Family history goes beyond mere names and dates of births, marriages and deaths of ancestors that we can each find in our family tree. It’s also more than the records, archives and census returns that captured these persons in a moment of time - family history is about what makes us who we are. It’s about people who lived and breathed, loved and suffered, failed and triumphed. It’s about roots and branches and leaves and entire forests. It’s about all of us.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” Marcus Garvey A century ago this year (1922), over seven hundred years of our national history of historic records, papers, wills and census returns held in the Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin was destroyed in the opening phase of the Irish Civil War. In hours, centuries of carefully curated national and family history was reduced to ash and dust and with it, many families early history. However, despite such a loss, we are able to gradually discover, via family records passed down through generations, newspaper births, marriages and death notices, various publications, occasional photographs where ancestors took the time to record who was who through to today's ongoing digitisation of church & surviving state records, a surprising amount of additional detail survives which helps track a family's ancestry down through the years. It's not always the written archive record that we Irish can rely on to help place our ancestors, it can also be sometimes painstaking physical research on weathered gravestones in parish graveyards and even the spoken word. One of the first to record the Lynch, Granig ancestry & family details was Diarmuid Lynch (1878-1950). He recalls in an autobiographical draft written during the late 1940s, of local knowledge and his own curiosity & attempts to discover the stories of past generations:
These handwritten notes made by Diarmuid in 1902 remain in the family archives: One hundred and twenty years later, what follows is what has been researched and discovered since Diarmuid made these notes as a young man.
This online ancestry record is divided into four sections with each generation's history, some primary documents, photographs, items of interest and links to extended family, local history etc included. Part 1: 1700-1802 - 4th, 5th & 6th generations
Part 2: 1803-1831 - 7th generation Part 3: 1832-1877 - 8th generation Part 4: 1878-1890 - 9th generation This article is a work in progress and updated from time to time as additional information is discovered or contributed. The date on which the page was last updated will be maintained. Some family research hints, tips and links are included at the end of this item for any readers interested in doing some exploration of their own family history. Note: European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies from 25 May 2018 - therefore no data relating to living persons is posted/uploaded/maintained on this page or on this website. A Brief History of Tracton
Tracton, formerly 'an opulent Anglo-Norman monastic centre' in South Cork, situated close to Cork City and the Atlantic ocean was a small agricultural village once part of the lands of the Earls of Desmond following the Norman conquest in the 1200s. The Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary's was founded in 1224 with the first monks coming from the White Coast or Albus Tractus in Wales, giving rise to the name of Tracton Abbey. In the Middle Ages the monks claimed to be in possession of a piece of the True Cross where during Easter, vast multitudes would flock to Tracton Abbey to pay devotion to the holy relic according to Dr. Charles Smith's The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork, 1750.
Following the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 1540s, the Earl of Desmond's lands (including Tracton Abbey parish) were confiscated by the Crown and this land was then granted to those who were proven to be loyal to Tudor English interests. These included the ‘adventurers’ who had funded the armies involved in quelling Irish rebellions; the soldiers who served in the armies involved (in lieu of pay); and also others who were due favours by the British court. In 1568, much of the lands formerly held by the Earl of Desmond was transferred to Sir Henry Guilford who promptly sold them on to to Sir Walter Raleigh. Map of Cork from c.1570
A section of a horizontal map of Ireland produced by the Flemish engraver Abraham Ortelious (1527-1598). This section illustrates the most modern mapping techniques of the late 16th Century: precise geographical details, beautifully rendered topographical symbols and an abundance of place names. Important land properties are represented by renderings of images of buildings from these estates. Tracton was an important church centre at the time.
Thanks to Leslie Brown. Click image to view full maps.
In 1588, Thomas Daunt of Owlpen, Gloucestershire, (1560-1621) and his cousin, James Daunt, obtained a lease of Tracton Abbey and its lands from Sir Warham St Leger, later purchasing the townlands of Gortigrenane. (Daunt's aunt, Elizabeth Throckmorton was married to Sir Walter Raleigh, and there is a record of Raleigh and his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert landing a consignment of hounds, foxes, potatoes and tobacco to Britsfieldtown Cove (now Roberts Cove) for Daunt.) Thomas Daunt later passed his lands at Tracton Abbey to his younger brother, William Daunt of (1563-1620). Meanwhile, in 1602, the adventurer and future First Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle bought Raleigh's estates of some 170 square kilometres for £1,500 and shortly afterwards set up home in Lismore Castle and also Castlemartyr. The Will of Viscount Shannon, son of the Earl of Cork, proved in 1699, confirmed the grant of the manor, towns and lands of Tracton Abbey (approximately 1,000 acres) to Achilles Daunt and his descendants for a period of 999 years. Achilles was the great-grandson of the William Daunt previously mentioned. Boyle's descendants (known as The Earls of Shannon from 1756) remained as owners of vast tracts of land in Munster, and continued to reside largely at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork (The Earl's residence eventually became the Carmelite College secondary school in 1929 and from 2007, The Castlemartyr Resort Hotel). The Daunt family in turn then rented or leased land in small and large parcels to agricultural tenants - the local and long dispossessed Irish. Many of the Daunt tenants were also landlords, subletting to smaller landholders. Frequently a tenant would hold a lease for 21 years or for 3 lives mentioned on a lease, and while less secure year-on-year and even unwritten arrangements were not uncommon, on the other hand longer leases of 99 or even 999 years were sometimes made to tenants. It was common, particularly where the landlord resided elsewhere, for a land agent to be appointed by the landlord to carry out the day to day management of the estate, and this would have entailed the setting of rents and the collection of rents and arrears, and ensuring that tenants carried out the stipulations made in their leases such as the growing of certain crops, the planting of trees or other improvements. The landed estate holding such as lands in Tracton Abbey parish, was the centre of the rural economy in Ireland and the close relationship between landlord and tenant was the basis of the land system. The landlord was more than just a collector of rent, he was also expected to fulfil certain patrician duties such as the providing of relief and employment in bad times. The tenant was in return expected to pay the rent and to make improvements to the land or agricultural practices. It may be argued that this kind of relationship was prone to friction when the economic or political climate was unfavourable to tenants' well-being. This was the background in which most Irish farming families existed for generations, including the Lynches of the Townland of Granig, Parish of Tracton Abbey. Sources: Samuel Lewis 'A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland' 1837. For the entry on Tracton, click here |
Part 1: Lynch Ancestry 1700-1802 - 4th, 5th & 6th Generations
Townland of Granig, Parish of Tracton Abbey, Barony of Kinnalea, County Cork
Family tree ancestry record 1700-1800
Fourth Generation: c1700-1773
No written records exist for Lynch ancestors prior to c.1750.
The farming, cottiers & labourer residents of Tracton, as with every other parish in Ireland during the 18th century and beyond were simply not recorded. Of those noted, little survives today other than brief entries in agricultural & geographical surveys perhaps partly due to draconian anti-Catholic legislation (the Penal Laws) which were imposed from 1703-1793 limiting the right of Roman Catholics to own property above a certain value, to hold public positions and to receive an education.
This legislation also applied to 'Dissenters' and saw the rights of Presbyterians & Quakers similarily curtailed.
These laws were, according to Edmund Burke "a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man."
We're left with more lasting and personal records - those in stone and carved on gravestones.
The first recorded person for which records do exist is Catherine Linchy (the family name spelling changed during the mid 18th century from Linchy to Lynch).
