I was very pleased to receive this message from John Cullen of Newfoundland.
It relates to a group of three Fitzhenry gravestones in St Mullins graveyard in County Carlow which I wrote about in 2010, and the memorial on one of them for a Nancy Fitzhenry who died in "Lambay, Newfoundland"
John wrote:
Nancy Fitzhenry remembered on an old headstone in St Mullins Graveyard, Co Carlow as having died in Lambay, Newfoundland in 180?
I believe this to be Torbay, just north of the city of St Johns.
Anne Fitzhenry (Nancy being a pet name for Anne) from Adamstown Parish, Co Wexford married Timothy Fogarty from Torbay, Newfoundland in St. John's on 10th October, 1805. Timothy was born in Moath Hill, Waterford.
Sponsors: Wm. Brien, Philip Hickey and Catherine Coghlan
Anne, (Nancy) according to the headstone in St. Mullins died in 180? which ties in perfectly with the fact that Timothy Fogarty of Torbay married again in 1813, and in his will of 1826, mentions his then wife as Mary Ellis. There is no mention of any offspring from either marriage.
There is one Fitzhenry in the Tithe Applotment Books for the Parish of Adamstown. Walter Fitzhenry in 1834. This may be the father or brother of Anne and son or grandson of Edward Fitzhenry who died in 1796 and is on the same headstone as Nancy (Anne) and who then is possibly the grandfather of Anne.
If all this adds up, then when the news reached Adamstown of Anne's death they must have decided to remember her fondly using her pet name on the old family grave in St. Mullins
Thought you might be interested.
I am a life long student of Irish settlement in Newfoundland, originally from Adamstown, maternal grandparents buried in St. Mullins and living now in Newfoundland.
In the book "St Mullins and St Michaels Tombstone Inscriptions" (pub. St Mullins Muintir na Tir 1988) Nancy's inscription read:
Also the Body
of Nancy Fitzhenery who died
At Lambay in Newfoundland Feb'y
19th 1807 aged 85 yr.
Two things struck me about this now that we have the extra information from John. Firstly, it is very unlikely that Nancy's body is actually in that grave in St Mullins if she had died in Newfoundland. Secondly, it is also very unlikely that she was aged 85 if she left a husband who went on to get married again a few years later, so perhaps she was younger and time had taken its toll on the inscription.
And then I had another look through my collected photos, and found another transcribed version of the same gravestone memorial... no attribution or citation on the photo (slaps self on wrist), but I took it from a printed book in November 2010 ... and it looks very much like a Brian Cantwell* transcription typescript in the way it is set out:
Also the body of Nancy Fitzhenry who died
at Lambay in Newfoundland
Feb'ry 9th 1807 aged 33 yrs.
Requiefcat in Pace
So that seems more like the age we are looking for
And then I remembered that I had seen a similar inscription, when I had been at Rossdroit churchyard with my good friend Gretta Browne poking around amongst the brambles in the old Catholic graves side of the church (the church itself is Church of Ireland, and the Protestant graves are all on the other side in a very neat lawn).
Here lies ye body of Mary
Fitzhenry alias Doyle dep'dMarch 7th 1809 aged 73 yrs
Also the body of Nancy
Fitz-Henry who died at Tarbay
Newfoundland Febry the 9th
1807 aged 33 yrs.
So it would seem that Nancy had connections with the Fitzhenry familes buried both at St Mullins (the Templudigan family) and at Rossdoit (probably the Courtnacuddy Fitzhenry family living just west of Enniscorthy town).
And they both thought it would be nice to remember her.
Thank you John for helping me tie up that puzzle.
* Brian Cantwell was an avid collector and transcriber of "Memorials to the Dead" in the 1970s, mainly in Co. Wexford. As time takes its toll on the engraving and stonework, his transcriptions are now more important than ever. I have quoted his works in previous posts, and if you type Cantwell into the search box at the top of the page, you will get a list of all the posts.
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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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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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