountcollins, I would appreciate your letting me know or putting me in touch with the researchers.

Once again, Tom, I am very grateful for your work in placing Mahony information on your website so that searchers like me can find connections to our families.

Here is the Sheehan Clan Blog—

http://sheehanclan.blogspot.com/

Best regards,

JOHN SHEEHAN

johnsheehan@yahoo.com

Tom Mahony said...

John:

Glad to be of any help in your research, and thanks for posting this to the blog. The good news is that all posts and replies, comments, etc. on the blog are included in search engine searches, so your names and dates will come up on Google and the like if someone is searching for similar names, locations, etc. The more times people look at these pages, the better the result will be in the search engines.

My brother Dan did all of the research and laborious transcribing of the old Mahony articles for the website, and he wrote the Daniel of Dunloe article for Kerry Magazine while he was living in Tralee.

I forgot just how close Brosna is to Castleisland, so your Mahonys and mine are from the same area. The migration of Mahonys went from Bandon, in West Cork into Kerry through that region. I will absolutely pass along any information or contact that I come across if I think there is a connection to your Sheehan/Mahony genealogy.

Best regards,

Tom

Helen Mahoney said...

Hello John
I don't know if this is relevant but my great great great grandfather, Cornelius Mahoney, married a Jane Sheehan. That's as far back as I can go with my family tree. They were both born circa 1770. He was a veterinary surgeon. One of their sons (James Mahoney, b 1794 in or near Killarney, Co. Kerry) emigrated with his family to Australia in 1837. It's a long shot but worth trying.
Kind regards
Helen Mahoney, New Zealand

John Sheehan said...

Helen,

Thanks for your interest. Killarney is about 45 km from Mountcollins, Limerick where my Mahony/Mahoney family is from. It's probably a long shot, as you said.

Regards,

John Sheehan
Wayne, PA (US)