Catherine was born around 1705 to an unrecorded/unknown Lynch in Granig and married a John Spelan (Spillane).
She died aged 45 on February 19, 1750, and was buried in Tracton Abbey graveyard 'with her husband's people'. We have no details of her life, children and descendants.
Her brother, Daniel Linchy of 'Gronig' in the parish of Tracton Abbey, diocese of Cork and Ross was a tenant farmer in the townland of Granig and is the first recorded in print as having his Will proven on his death in 1772. From this, we can reasonably estimate he was probably born c. 1690-1710.
(Daniel's will is listed in a 1910 publication 'Indexes to Irish Wills' by W.P.Phillimore, Volume 2, Cork & Ross, Cloyne for the period 1548-1800. This index recorded Irish wills by diocese nationwide as held by the Public Records Office, Dublin.)
No written records exist for Lynch ancestors prior to c.1750.
The farming, cottiers & labourer residents of Tracton, as with every other parish in Ireland during the 18th century and beyond were simply not recorded. Of those noted, little survives today other than brief entries in agricultural & geographical surveys perhaps partly due to draconian anti-Catholic legislation (the Penal Laws) which were imposed from 1703-1793 limiting the right of Roman Catholics to own property above a certain value, to hold public positions and to receive an education.
This legislation also applied to 'Dissenters' and saw the rights of Presbyterians & Quakers similarily curtailed.
These laws were, according to Edmund Burke "a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man."
We're left with more lasting and personal records - those in stone and carved on gravestones.
The first recorded person for which records do exist is Catherine Linchy (the family name spelling changed during the mid 18th century from Linchy to Lynch).
Catherine was born around 1705 to an unrecorded/unknown Lynch in Granig and married a John Spelan (Spillane).
She died aged 45 on February 19, 1750, and was buried in Tracton Abbey graveyard 'with her husband's people'. We have no details of her life, children and descendants.
Her brother, Daniel Linchy of 'Gronig' in the parish of Tracton Abbey, diocese of Cork and Ross was a tenant farmer in the townland of Granig and is the first recorded in print as having his Will proven on his death in 1772. From this, we can reasonably estimate he was probably born c. 1690-1710.
(Daniel's will is listed in a 1910 publication 'Indexes to Irish Wills' by W.P.Phillimore, Volume 2, Cork & Ross, Cloyne for the period 1548-1800. This index recorded Irish wills by diocese nationwide as held by the Public Records Office, Dublin.)
Farming in 18th Century Tracton
Like the rest of Europe in the 1690s, Irish agriculture was beginning a recovery from nearly a century of political and economic instability, war, depressed prices, and lackluster growth. The new colonial property system set in place during the course of the previous century, under which Scottish and English settlers owned approximately 80 percent of the land, was still taking root. The political upheaval of the previous century had left the native commercial classes in a shambles, with market and credit systems in an undeveloped state. According to William Petty, a trustworthy observer during this period, over 90 percent of profitable land was under grass in the 1680s. The production of crops was largely restricted to a region in the southeast of the country that had supplied wheat to Dublin and abroad. The mass of the rural population was still occupied in a pastoral, livestock-based economy that had not fundamentally changed for centuries.
Daniel was part of the three tier pastoral system in Irish agriculture that was becoming more developed in Ireland at the time.
Top of the tier was the local Landlord, the Daunt family, holding estates of several thousand acres. The landlord usually farmed some 250-500 prime acres of land and the remainder was let to local tenant farmers, the second tier, in return for a twice-annual rent payment.
In turn, farmers such as Daniel, rented small cottages and a small strip of land for subsistence farming to those on the lowest end of the scale, farm labourers, who usually toiled on the farmer's land on a twelve month contract.
The forgotten Famine of 1740-41
A major event during this generation's lifetime was the Irish Famine of 1740–1741 (Irish: Bliain an Áir 'the Year of Slaughter').
This famine is estimated to have killed between 13% and 20% of the 1740 population of 2.4 million people, which was a proportionately greater loss than during the subsequent Great Famine of 1845–1852. This famine was one of the first recorded as a result of climactic conditions. An extremely cold winter of 1739/40 and then dry weather in successive years, resulted in food losses through a series of poor grain harvests, a shortage of milk, and frost damage to potatoes. At this time, grains, particularly oats, were more important than potatoes as staples in the diet of most Irish people. Deaths from mass starvation in 1740–1741 were compounded by an outbreak of fatal diseases. The cold and its effects extended across Europe, but mortality was higher in Ireland because both subsistence food crops; grain and potatoes failed.
Read more on the famine of 1740-41 here
Read more on the history of Ireland 1691-1800 here
Daniel Lynchy died around 1772 and interestingly, it seems that he held sufficient property and possessions to consider a Will necessary or believed that he should have one for any number of reasons.
Making a Will at the time was a a rare, complex and expensive process, least of all for a tenant farmer in rural south Cork.
Wills in Eighteenth Century Ireland
Prior the introduction of a British Civil Court of Probate in 1858, British & Irish law from 1384 required that all Wills had to be proved by the Church and other Church courts. Following the Reformation, this meant that there were more than 200 church courts throughout Britain and Ireland, operated by the Churches of England & Ireland, and each court kept separate registers of wills and with no central index.
Add to this layer of obfuscation, there were two classes of Courts concerned with Wills: Perogative and Diocesan.
Wills from wealthy and/or titled individuals were dealt with in the Perogative Court, far removed from the hoi-polloi and which was based in the ecclesiastical capital of Armagh operated by the Church of Ireland Archbishop. All others (including Daniel's) were processed through the Diocesan, also known as The Consistorial Court. That is unless the testator had effects to the value of more than £5 in two or more dioceses or had died at sea - which automatically referred the will back to Armagh and the Perogative Court with suitably astronomical fees.
In those days, all Wills were copied by hand and laboriously entered into vellum foolscap volumes by the relevant Church Court Clerks - both as a record but also for reference in event of any dispute or, more probably, if a Will could not be found. The family concerned held the original document but part of the process of 'proving a Will' involved verification with the record held by a Church Court. This was considered to be a safety check, just in case any 'additions' or 'amendments' were made to the family copy by unscrupulous relatives. However, beneficiaries also had to bear the cost of the process - and it wasn't cheap.
After 1858, probate and record keeping were removed from the Church Prerogative Courts to the National Court of Probate for England and Wales (both Ireland and Scotland kept a separate system) and a centralised record of Wills came into use. All wills made on the island of Ireland were then removed from Diocesan offices throughout the country and stored in the Public Records Office, Dublin. This continued until independence from Britain in 1921.
Unfortunately, we have no idea of what Daniel's Will contained, as sadly, the will copy along with so many other priceless records was lost in the June 1922 destruction of the Public Records Office & Four Courts, Dublin at the start of the Irish Civil War.
Both Daniel and Catherine are at least two ancestors that are said to have been the 4th generation that were born in Granig.
Fifth & Sixth Generation: c.1750 -1778
Like the rest of Europe in the 1690s, Irish agriculture was beginning a recovery from nearly a century of political and economic instability, war, depressed prices, and lackluster growth. The new colonial property system set in place during the course of the previous century, under which Scottish and English settlers owned approximately 80 percent of the land, was still taking root. The political upheaval of the previous century had left the native commercial classes in a shambles, with market and credit systems in an undeveloped state. According to William Petty, a trustworthy observer during this period, over 90 percent of profitable land was under grass in the 1680s. The production of crops was largely restricted to a region in the southeast of the country that had supplied wheat to Dublin and abroad. The mass of the rural population was still occupied in a pastoral, livestock-based economy that had not fundamentally changed for centuries.
