Since I wrote the previous posting, Matthew Fitzhenry (who is a descendant of the Graiguenamanagh Fitzhenry family group) has found the St Mullins transcriptions online at the Rootweb site at:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlcar2/St_Mullins_Churchyard_01.htm
These are the same transcriptions in the book I found at the Abbey Centre in Graiguenamanagh. They were transcribed in the late 1980s, so any burials/inscriptions added since then in the graveyard won't appear on this site.
Here are the other 3 Fitzhenry "mentions" in this graveyard.
Near the ruins of the old church were three very old Murphy headstones in a row.
HIS
DOM
Erected by Patrick Fitzhenry
In memory of his wife Ann
Fitzhenry Als Murphy died
June 15th 1803 ag'd 32 years
And 3 of her children
May they rest in peace
Amen
Isn't this a fab stone? The light wasn't the best on this day but at least you can read the inscription really easily after 200 years. I don't know who Patrick and Mary were, or if they had any children who survived into adulthood.
This is more modern gravestone
In loving memory of Bridget Kelly, (Nee Furlong) Templeudigan,
who died 17th July 1916, aged 58 years.
Also her son Patrick Kelly
who died 30th Dec. 1957 aged 73 years.
Her daughter Mary Kelly
died 18th Nov. 1965, aged 77 years.
Also her daughter Catherine Gordan (Nee Kelly) Ballyloughan,
died 16th July 1972, aged 78 yrs.
Also her daughter Johanna Fitzhenry, (Nee Kelly)
died 1st June 1974, aged 77 yrs.
R.I.P.
In the 1911 census, William (63) and Bridget (53) Kelly were living as farmers in Templeudigan with 4 of their children. They had been married 29 years, Bridget had borne 13 children and 8 were still living. The family all had been born in County Wexford and were Roman Catholic.
The children at home were:
Patrick aged 27
Mary aged 23
Bridget aged 20
Johanna aged 14
I haven't found Johanna's marriage yet, but I expect that she married into the Templeudigan Fitzhenry family.
The sixth gravestone is a much older slab not far from the original 3 Fitzhenry stones mentioned in the previous post. This is in the Whelan plot.
I have made some amendments to the transcript from the book. As usual for stones of this age, the text was full of abbreviations to ensure that all the words fitted in!
Here lieth the body of John Whelan
late of Grange who depd Oct'ber 13th 1798
aged 65 yrs. Also his wife Ann Whelan
Alias Fitzhenery dep'd Janry 12th 1799 aged
45 yrs. Their son Edward Whelan wh°
dep'd Sep'ter 23rd 1799, aged 24 yrs.
Lord have mercy on their souls Amen.
Their son Robert departed this life
March the 14th 1856, aged 80 years and his
son Edward departed this life March the 12th
1837 aged 19 years.
Elizabeth Whelan, wife of Robert Whelan
Died 14th March 1884 aged 92 years.
Their Grandson Robert Whelan
Died 15th Nov 1874 aged 27 years.
Their son James Whelan
Died 6th May 1900 aged 74 years
Their daughter Mary Whelan
Died 3rd Oct 1900 aged 74 years
R - I - P
I hadn't got this family in the database even though I have several Fitzhenry - Whelan marriages. Grange is about 3 mile south west of Kilkenny. There are no Whelans in Grange in Griffith's valuations, so I now have to hunt them down a bit closer to St Mullins. If anyone has found them, please let me know.
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Back to the marriage and baptism records at the Abbey Centre, Graiguenamanagh.
The second Fitzhenry marriage was as follows and I believe this was the eldest daughter of Martin Fitzhenry and Judith Doyle
:
16 August 1865
Martin Farrell Clohasta
Mary Fitzhenry Clohasta
(Register 3, page 132)
The following three children were baptised at Graiguenamanagh but the family resided on the south bank of the river Barrow in Tinnahinch, spelt in 3 different ways in the register: These are baptism dates rather than birth dates.
1 August 1869
Martin Farrell
Martin and Mary Fitzhenry
Tinnehinch
16 August 1870
Mary Farrell
Martin and Mary Fitzsimons
Tinnahinch
(I think Fitzsimons is a mistake by the priest - in all other respects the details fit. There are no more Martin and Mary Farrell couples in Tinnahinch)
23 April 1873
Bridget Farrell
Martin and Mary Fitzhenry
Tennahinch
From an old message left on the Ancestry website some years ago, this family emigrated to New South Wales in 1883. If there are any descendants out there who have more information on this family, please get in touch.
