The Malone family of Ballinadrideen

For many years, I had put my Irish genealogy in the 'too hard' basket, and hadn't realised how many records had become freely available on the internet for Irish family history research. The drought broke a few years ago when I was eventually able to work out where in Co Limerick my Riordan family came from. Then last year in lockdown, I finally understood that with civil registration records online, I could trace my 'more recent' Malone family from Ballinadrideen, Co Cork. 

My great-grandmother, Margaret Riordan, married my great-grandfather Jeremiah Malone in Ballylanders Parish, Co Limerick, in February 1868.

I am not sure exactly where Jeremiah Malone was living immediately prior to his marriage, or where he was born c1826, but there was a Malone family in Ballyfeerode Parish adjacent to Ballylanders. There was also an 'earlier' Malone family in Ballinadrideen. I don't know how the two Malone families might be connected, though both had a 'Maurice'.

Sometime soon after their marriage, Margaret and Jeremiah were living in the townland of Ballinadrideen  in Ballyhea Parish, not far from Charleville. That is where they lived for the rest of their lives, eventually bringing up a family of eight children.

The first child born in the family was Bridget, in December 1868. By 1893 Bridget had moved to New Zealand when she appears on the Selwyn electoral roll in time for the first election in NZ where women could vote. She had come to live in Charing Cross, near Darfield in Canterbury, presumably to support the young family of her Uncle, Patrick Riordan, when his wife Mary became ill and later died of consumption. Bridget later moved to Taranaki where her younger sister Margaret was living with her young family. In 1917 Bridget married a widower, John Barrett Norris, and then moved to Tututawa onto a farm in very rugged and isolated hill country. Interestingly, I have numerous Norris family DNA matches, so the marriage can't have been 'random', and there must have been a Norris/Malone connection previously, probably in Ireland.

John Malone was the second child born in 1869, just a year after his older sister, and he was the eldest son. In the 1901 census John was still living in the family home in Ballinadrideen, along with his parents and four of his younger siblings. He could read and write, and also knew Irish and English. Margaret died in 1904, and Jeremiah in 1906, and the farm was then inherited by his younger brother Maurice, so in the 1911 census, John is listed as single, and a brother of the head of family. I know nothing more about him until his death aged 71 years is recorded in 1942, on the main street of Rath Luirc (Charleville). A cousin, William Leo, was with him when he died. 

The third child in the family was Maurice, who was born in November 1871. In 1914 he married Bridget Casey at Ardpatrick, and this marriage has been recorded above his baptism register entry in the Ballyhea register.

Maurice was the brother who had inherited after the death of his father Jeremiah.

As far as I can tell, Maurice and Bridget never had any children, and Maurice was still living on the farm in Ballinadrideen when he died aged 86, widowed, and still described as a farmer. There is a family story that Maurice fell off the roof when thatching, and the injuries recorded on his death registration would fit with that.

The fourth Malone child was Mary who was born in 1874. Again, we find her marriage, to Michael O'Reilly in 1913, recorded on her baptism entry. They were married in Ballyhea Parish, but I don't know where they lived after their marriage, or if they had any children. There is more to discover...

Margaret Mary Malone

The fifth Malone child, born in January 1876, was my grandmother, Margaret. She too emigrated to New Zealand and lived at first in Charing Cross. She married Martin Riordan in 1908, and together they had seven children, including my father James Kevin. They farmed at Hurford Rd, Omata for a while, but then moved into New Plymouth.

The sixth Malone child was Patrick Malone, born in 1877. He was the third Malone sibling to come to New Zealand, again first arriving in Charing Cross. We can see all three Malone children mentioned in a death notice in the NZ Tablet, 6 October 1904, when their mother dies in Ireland.

 Patrick Malone suffered from sciatica. He was called up for WW1 service and his 'employer' Martin Riordan, appealed on medical grounds. The appeal was rejected, though in the event, Patrick only served for a short period at the quartermaster's stores in Featherston before he was granted a Certificate of Leave by a medical board.

After the war it seems that Patrick probably lived again in Canterbury rather than Taranaki, and it seems likely he is the Patrick Malone who died in 1958 and is buried at Ruru Cemetery. (Contact me via a comment if you want to know more about my evidence for this!)