Daniel was part of the three tier pastoral system in Irish agriculture that was becoming more developed in Ireland at the time.
Top of the tier was the local Landlord, the Daunt family, holding estates of several thousand acres. The landlord usually farmed some 250-500 prime acres of land and the remainder was let to local tenant farmers, the second tier, in return for a twice-annual rent payment.
In turn, farmers such as Daniel, rented small cottages and a small strip of land for subsistence farming to those on the lowest end of the scale, farm labourers, who usually toiled on the farmer's land on a twelve month contract.
The forgotten Famine of 1740-41
A major event during this generation's lifetime was the Irish Famine of 1740–1741 (Irish: Bliain an Áir 'the Year of Slaughter').
This famine is estimated to have killed between 13% and 20% of the 1740 population of 2.4 million people, which was a proportionately greater loss than during the subsequent Great Famine of 1845–1852. This famine was one of the first recorded as a result of climactic conditions. An extremely cold winter of 1739/40 and then dry weather in successive years, resulted in food losses through a series of poor grain harvests, a shortage of milk, and frost damage to potatoes. At this time, grains, particularly oats, were more important than potatoes as staples in the diet of most Irish people. Deaths from mass starvation in 1740–1741 were compounded by an outbreak of fatal diseases. The cold and its effects extended across Europe, but mortality was higher in Ireland because both subsistence food crops; grain and potatoes failed.
Read more on the famine of 1740-41 here
Read more on the history of Ireland 1691-1800 here
Daniel Lynchy died around 1772 and interestingly, it seems that he held sufficient property and possessions to consider a Will necessary or believed that he should have one for any number of reasons.
Making a Will at the time was a a rare, complex and expensive process, least of all for a tenant farmer in rural south Cork.
Wills in Eighteenth Century Ireland
Prior the introduction of a British Civil Court of Probate in 1858, British & Irish law from 1384 required that all Wills had to be proved by the Church and other Church courts. Following the Reformation, this meant that there were more than 200 church courts throughout Britain and Ireland, operated by the Churches of England & Ireland, and each court kept separate registers of wills and with no central index.
Add to this layer of obfuscation, there were two classes of Courts concerned with Wills: Perogative and Diocesan.
Wills from wealthy and/or titled individuals were dealt with in the Perogative Court, far removed from the hoi-polloi and which was based in the ecclesiastical capital of Armagh operated by the Church of Ireland Archbishop. All others (including Daniel's) were processed through the Diocesan, also known as The Consistorial Court. That is unless the testator had effects to the value of more than £5 in two or more dioceses or had died at sea - which automatically referred the will back to Armagh and the Perogative Court with suitably astronomical fees.
In those days, all Wills were copied by hand and laboriously entered into vellum foolscap volumes by the relevant Church Court Clerks - both as a record but also for reference in event of any dispute or, more probably, if a Will could not be found. The family concerned held the original document but part of the process of 'proving a Will' involved verification with the record held by a Church Court. This was considered to be a safety check, just in case any 'additions' or 'amendments' were made to the family copy by unscrupulous relatives. However, beneficiaries also had to bear the cost of the process - and it wasn't cheap.
After 1858, probate and record keeping were removed from the Church Prerogative Courts to the National Court of Probate for England and Wales (both Ireland and Scotland kept a separate system) and a centralised record of Wills came into use. All wills made on the island of Ireland were then removed from Diocesan offices throughout the country and stored in the Public Records Office, Dublin. This continued until independence from Britain in 1921.
Unfortunately, we have no idea of what Daniel's Will contained, as sadly, the will copy along with so many other priceless records was lost in the June 1922 destruction of the Public Records Office & Four Courts, Dublin at the start of the Irish Civil War.
Both Daniel and Catherine are at least two ancestors that are said to have been the 4th generation that were born in Granig.
Fifth & Sixth Generation: c.1750 -1778
Fifth Generation: c.1750 -1778
The next descendant is believed to be the 5th Generation, Jeremiah Lynch, again with key dates, marriage and details are unknown. However, he did father at least two recorded children, Daniel (1773 - 4 April 1801) and Timothy (1778 - 14 April 1848). Note that the Irish tradition of the time to name a firstborn son with the Grandfather's name continued.
This generation would have seen a tremendous expansion of the local agrarian economy as Ireland began to play an important role in supplying food to the rapidly urbanised and industrialised British market. By mid-century, food prices were rising sharply across England. By the 1770s Britain had become a net importer of food, and much of those imports came from Ireland. By the end of the century Ireland was supplying over 40 percent of Britain's imports of grain, meat, and butter. With greater economic growth also came greater population growth.
Sixth Generation: 1778-1803
Family folklore has it that Daniel & Timothy were the sixth generation of Lynches that were born and farmed in Granig, putting the approximate 'arrival' of the first family member to around the mid to late 16th century. Family origin at the best of times can only be speculative as there are no records available prior to 1750, but family lore is that there is a Norman connection with the family name De Lynchy. Whether this is factual or merely some late 19th century aspirational thinking, remains unknown.
By the era of Daniel & Timothy, the family had farmed land under tenancy agreements from the local landlord, Mr. Daunt for some years. Daunt was a major land owner of the area along the Earl of Shannon, a descendant of the First Earl of Cork who then resided at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork (The Earl's residence became a secondary school in 1929 and from 2007, Castlemartyr Resort Hotel).
Daniel, by virtue of tradition would have taken over the family tenancy on land in the townland of Granig, parish of Tracton on the death of his father. He farms there with his unnamed wife and three young daughters, Honora, Margaret and Mary.
However, tragedy struck during 1801 when it appears the entire family died within months, probably as a result of an infectious disease or illness. That year, Daniel died on 4 April aged around 28, his second daughter Margaret on 8 May aged 3, eldest daughter Honora on 4 June aged around 6 and the youngest, Mary aged around one. No record survives of their mother, Daniel's wife.
Timothy now continues holding the family farm tenancy in Granig and marries a local girl, Catherine Fitzgerald from Crosshaven around 1801-1803.
Part 2: Lynch Ancestry 1803-1830 - 7th Generation
Townland of Granig, Parish of Tracton Abbey, Barony of Kinnalea, County Cork
The Seventh Generation of Lynch's born in Granig Townland, Tracton Abbey were the children of Timothy & Catherine.
This was a large family of ten children - six girls and four boys born in Granig between 1803-1824.
All of their baptismal Records were held on the Tracton Parish Baptismal register and survive today.
However, of the ten children in this generation, we only have life details for three and it's unknown how many survived to adulthood. Known information for each person is listed below with links to additional pages.
This was a large family of ten children - six girls and four boys born in Granig between 1803-1824.
All of their baptismal Records were held on the Tracton Parish Baptismal register and survive today.
However, of the ten children in this generation, we only have life details for three and it's unknown how many survived to adulthood. Known information for each person is listed below with links to additional pages.
August 2022: Some fascinating discoveries this month on the life stories and extended families of Catherine Lynch (1808-1880) and Timothy 'Thade' Lynch (1824-1895). Their family histories and descendant's stories are currently under research and will be uploaded later during winter 2022-23.