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The Abbey Centre at Graiguenamanagh also has some reference books about the locality. There is a series of books recording gravestone inscriptions from the graveyards from the surrounding areas.
The graveyard at St Mullins has six Fitzhenry gravestones. So I went to take a look for myself.
St Mullins is the site of dissolved abbey about 5 miles south of Graigue. St Mullin himself was a local saint who is a patron saint of the area. As you can see on the Wikipedia map, it is on the cusp of three counties: Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford. It's a lovely area and well worth a visit. One of the most famous people buried in the graveyard is General Thomas Cloney, one of the leaders of the 1798 rebellion.
There were 3 Fitzhenry stones in a row, and 3 others with Fitzhenry "mentions". I'm going to discuss the 3 stones in a row as a group. If you click on the picture, it opens a larger version.
The transcripts are from the book "St Mullins and St Michaels Tombstone Inscriptions" pub St Mullins Muintir na Tir 1988
The oldest stone is on the right as you face them.This was elaborately carved in late 18th century script with religious carvings at the top of the stone.
This stone was erec'd in mem'ry
of Nicholas Fitzhenry dep'd
This Life Sep'ber 12th 1763 ag'd 78 yrs
Also his wife Bridget Byrne dep'd
March 15th 1756 aged 56 yrs
& Edward Fitz'ry dep'd Dec'ber 21
1796 Aged 72 yrs Also the Body
of Nancy Fitzhenery who died
At Lambay in Newfoundland Feb'y
19th 1807 aged 85 yr.
The carving "Lambay in Newfoundland" is quite indistinct and I have relied on the book transcription for this. However, I can only find Lambay as an island off the County Dublin coast. There is no Lambay that I can find in Newfoundland.
Stone 2 on the left is now so covered with lichen that it can't be read. To remove the lichen would damage the stone and what remains of the carving, so I can't confirm the dates, but here is the book transcription.
IHS
In memoriam.
Erected by the Rev. James Fitzhenry (Missionary South Africa) in memory of
James Fitzhenry died in 1847 aged 73 yrs.
Margaret Fitzhenry Nee Gorman died in 1840 aged 65 yrs.
Edward Fitzhenry died 1847 aged 40 yrs.
Patrick Fitzhenry died 1888 aged 84 yrs
Martin Fitzhenry died 1848 aged 46 yrs
Nancy Ryan died 1895 aged 71 yrs
John Ryan died 1879 aged 73 yrs
Judy Ryan died 1852 aged 74 yrs
Edward Ryan died 1891 aged 92 yrs
Stone 3 is in the middle and is very easily read. The last name has been added to the stone since the book was compiled in 1988.
In Sad and loving Memory of
Michael Fitzhenry
Died 4-3-1904 aged 93
Rev James Fitzhenry
Died Grahamstown South Africa
30- 4 -1919 aged 73
Margaret Fitzhenry
Died 6 - 5 -23 aged 73
Martin Fitzhenry
Died 19-4-1927 aged 75
Patrick Fitzhenry
Died 1-11-1931 aged 76
Walter Fitzhenry
Died 14-3-1939 aged 82
(late of Monamolin Rathnure)
Michael Fitzhenry N.T.
Poulpeasty
Died May 17th 1863 aged 28 years
I have featured this family before as I found the Rev. James Fitzhenry in a book about Templeudigan. This now gives us 3 generations of this family and the information that James Fitzhenry himself died out in South Aftrica. As yet I do not know how the Ryans are related, but the Gormans crop up again very soon.
The Michael Fitzhenry added to the stone is the murdered schoolteacher from the Rathgarogue school - I do not know at present how he links in with this family.
And did you notice the Martin Fitzhenry died 1848 aged 46 on the second stone. Could this be our elusive husband of Judith Doyle?
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The children of Martin Fitzhenry and Judith Doyle were born in Clohasta (Mary, 1838) and Stackley (all the rest 1840-1847).
When I asked Mary in the Abbey Centre where Stackley was, she was very sure of the directions she gave me to the townland, a couple of miles north of Graiguenamanagh, out past Mooneen on one of the minor roads.
When I looked for Stackley on the map, it didn't seem to exist, and neither did it appear when I googled it.
However Mooneen was previously known as Moneen (that led me a merry dance trying to find that in modern Ireland), so I started some creative phonetic searching and found the townland of Stakally. I had noticed the tendency to spell the townlands phonectically in the registers, but as Stackley was spelt consistently the same throughout, I thought this at least was the proper spelling!