Hanoria (Nan, Nanno, Norah) was the seventh child born to Jeremiah and Margaret Malone, in 1879. In the 1911 census she was still living in Ballinadrideen in the family home, as the farmer's sister. It isn't certain whether Nan lived all her life in Ballinadrideen, but when her brother Maurice died, she was the witness who was present at his death in Ballinadrideen. She then went to live with the family of a niece in Rathkeale for several years until she died.

Jeremiah Malone was the eighth and youngest child born in the family in 1882. In September 1910 Jeremiah married Catherine Crowley in Clonakilty, and his profession was described as a 'horticultural instructor'. By the time of the 1911 census, Jeremiah and Catherine were living in Rathkeale and their first child was born later that year. There were to be four children born to that family. Sadly, Jeremiah jnr died aged just 52, after suffering from influenza and pneumonia for just four days. 

I was sent a copy of a most wonderful tribute for Jeremiah, published a few weeks after his death in the Limerick Leader. It said he was familiarly known to all as ‘the Bee Man’. The writer described how she had gardened under his guidance for the last 17 years, and had managed to turn a hillside with shallow soil into an orchard bearing good fruit. He had helped plant plum and apple trees, and shown how to prune and spray them each season, taking into account the limitations of soil and conditions. 

It is with Jeremiah and Catherine's line of the family that I have had some DNA matches, and I have had contact with two second cousins who are his grandchildren, now both living in the US.

Bridget and Margaret Malone

 Last year, 2020, I had hoped to visit Ballinadrideen and Ballyhea Parish, but in the event it wasn't possible. I hope that one day somebody in the family does get to visit. 

Malone family of Ballinadrideen

My grandmother, Margaret Malone, was born in the townland of Ballinadrideen, not far south of Charleville, in Co Cork.

Her parents were Jeremiah Malone and Margaret Riordan.

Jeremiah Malone was born about 1826, in Co Cork.

Margaret Riordan was baptised on 12 June 1843 in Ballylanders Parish, Co Limerick, named as Peggy on her baptism record. Her parents were John Riordan and Bridget Quane. She is a sibling of Patrick Riordan who farmed at Charing Cross in Canterbury, NZ.

Jeremiah and Margaret had eight children we know of: Bridget (1868), John (1869), Maurice (1871), Mary (1874), Margaret (1876), Patrick (1877), Nano (1879),  and Jeremiah (1882). Bridget, Margaret and Patrick all emigrated to New Zealand.

In the 1901 census, Jeremiah and Margaret were both still living, and five of their children were still at home, unmarried, in Ballinadrideen. Jeremiah is described as a farmer.

In the longer version of the census, we see that all except the younger two children spoke both Irish and English.

In the New Zealand Tablet, 6 October 1904, there is a death notice for Margaret Malone in Ballinadrideen. It was inserted by her ‘loving son and daughters, Patrick, Bridget and Maggie Malone, Charing Cross.” (Although the date of death appears to be July 11th here, on civil registration it is said to be 27th June.) She was aged 60.

Jeremiah Malone died just over two years later, on 22 July 1906, aged 80.  Probate was granted to Maurice Malone (his son), for a sum of Effects, £143, 5s.

Library visit

I've known for a while that my local Palmerston North library provided access to both Ancestry (library edition) and Find my Past- but I had never explored using either of them. Sunday afternoon was my time to remedy that. I took my laptop with me in case the library computers were busy, as you can access Ancestry once you are on the library wifi. FindMypast you actually have to be on a library computer to access. The library had two computers with these websites on, and fortunately there was no problem at this time of the day/week getting access.

My great-grandfather, Jeremiah Malone has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I knew the family was living in Ballinadrideen, near Charleville, Co Cork, Ireland. I also had a precious family photo of him, but I knew little more about him.

Jeremiah Malone

I had seen the 1901 census return for the family before on the National Archives of Ireland website, when his age was stated as being 75. Somehow the way FindMyPast set out his details from the census helped his age 'jump out' at me. He was 75, and 20 years older than his wife Margaret. FindMyPast also listed his birth year as 1826. An exploration for another time will be to investigate whether this is just an estimate, or whether a record actually exists. (After coming home I tried looking up the Ballyhea Parish baptismal records, which do exist for the 1824-8 time period, but they were hard to read, and I didn't 'find' him there on a quick look.)