Tracton Abbey Roman Catholic Parish Records 1800-1825
Tracton Abbey Roman-Catholic parish up until 1880 included the 'civil parishes' of Tracton, Kilpatrick, Ballyfoyle, Nohoval and Kinure and the Parish Priest from c.1800 until his death on 20 May 1840 was Fr. Thomas O'Connor. At the time, each Parish Priest maintained records which they, personally, considered as important. In Tracton for example, Fr. O'Connor only maintained baptismal records from 10 December 1802 and no marriage or death records. Baptisms were usually conducted in this era, at home rather than in the local church as were marriages. Record keeping changed from May 1840 with Fr. O'Connor's successor, Fr. Cornelius Corcoran who began to maintain a marriage record but continued the tradition of not recording deaths. Deaths in Ireland were not formally recorded until the commencement of Civil Registration in 1864. In 1755, the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church was built in the village of Minane Bridge and today is the second oldest Roman Catholic Church in the diocese of Cork and Ross. Further enlarged and elevated in 1804. In 1894 this church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart. This and the church in Nohoval are the two Roman Catholic churches in Tracton Abbey Parish in the Diocese of Cork and Ross. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage entry - here Tracton Parish Church Records sourced from https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ Tracton Abbey Parish records publically available are Baptismal records from 12 December 1802 - 29 January 1881 and Irish Marriage records from June 6 1840 - February 10 1880. All others after this date are available from the Parish Priest on application. |
Seventh Generation ancestry details
Jeremiah 'Jerry' Lynch. (November 1803 - 1873).
Born November 1803. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - November 1803.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were (male - unknown as register is partially damaged) and a Ms. Buckely.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. May have been named after his paternal Grandfather.
The first of eleven children (7 girls & 4 boys) born between 1803 and 1824.
According to the 1833 Tithe Applotment Book that Jerry had inherited the Granig land holding prior to 1833.
Born November 1803. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - November 1803.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were (male - unknown as register is partially damaged) and a Ms. Buckely.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. May have been named after his paternal Grandfather.
The first of eleven children (7 girls & 4 boys) born between 1803 and 1824.
According to the 1833 Tithe Applotment Book that Jerry had inherited the Granig land holding prior to 1833.
Jerry married Margaret Collins (details unknown) and secondly a Ms O'Shea on a date unknown (she died 16 February 1866).
In his first marriage, the couple produced nine children, 6 girls and 3 boys.
Their story is the next part of the Family Tree.
In his first marriage, the couple produced nine children, 6 girls and 3 boys.
Their story is the next part of the Family Tree.
Daniel Lynch (December 1805 - unknown)
Born December 1805. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 9 December 1805.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were John Rench and Catherine Sisk.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Born December 1805. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 9 December 1805.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were John Rench and Catherine Sisk.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Details from the Parish Register indicate that Daniel married a Mary Madden and on 8 May 1843, a daughter, Jane Lynch was baptised by Fr. Corcoran. Sponsors were Daniel's brother Jeremiah Lynch and sister, Mary Lynch.
Catherine Lynch (January 1808 - November 1880 New Orleans)
Born January 1808. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 13 January 1808.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Jerry Lynch and Ellen Walsh.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Born January 1808. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 13 January 1808.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Jerry Lynch and Ellen Walsh.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Catherine married Bartholomew 'Batt' Coveney (1800-21 Sep 1868) in Tracton,1827 and went on to have seven children.
The entire family emigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana c.1849 and during the next century, the family in Louisiana and Texas numbered some 168 descendants and growing.
August 2022: Research currently ongoing to discover more of the Lynch-Coveney family history and family trees and will be updated here when available.
The entire family emigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana c.1849 and during the next century, the family in Louisiana and Texas numbered some 168 descendants and growing.
August 2022: Research currently ongoing to discover more of the Lynch-Coveney family history and family trees and will be updated here when available.
Mary Lynch (December 1809 - 13 July 1875 Kinsale)
Born December 1809. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 20 December 1809.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Bartholomew Covenay (Coveney) and Margaret Punch. Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Born December 1809. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 20 December 1809.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Bartholomew Covenay (Coveney) and Margaret Punch. Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Mary married Daniel Cramer (1808-31 Dec 1874) in Kinsale on 17 January, 1843.
Norry 'Hanora' Lynch (April 1812 - unknown)
Born April 1812. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 26 April 1812.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Jerry McDonnell and Margaret Daunt.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. An unsual first name, Norry is a diminutive of Nora & Honora.
Born April 1812. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 26 April 1812.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Jerry McDonnell and Margaret Daunt.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. An unsual first name, Norry is a diminutive of Nora & Honora.
Ellen Lynch (March 1814 - unknown)
Born March 1814. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 11 March 1814.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Daniel McCarthy and Mary Fitzgerald.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Mary Fitzgerald is probably a relative of Catherine.
Born March 1814. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 11 March 1814.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Daniel McCarthy and Mary Fitzgerald.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Mary Fitzgerald is probably a relative of Catherine.
It appears probable that 27 year old Ellen married a John Lynch on 23 February 1841. Witnesses included her brother, Jeremiah Lynch and here's the entry in the Tracton Abbey Marriage Register. Celebrant was Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
The parish baptism register indicates that John and Ellen lived in the parish and a daughter, Mary Anne Lynch was born in December 1841 and baptised by Fr. Corcoran on 8 December. Sponsors were Jeremiah Lynch and Eliza Barry.
Edmund Lynch (September 1815 - unknown)
Born September 1815. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 16 September 1815.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were George Leland and Ansti (Anastasia) Fitzgerald.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Ansti is probably a relative of Catherine.
Born September 1815. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 16 September 1815.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were George Leland and Ansti (Anastasia) Fitzgerald.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Ansti is probably a relative of Catherine.
Anastasia 'Nettie' Lynch (August 1820 - unknown)
Born August 1820. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 6 August 1820.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Maurice Walsh and Catherine Punch.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Possibly named after her aunt, Ansti (Anastasia) Fitzgerald.
Born August 1820. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 6 August 1820.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Maurice Walsh and Catherine Punch.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor. Possibly named after her aunt, Ansti (Anastasia) Fitzgerald.
Margaret Lynch (March 1822 - unknown)
Born March 1822. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 26 March 1822.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were John Aherne and Anne Punch.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Born March 1822. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 26 March 1822.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were John Aherne and Anne Punch.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Margaret married fairly late by standards of the time, marrying Matthew McDonnell on 22 August 1857.
Witnesses were her brother, Jeremiah 'Jerry' Lynch and Robert Colgan.
Margaret & Matthew went on to have one child, Kate McDonnell who later married a John Kidney.
This family connection will be attached shortly.
Witnesses were her brother, Jeremiah 'Jerry' Lynch and Robert Colgan.
Margaret & Matthew went on to have one child, Kate McDonnell who later married a John Kidney.
This family connection will be attached shortly.
Timothy 'Thade' Lynch (May 1824 - 10 February 1895, Toronto, Canada)
Born May 1824. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 24 May 1824.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Peter Callinan and Mary Sullivan.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Born May 1824. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 24 May 1824.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Timothy Lynch. Mother: Catherine Fitzgerald. Sponsors were Peter Callinan and Mary Sullivan.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor.
Timothy 'Thade' was the youngest of this generation.
Timothy married the widowed Mrs. Catherine 'Kate' Looney (nee Deasy) (1826-1897) of Riverstick on 3 February 1855.
Timothy's family story and family tree link will be uploaded here shortly.
Timothy married the widowed Mrs. Catherine 'Kate' Looney (nee Deasy) (1826-1897) of Riverstick on 3 February 1855.
Timothy's family story and family tree link will be uploaded here shortly.