In Griffith's Valuations (the register of who owned property and who was renting it in Ireland), in 1850 a Judith Doyle was renting land in Stakally (no buildings attached) from James Brophy, who was sub-letting the land from Sir Josiah C. Coghill, Baronet. Sir Josiah owned all the land in Stakally.
Stakally is the next townland north of Moneen (Mooneen in modern spelling), where a Judith Fitzhenry was renting a house and garden from her joint landlords Anthony Wellman, John Flood, Mrs Rebecca Creane and Mrs Elizabeth Walsh. Again, these four people owned all the land in Moneen.
Were these two women one and the same person? It was common for married women to continue to use their maiden names. What wasn't usual however was for married women to rent property in their own right. It would have expected that if Martin was still part of this family, then the property would have been in his name. Sometime between 1847 and 1850 I expect Martin left the family either through migration, desertion or his death. This was the time of the Irish famine, so the death of a young man would not have been uncommon. This may have also been when Judith's child died.
Nowadays, the old buildings of Moneen and Stakally have gone, but there are what I believe are the remains of an old church at Stakally... in a cow field. Here's the best picture I could get of it. It could of course be just an old cow shed.
Here is a picture of the grand gates leading to the farm at Stakally - they look like they were built after 1850, but these were the landmarks given to me so that I knew that I was in the Stakally townland area. If there's one thing that I found on this trip, it is that townlands aren't signposted in the conventional way... it was more a concept of where you were rather than a marked area.
Here is the excellent Griffith's Valuation website so you can have a look at the entries and see how close the two townlands were, on maps used at the time for the Valuations.
Admiral Sir Josiah C. Coghill, 3rd Baronet Coghill of Coghill, County York, resided in Belvedere, County Dublin.
He owned extensive lands in County Kilkenny.
He died 20 June 1850.
Ref: The Peerage.com and Griffith's valuations
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I spent most of last week in archives of one sort or another in the south of England. It's given me enough material to write several posts, so this is the start of the "Road Trip" series.
I regard a cemetery as an archive too - all your ancestors are neatly filed away there and if you're lucky they are also indexed correctly on the headstone above them.
I went to the Brompton Cemetery in Kensington, West London in search of the grave of Joseph Henry Fitzhenry.
Joseph was well known in his later life as an extremely wealthy art collector. In fact, he used the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as an overflow storage facility for his huge collection of silverware and fine art, much of which can still be seen at the museum today. But his origins are shrouded in mystery and even his obituary in The Times of London could only hazard a guess that he had been born in France. He never married. I didn't have a date of birth for him, but I did have his Times obituary, and armed with that I made my way to the cemetery.
For those who haven't been to Brompton Cemetery, it's well worth going even if you haven't got a grave to visit. Established in the 1850s to relieve the overcrowded inner London burial grounds, this 16 acre Victorian cemetery is now managed as one of London's Great Parks and is a haven for wildlife, as well as being beautifully atmospheric and fully of lovely architecture and history. The official website for the cemetery is here, and a selection of the photos that I took on that day are here in one of my Picasa webalbums. (Editor's note April 2015 - I've fixed the broken link to this album, but you may have to be logged into your Google account to view it)
Jay, the wonderfully helpful chap in the cemetery office, was able to look up Joseph FH on his computer database and drew me a map - Joseph was buried in the highly desirable inner circle of the burial ground. Jay also found me two other Fitzhenrys that I hadn't been expecting and ran me off their details too.
I don't really know what I had been expecting for Joseph's gravestone, but certainly something more elaborate and "arty" than the very plain flat grave cover that I found. But at least it gave me that all important birthdate detail that I was looking for.
In lead lettering on granite, the text read:
JOSEPH HENRY FITZHENRY
BORN 21st SEPTEMBER 1836
DIED 14th MARCH 1913
If any of you art lovers out there have any more information about Joseph Henry Fitzhenry, then please drop me an email.
So who were the other Fitzhenrys buried at Brompton Cemetery? The details that are held in the cemetery registers are entered below. Both women were buried in common graves rather than private plots. This meant that their family paid for the burial in the cemetery, but didn't have exclusive right to the plot, and in theory up to 8 people could be buried in the same plot. It also meant no headstone, so there were no further details to be found about them.
Elizabeth Fitzhenry of 38 East Street, Red Lion Square, Parish of St George the Martyr, Holborn.
Buried 4 April 1877 aged 65 years.
Ann Fitzhenry of 61 Duffield Street, Battersea, London.
Buried 3 May 1889 aged 53 years.
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