The Church of Ireland in Tracton Abbey
Two churches serving the Church of Ireland Protestant community were originally part of the Nohoval Union.
Nohoval Church (built in 1744 on an early Christian site and Tracton Abbey (built in 1817 & closed for public worship in 1989)
Two churches serving the Church of Ireland Protestant community were originally part of the Nohoval Union.
Nohoval Church (built in 1744 on an early Christian site and Tracton Abbey (built in 1817 & closed for public worship in 1989)
|
History of the Church of Ireland, Tracton Abbey.
Latitude: 51.76101, Longitude: -8.3915 Built in 1817 on the original site of the Cistercian abbey of St. Mary's known as Tracton Abbey, founded in A.D. 1224. The Disolution of the Abbey took place in 1541 and by 1568 following the defeat of the Earl of Desmond and confiscation of his Irish estates which included Tracton Abbey, the abbey and its lands was owned by the First Earl of Cork and leased to English settlers. In 1588, Thomas Daunt of Owlpen, Gloucestershire (1560-1621) and his cousin, James Daunt, obtained a lease of Tracton Abbey, the property remaining in the hands of the Daunt family until the mid twentieth century. William Henry Daunt of Innishannon (1820-1886) held shares in some 500 acres of land which in the early 1700s formed part of the Tracton Abbey estate. William Henry's father, William Daunt of Springhill & Myrtleville (1745-1828) and George Hodder of Foutainstown were church wardens during the construction of the church in 1817 by T. Barry. Samuel Lewis in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 states that the church was built with a loan of £1,000 from the Board of First Fruits. The date stone over the main entrance reads "C. W. Wm Daunt / Geo Hodder / T. Barry, Builder / A.D. 1817". The building was renovated in 1860 but by 1989, the last public services were held in the church, and during the mid 1990s the building was sold and converted to a private residence. The adjoining graveyard remains in use and is unusual in that it was used by both faiths. Today the former church is a private home but the graveyard is accessible. Buried in the graveyard are many families of the parish, including most of the Lynchs (1700-1880s) including Diarmuid Lynch, IRB & 1916 Veteran. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage entry here Church of Ireland Register of Marriages - Tracton Abbey 1845-1918 is available here |
Part 3: Lynch Ancestry 1831-1877 - 8th Generation
Townland of Granig, Parish of Tracton Abbey, Barony of Kinnalea, County Cork
Eight Generation ancestry details
Catherine Lynch (December 1832 - 16 March 1859)
Born December 1832. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 28 December 1832.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Pat Collins and Catherine Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor who had baptised her father in 1803.
Aged 21, Catherine married Eugene McCarthy of Ballyneeda on 14 February 1854.
They went on have three children, Jeremiah, Kate and Michael but currently no further information on this line.
Catherine died 16 March 1859 - currently no information as to location or place of burial.
Born December 1832. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 28 December 1832.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Pat Collins and Catherine Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. T. O'Connor who had baptised her father in 1803.
Aged 21, Catherine married Eugene McCarthy of Ballyneeda on 14 February 1854.
They went on have three children, Jeremiah, Kate and Michael but currently no further information on this line.
Catherine died 16 March 1859 - currently no information as to location or place of burial.
Honora Lynch (May 1834 - unknown)
Born May 1834. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 1 June 1834
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Denis Collins and Anne Drinan
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Later went on to marry John Ahern and produced 9 children. A separate link for this family connection will be attached shortly.
Born May 1834. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 1 June 1834
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Denis Collins and Anne Drinan
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Later went on to marry John Ahern and produced 9 children. A separate link for this family connection will be attached shortly.
Mary Lynch (December 1841 - unknown)
Born December 1841. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 2 January 1842
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were John Horgan and Anne Collins
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Born December 1841. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 2 January 1842
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were John Horgan and Anne Collins
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Timothy Lynch (July 1844 - 28 December 1890)
Born July 1844. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 31 July 1844.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were William Coveney & Mary Shea.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Timothy took over Granig farm from his father.
His life story link will be attached shortly.
Writer's Great Grandfather
Born July 1844. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 31 July 1844.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were William Coveney & Mary Shea.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Timothy took over Granig farm from his father.
His life story link will be attached shortly.
Writer's Great Grandfather
Ellen Lynch (October 1846 - unknown)
Born October 1846. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 01 November 1846.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Patrick Griffin & Catherine Shea.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Born October 1846. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 01 November 1846.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Patrick Griffin & Catherine Shea.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Margaret Lynch (October 1848 - 6 November 1913)
Born October 1848. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 21 October 1848.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Phillip Sullivan and Hanora Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Born October 1848. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 21 October 1848.
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were Phillip Sullivan and Hanora Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Margaret married James English (born Tipperary 1837) on 27 October 1874 in Granig:
One child from the relationship is noted - James Joseph English, born 15 November 1878 at Laurel Hill, Cork.
By 1911, James had retired from farming at Laurel Hill, Cork and is noted in the Census as resident at 23 Friars Walk, Cork City with Margaret. He died from cerebral apoplexy on 12 August 1912. Margaret died 6 November 1913.
Their son, James Joseph married Margaret Casey on 12 January 1905 at SS Peter & Paul Church, Cork.
Their only child, a daughter, Hannah Mary was born: 26 October 1907.
In the 1911 census, James Joseph was employed as an accountant with the Cork County Council and living with his family in Ballintemple. However, five years later, James Joseph died in St. Patrick's Hospital on 13 May 1916 from pulmonary tuberculosis. Margaret Casey English died 4 October 1919.
No further information is available on Hannah Mary.
By 1911, James had retired from farming at Laurel Hill, Cork and is noted in the Census as resident at 23 Friars Walk, Cork City with Margaret. He died from cerebral apoplexy on 12 August 1912. Margaret died 6 November 1913.
Their son, James Joseph married Margaret Casey on 12 January 1905 at SS Peter & Paul Church, Cork.
Their only child, a daughter, Hannah Mary was born: 26 October 1907.
In the 1911 census, James Joseph was employed as an accountant with the Cork County Council and living with his family in Ballintemple. However, five years later, James Joseph died in St. Patrick's Hospital on 13 May 1916 from pulmonary tuberculosis. Margaret Casey English died 4 October 1919.
No further information is available on Hannah Mary.
Bridget Lynch (February 1851 - 1925 Australia)
Born February 1851. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 13 February 1851
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were John Ahern and Mary Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
Born February 1851. Baptised in Tracton Abbey Parish, R.C. Diocese of Cork & Ross - 13 February 1851
Date of birth not registered.
Father: Jeremiah Lynch. Mother: Margaret Collins. Sponsors were John Ahern and Mary Coveney.
Baptised by Fr. Cornelius Corcoran.
By 1833, it appears that Timothy Lynch, then around fifty five years of age had given control of the farm holding tenancy with the Daunts to his eldest son, Jeremiah, aged around thirty. Jerry had married an O'Shea (first name etc unknown) a few years previously and their first child, a daughter, Catherine was born in 1832.
The first State record of Jerry is in The Tithe Applotment Book record of 1833.
This notes Jeremiah as farming 41 acres, 2 roods and 18 perches of land in 'Granning' and as with most of the lands in Tracton Abbey parish, the holding was rented from the Daunt family who in turn had a 999 year lease from The Earl of Shannon.
What were Tithe Applotment Books?
The first State record of Jerry is in The Tithe Applotment Book record of 1833.
This notes Jeremiah as farming 41 acres, 2 roods and 18 perches of land in 'Granning' and as with most of the lands in Tracton Abbey parish, the holding was rented from the Daunt family who in turn had a 999 year lease from The Earl of Shannon.
What were Tithe Applotment Books?
By 1833 when Jeremiah Lynch appears on the Tracton Tithe Applotment Book, there were few things in Ireland as universally hated by the majority Catholic population, and the non-Church of Ireland 'Dissenter' Protestants, as the Tithe Law.
Under this law everyone working the land in Ireland, including tenant farmers, owed 10% ( the Tithe) of whatever they produced to maintain the local Church of Ireland and their clergy.
Tithe Applotment Books were compiled in Ireland between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the valuation and the resulting 10% or tithe amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings over one acre should pay to the local Church of Ireland clergyman.
Tithes were originally introduced to the island of Ireland after the Norman conquest of 1169-1172, and were specified in the Papal Bull Laudabiliter as a duty to "...pay yearly from every house the pension of one penny to St Peter, and to keep and preserve the rights of the churches in that land whole and inviolate". However, collection outside the Norman area of control was sporadic and rarely enforced.
Following the English Reformation in the 16th century, most of the Irish population remained as Roman Catholic and the payment of tithes continued - with10% of a tenant farmers agricultural produce payable each year, to maintain and fund the established state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland. As these were payable by the Roman Catholic population for the upkeep of a church whose doctrines they did not subscribe to, tithes became a chronic source of unrest into the 19th century.
By the seventeenth century, various dissenting religious groups were also obliged to pay tithes to the Anglican Church and Irish Presbyterians and Quakers strongly objected to making 'forced payments for the maintenance of a professional ministry'.
There were three sources of long established agricultural tithes - praedial (from corn), mixed (from livestock) and personal (from money). They were divided further into two major types; great or rectoral (on corn, hay and wood) and small or vicarial (on flax, garden produce and potatoes).
Payment and calculation of tithes due became more formalised between 1816-1823 with various Acts of Parliament. A tithe for example was now calculated on the average production per acre of oats and wheat and on the sale price of these between 1816 and 1823. The quality ie productivity of the land was graded between 1 and 4, from very good and very poor respectively.
Over time, cash equivalents were paid to the local Anglican Parish rather than produce and this was formalised by the 1823 Composition Act. This specified that tithes due to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, which had previously been payable in kind i.e. produce, animals etc, should now be paid in cash. But how to manage this?
The British Administration now found it necessary to carry out a valuation of the entire country, civil parish by civil parish, to determine just how much would be payable by each landholder and in turn, the income to be expected by each Anglican parish. This was completed over the ensuing fifteen years, up to the suspension of tithe payments in 1838. Not surprisingly, those who were not members of the Church of Ireland fiercely resented tithes, all the more so because the tax was not payable on all land; the exemptions produced spectacular inequalities. In parts of Munster, for instance, tithes were payable on potato patches and tilled land but not on grassland, with the result that the poorest had to pay most.
Further Acts of Parliament in 1823 and 1832 provided for the conversion of tithes into a fixed charge on land and also extended the application of tithes to pasture, where previously they had been levied only on tillage.
Paying tithes, like all other taxes, was always resented, especially by Catholic tenant farmers, who didn’t see why they should have to pay for the upkeep of the established Protestant church. In addition, from 1735 to 1823 tithes were not due on pastureland: graziers were exempt. This left the burden of tithes on the smaller landholders of each parish. Because some parishes were almost entirely made up of pasture, the injustice was all the more keenly felt by the tithe-payers, who between them might hold only a few hundred acres of tillage.
While tithes were the only source of income for some clergymen, others let their tithes to lay people (tithe-farmers) for a fee.
Tithe-owners also employed tithe-proctors or valuators to enter each property on which tithes were due to value the crop and thus set the tithe to be paid. The tithe-proctor was strongly resented mainly because he was the human embodiment of the system of tithe-collecting and it's unfairness. And he could also be got at. Tithe-proctors or valuators were subjected to ‘nightly visits . . . of men with faces blackened, and by various other means of intimidation’.
After the tithe-proctor, the process-server was next in line as a hate figure. Both tithe-proctor and process-server were often driven out of parishes or, in the words of John Carney, rector of Rower parish, Co. Kilkenny, ‘hooted and pelted away’.
By the end of the 1820s, anger about these inequalities had reached a new level of opposition.
All over Ireland in the early 1830s, but especially in the southeast and in County Cork, land owners began to ask local Church of Ireland clergy to reduce their tithes. They were often encouraged by the local Catholic clergy, who knew that their congregations could support their own churches far better were they not also supporting the Church of Ireland. When the reductions were refused, people began to simply defy the law and refuse to pay the tithe through 1830 into 1831. Large anti-tithe meetings were being held all over the island. This movement led to The Tithe War (Irish: Cogadh na nDeachúna), a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes in Ireland between 1830 and 1836.
Under this law everyone working the land in Ireland, including tenant farmers, owed 10% ( the Tithe) of whatever they produced to maintain the local Church of Ireland and their clergy.
Tithe Applotment Books were compiled in Ireland between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the valuation and the resulting 10% or tithe amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings over one acre should pay to the local Church of Ireland clergyman.
Tithes were originally introduced to the island of Ireland after the Norman conquest of 1169-1172, and were specified in the Papal Bull Laudabiliter as a duty to "...pay yearly from every house the pension of one penny to St Peter, and to keep and preserve the rights of the churches in that land whole and inviolate". However, collection outside the Norman area of control was sporadic and rarely enforced.
Following the English Reformation in the 16th century, most of the Irish population remained as Roman Catholic and the payment of tithes continued - with10% of a tenant farmers agricultural produce payable each year, to maintain and fund the established state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland. As these were payable by the Roman Catholic population for the upkeep of a church whose doctrines they did not subscribe to, tithes became a chronic source of unrest into the 19th century.
By the seventeenth century, various dissenting religious groups were also obliged to pay tithes to the Anglican Church and Irish Presbyterians and Quakers strongly objected to making 'forced payments for the maintenance of a professional ministry'.
There were three sources of long established agricultural tithes - praedial (from corn), mixed (from livestock) and personal (from money). They were divided further into two major types; great or rectoral (on corn, hay and wood) and small or vicarial (on flax, garden produce and potatoes).
Payment and calculation of tithes due became more formalised between 1816-1823 with various Acts of Parliament. A tithe for example was now calculated on the average production per acre of oats and wheat and on the sale price of these between 1816 and 1823. The quality ie productivity of the land was graded between 1 and 4, from very good and very poor respectively.
Over time, cash equivalents were paid to the local Anglican Parish rather than produce and this was formalised by the 1823 Composition Act. This specified that tithes due to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, which had previously been payable in kind i.e. produce, animals etc, should now be paid in cash. But how to manage this?
The British Administration now found it necessary to carry out a valuation of the entire country, civil parish by civil parish, to determine just how much would be payable by each landholder and in turn, the income to be expected by each Anglican parish. This was completed over the ensuing fifteen years, up to the suspension of tithe payments in 1838. Not surprisingly, those who were not members of the Church of Ireland fiercely resented tithes, all the more so because the tax was not payable on all land; the exemptions produced spectacular inequalities. In parts of Munster, for instance, tithes were payable on potato patches and tilled land but not on grassland, with the result that the poorest had to pay most.
Further Acts of Parliament in 1823 and 1832 provided for the conversion of tithes into a fixed charge on land and also extended the application of tithes to pasture, where previously they had been levied only on tillage.
Paying tithes, like all other taxes, was always resented, especially by Catholic tenant farmers, who didn’t see why they should have to pay for the upkeep of the established Protestant church. In addition, from 1735 to 1823 tithes were not due on pastureland: graziers were exempt. This left the burden of tithes on the smaller landholders of each parish. Because some parishes were almost entirely made up of pasture, the injustice was all the more keenly felt by the tithe-payers, who between them might hold only a few hundred acres of tillage.
While tithes were the only source of income for some clergymen, others let their tithes to lay people (tithe-farmers) for a fee.
Tithe-owners also employed tithe-proctors or valuators to enter each property on which tithes were due to value the crop and thus set the tithe to be paid. The tithe-proctor was strongly resented mainly because he was the human embodiment of the system of tithe-collecting and it's unfairness. And he could also be got at. Tithe-proctors or valuators were subjected to ‘nightly visits . . . of men with faces blackened, and by various other means of intimidation’.
After the tithe-proctor, the process-server was next in line as a hate figure. Both tithe-proctor and process-server were often driven out of parishes or, in the words of John Carney, rector of Rower parish, Co. Kilkenny, ‘hooted and pelted away’.
By the end of the 1820s, anger about these inequalities had reached a new level of opposition.
All over Ireland in the early 1830s, but especially in the southeast and in County Cork, land owners began to ask local Church of Ireland clergy to reduce their tithes. They were often encouraged by the local Catholic clergy, who knew that their congregations could support their own churches far better were they not also supporting the Church of Ireland. When the reductions were refused, people began to simply defy the law and refuse to pay the tithe through 1830 into 1831. Large anti-tithe meetings were being held all over the island. This movement led to The Tithe War (Irish: Cogadh na nDeachúna), a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes in Ireland between 1830 and 1836.
Critically, the campaign against tithes had the support of the Roman Catholic clergy and the following quotation, from a letter written by the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr. James Doyle to Thomas Spring Rice became the rallying cry for the movement:
"...There are many noble traits in the Irish character, mixed with failings which have always raised obstacles to their own well-being; but an innate love of justice, and an indomitable hatred of oppression, is like a gem upon the front of our nation which no darkness can obscure. To this fine quality I trace their hatred of tithes; may it be as lasting as their love of justice!"
As one official lamented, the expense of military support for the constabulary and public outrage resulted in the simple fact:
"it cost a shilling to collect tuppence"
In 1833, government passed the "Church Temporalities Bill." It reduced the number of Protestant bishops from 18 to 10, and the government loaned the church a million pounds to help relieve the monetary problems caused by the tithe shortfalls and to reduce tensions. By 1834, the Church of Ireland revenues were calculated at £815,331 of which 65% or £531,782 came from tithes.
To deal with rising violence, London passed another Coercion Act granting wider powers to the authorities in Ireland. However, clashes continued but the last large confrontation in the tithe conflict occurred on December 18, 1834, in Gortroe, Rathcormac, Co. Cork. Attempting to enforce a mere 40 shilling payment for Archdeacon Ryder, a detachment of constables reinforced by the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot opened fire a on group of residents who were blocking them. Twelve civilians were killed and dozens were wounded.
After this tragedy, the government enforcement of tithes was suspended while a more suitable process to collect tithes was organised.
By 1838, parliament introduced a Tithe Commutation Act for Ireland. This reduced the amount payable directly by about a quarter and made the remainder payable in rent to landlords. They in turn were to pass payment to the church authorities. 75% of the original tithes were then effectively added to a tenant's rent payment.
This partial relief and elimination of the confrontational collections ended the violent aspect of the Tithe War and tithes as such, with associated valuators, tithe-farmers, tithe-proctors and process-servers, together with large contingents of police and militia to enforce collection, quickly ended.
Full relief from the tithe tax was not achieved until Gladstones' Irish Church Act 1869, which disestablished the Church of Ireland.
"...There are many noble traits in the Irish character, mixed with failings which have always raised obstacles to their own well-being; but an innate love of justice, and an indomitable hatred of oppression, is like a gem upon the front of our nation which no darkness can obscure. To this fine quality I trace their hatred of tithes; may it be as lasting as their love of justice!"
As one official lamented, the expense of military support for the constabulary and public outrage resulted in the simple fact:
"it cost a shilling to collect tuppence"
In 1833, government passed the "Church Temporalities Bill." It reduced the number of Protestant bishops from 18 to 10, and the government loaned the church a million pounds to help relieve the monetary problems caused by the tithe shortfalls and to reduce tensions. By 1834, the Church of Ireland revenues were calculated at £815,331 of which 65% or £531,782 came from tithes.
To deal with rising violence, London passed another Coercion Act granting wider powers to the authorities in Ireland. However, clashes continued but the last large confrontation in the tithe conflict occurred on December 18, 1834, in Gortroe, Rathcormac, Co. Cork. Attempting to enforce a mere 40 shilling payment for Archdeacon Ryder, a detachment of constables reinforced by the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot opened fire a on group of residents who were blocking them. Twelve civilians were killed and dozens were wounded.
After this tragedy, the government enforcement of tithes was suspended while a more suitable process to collect tithes was organised.
By 1838, parliament introduced a Tithe Commutation Act for Ireland. This reduced the amount payable directly by about a quarter and made the remainder payable in rent to landlords. They in turn were to pass payment to the church authorities. 75% of the original tithes were then effectively added to a tenant's rent payment.
This partial relief and elimination of the confrontational collections ended the violent aspect of the Tithe War and tithes as such, with associated valuators, tithe-farmers, tithe-proctors and process-servers, together with large contingents of police and militia to enforce collection, quickly ended.
Full relief from the tithe tax was not achieved until Gladstones' Irish Church Act 1869, which disestablished the Church of Ireland.
Tithe Applotment Book entry for Jeremiah Lynch.
This is the earliest surviving official record of the family.
From the 1833 Tithe Applotment Book for the townland of 'Granning' in the parish of Tracton, Co. Cork, the much faded longhand script lists the 30 year old Jeremiah Lynch as a tenant farmer, farming three separate holdings in the same townland. These holdings were listed as: 10 acres, 28 acres and 4 acres, totaling 41 Acres, 2 Roods and 18 perches* (16.85 hectares) of land.
The majority of the holding was considered to be good, productive land (with 1 rood and 22 perches considered as 'Un-titheable' as waste ground or used by roads etc.)
This 1833 tenant farmed land in Granig was valued at £36 of which a tenth, or the tithe, payable to the local Church of Ireland parish annually was £3-2-0 (three pounds, two shillings or about £400/€473/$485 in 2022 values).
Interestingly, the rents paid to the local landlord Achilles Daunt is noted as fifteen shillings per annum (or around £100/€118/$121 in 2022 values).
There are no details of the lease or the time period for the rent (either paid annually or traditionally at six monthly payment days known as 'Gale Days': Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25th March).
It's important to note that that acreages given in all the Tithe Applotment Books are in Irish or Plantation measure*, which is 1.62 times larger than statute measure.
* Units of land measurement could vary significantly from county to county, and even from place to place within the same county prior to the introduction of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s when the 'English' acre became the standard unit of land measurement. It is evident too that different standards of measurement were applied according to the quality and situation of the land, and its proximity to such things as mills, fairgrounds, routeways, woods etc. Indeed, the whole question of land survey in Ireland down to comparatively recent times seems a confused tangle unless it is borne in mind that land was reckoned in terms of its economic potential rather than in absolute units of measurement.
Perches were a measurement of 30.25 square yards of land. Forty perches (1210 sq yards) made one rood and four roods made one acre (4840 sq yards)
As we're all metric these days (except for our American cousins & the lads in Myanmar and Liberia) land is also shown in Heactares (1 acre = .404 ha).
From 1840, tithes were no longer payable by tenants but by their landlords, who were allowed to increase rents to make up the difference.
Below: Tithe Applotment Book - 'Grannig', Tracton, Co. Cork. 1833
This is the earliest surviving official record of the family.
From the 1833 Tithe Applotment Book for the townland of 'Granning' in the parish of Tracton, Co. Cork, the much faded longhand script lists the 30 year old Jeremiah Lynch as a tenant farmer, farming three separate holdings in the same townland. These holdings were listed as: 10 acres, 28 acres and 4 acres, totaling 41 Acres, 2 Roods and 18 perches* (16.85 hectares) of land.
The majority of the holding was considered to be good, productive land (with 1 rood and 22 perches considered as 'Un-titheable' as waste ground or used by roads etc.)
This 1833 tenant farmed land in Granig was valued at £36 of which a tenth, or the tithe, payable to the local Church of Ireland parish annually was £3-2-0 (three pounds, two shillings or about £400/€473/$485 in 2022 values).
Interestingly, the rents paid to the local landlord Achilles Daunt is noted as fifteen shillings per annum (or around £100/€118/$121 in 2022 values).
There are no details of the lease or the time period for the rent (either paid annually or traditionally at six monthly payment days known as 'Gale Days': Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25th March).
It's important to note that that acreages given in all the Tithe Applotment Books are in Irish or Plantation measure*, which is 1.62 times larger than statute measure.
* Units of land measurement could vary significantly from county to county, and even from place to place within the same county prior to the introduction of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s when the 'English' acre became the standard unit of land measurement. It is evident too that different standards of measurement were applied according to the quality and situation of the land, and its proximity to such things as mills, fairgrounds, routeways, woods etc. Indeed, the whole question of land survey in Ireland down to comparatively recent times seems a confused tangle unless it is borne in mind that land was reckoned in terms of its economic potential rather than in absolute units of measurement.
Perches were a measurement of 30.25 square yards of land. Forty perches (1210 sq yards) made one rood and four roods made one acre (4840 sq yards)
As we're all metric these days (except for our American cousins & the lads in Myanmar and Liberia) land is also shown in Heactares (1 acre = .404 ha).
From 1840, tithes were no longer payable by tenants but by their landlords, who were allowed to increase rents to make up the difference.
Below: Tithe Applotment Book - 'Grannig', Tracton, Co. Cork. 1833
source: https://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/pagestab/Cork/Tracton/ (lists all of the townlands in Tracton)
Below: Detail for Jeremiah Lynch - two pages.
Below: Detail for Jeremiah Lynch - two pages.
Griffith's Valuation 1851
August 2022: section is a work in progress.
August 2022: section is a work in progress.
Part 4: Lynch Ancestry 1878 -1890 - 9th Generation
Townland of Granig, Parish of Tracton Abbey, Barony of Kinnalea, County Cork
Page is under construction at present - additional detail and research will be added shortly.
If you have any comments, observations, questions or contributions to make click here to email anytime.
In the interests of privacy & GDPR (2018), no details are available online for living descendants.
D.I.Y Family Research - Ireland
Are you interested in doing some of your own family research? Here's a few hints and tips to make things a little easier for you, but be warned, research can be a time consuming and tedious process as well as rewarding. Your research begins with you and your immediate family. The only cast-iron rule of family history is that you start from what you know and use it to find out more. Don’t begin with Attila the Hun or Brian Boru and try to work forward to yourself. Take your parents or your granny and work back from them. Above all, don't try to re-invent the wheel. Your family history record may already be available from a relative or may even be online - if so, get a copy as this helps enormously. However, it's always worthwhile double-checking on family data assembled pre 2010, as all families have forgotten ancestors - either lost in time, deliberately omitted or perhaps they are the proverbial 'skeletons in the closet'. Either way, all can be found using online data and access to records available today. Ask questions of family members you think might know a little bit more about your family history. Consult old photographs on which names and dates may be noted, newspaper clippings, old letters, family Bibles as well as family gravestones. Try to establish approximate dates (of births, marriages and deaths) as well as names (forenames and related family names) and places of residence. This information will point the way to relevant records. Religious denomination is also important in determining which records are relevant to your research. Do bear in mind that you may discover some well kept or long forgotten family secrets during your research - so do tread carefully with such information. Some of your more senior family members may not wish to be reminded that Great Uncle Harry was hanged for cattle rustling. Next stop for any reader interested in family research in Ireland's records is the National Library of Ireland. They have a vital guide on how to begin the process, what records to check (and crucially just where these are located) along with research suggestions. Click on the NLI image to the left to download their 2018 Family History Research guide on PDF or click here. There's also a link opposite to resources recommended by the NLI. Next phase is to make a decision - to pay to access records or not. I would recommend using all freely available resources first to see how you go (do your homework and build up an audit trail of the family - an Excel spreadsheet to start compiling family members and connections can be very helpful). Then again, you could always commission a professional family history researcher to do the leg work but expect to pay €$£ for the service. Three of the most useful free research websites are irishgenealogy.ie for church & civil records in Ireland, ancestry.com and familysearch.org - a non-profit site provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (This Utah based resource is particularly useful for any United States based ancestors and there are also a wealth of Irish & British records.) Findagrave.com can be surprising what it finds for you. At times, information on ancestry.com may be a little off with dates but there's nothing more reliable than a gravestone inscription to confirm some key information plus there's invaluable updates from local volunteers. Then, there is also the old reliable Google - you never know what might turn up. As with all sites, be prepared to search using a variation on your ancestor's names - Irish names in particular seem to be transcribed and recorded oddly in non-Irish records such as shipping registers etc. This will get you quite a long way on the road of family research and once you've assembled your family history, then a good rule of thumb is to check the data sources every few years. Additional data and records come online regularly and you may find the missing piece of that puzzle or something entirely new and unexpected. Finally, do share your discoveries with family members - it's part of our national heritage so, somebody, somewhere, at some stage is interested. Nobody likes the fusty old researcher who jealously guards their information and grudgingly doles out what they may have and know, so freely give your information to the curious and the interested. Good luck! |
Notes
Ireland Census 1901 & 1911
The first full government censuses were taken for the whole of the island was in 1821and every ten years after that until 1911. The first four 1821-1851 were largely destroyed in the fire in the Public Record Office in Dublin during the Irish Civil War, 1922. Those for 1861 and 1871 had been earlier destroyed on Government orders due to a paper shortage - the entire returns were pulped. This means that the only comprehensive census returns for the whole island are 1901 and 1911.
Ireland Census 1901 & 1911
The first full government censuses were taken for the whole of the island was in 1821and every ten years after that until 1911. The first four 1821-1851 were largely destroyed in the fire in the Public Record Office in Dublin during the Irish Civil War, 1922. Those for 1861 and 1871 had been earlier destroyed on Government orders due to a paper shortage - the entire returns were pulped. This means that the only comprehensive census returns for the whole island are 1901 and 1911.
Sources
Parish registers - details noted beneath each excerpt from Tracton Abbey Parish registers. Links provided.
Parish registers - details noted beneath each excerpt from Tracton Abbey Parish registers. Links provided.