It turned out that findmypast had transcriptions for Irish deaths 1864 -1958, and I was able to find the transcription of the likely death entry for my Jeremiah Malone in 1906, but no image. I noticed the copyright was listed as being FamilySearch, so I investigated further on there when I arrived home. Still no image though. It took me a while before I found the link for historic Irish civil registrations, and now knowing his death date, bingo, I found the image of the death registration for Jeremiah Malone, resident in Ballinadrideen, Ballyhea. It's strange how it suddenly feels as if I 'know' Jeremiah a little more, as if he has some clothes over his mystery.

 The death entry of the time didn't list the names of any parents though, but that is something I might explore 'next time' I go and use the library computer. "Maurice Malone" who was informant who was present at the death, is a brother of my grandmother, Margaret Malone, and thus my great-uncle.

I was able to print off pages from findmypast at the library for just ten cents a page, which was handy.

Using Ancestry Library edition was interesting. I couldn't directly sign in to the family tree I have created- so next time I will take details of any 'hints' I want to investigate with me. But I navigated a few things, like electoral rolls in Canterbury where I found Patrick Riordan listed over a wide time period. It was handy to know I could e-mail this home, check it again on my home computer, and leave it sitting there on my 'discoveries' page.

Annie Riordan: Sr M St Majella RNDM

My grandfather Martin Riordan had five siblings, all born on the Riordan-Burke family farm at Charing Cross in Canterbury NZ. So far on this blog I have written briefly about my three Riordan-Burke great-uncles, John (a priest), Patrick Joseph (a farmer) and James (who died in WW1). But I also have two great-aunts in this line of my family, Bridget and Annie Riordan. Today I'll write about Annie, who became Sr M St Majella RNDM.

Annie Riordan was the sixth and last child born to Patrick Riordan and Mary Burke, on 23rd August 1891. Her mother Mary was already suffering from TB at the time of her birth, and she died in March 1892 while Annie was still only a baby.

Annie was baptised just two days after her birth, on 25 August 1891, by Rev James J O’Donnell, her father Patrick’s first cousin. Sponsors were Thomas Burke and Joanna Halpin.

This photo shows Annie Riordan on the left, next to her sister Bridget. (Annie reminds me very much of my sister Katherine in this photograph.) An inscription on the back implies that this photo was originally sent to cousin Jeremiah, who I think was almost certainly their cousin Jeremiah Malone in Ballinadrideen, Co Cork.

Annie excelled in music. She obtained her ATCL in piano in 1909. She passed an intermediate exam in Harp in 1907. She sang as part of a concert for the bishop in 1905. In the biography of her in the archives of the Mission Sisters order it said that she ‘was naturally gifted with a beautiful voice, …which she gave ungrudgingly to the service of God, particularly her voice, when singing in the Chapel — God’s praises.’

She became a boarder at the Sacred Heart convent when quite young, and entered the Novitiate at the early age of 15, on 6 January 1908.

Her biography says she ‘had inherited Consumption’ from her mother, but with the great care bestowed upon her, it appeared she had grown out of it. However, in November 1910 she had an attack of gastric influenza that left her weak. Five weeks before her death she took to her bed and the illness progressed rapidly. On 20 June 1911 she was administered the last Sacrament by the priest.

I was told by Sr Martina Burke that Annie’s brother John came up from the Seminary when she was in her last illness, and was called in the early hours when her end was near. He ran over to the convent without even doing up his shoelaces.

Annie died of TB on 7 July 1911 at the convent of the Mission Sisters in Lower High St, Christchurch. Her funeral was held in the convent chapel on Saturday 8 July, then she was buried in the sisters’ plot at Linwood Cemetery, Lot 99C, Block 40.

Sources:
1: Birth Registration Image- Malvern, quarter ending 31 Dec 1891
2: When Mary Burke, her mother, died in March 1892, the death registration stated that she had been suffering from Phthisis Pulmonalis for 2 years.
3: Chch diocesan transcript from baptismal register for Darfield.
4: Most music results etc were recorded in the Tablet. (Catholic magazine)- Papers Past
5: “Biography” for Sr Majella was sent to me as a relative by the archives for the Mission Sisters.
6: Photos: Aunty Mary Riordan had this photo of Annie and Bridget.
7: I took photos of the sisters’ plot at Linwood cemetery with Sr Majella’s name on it -early 1990s.
8: Obituary: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-tablet/1911/7/13/32

Malone great-grandparents

Yes, I know I should be more 'disciplined' and should stick to some sort of research plan for doing my genealogy- but..... Sunday afternoons are great for random explorations. And especially now that the National Library of Ireland, and National Archives of Ireland have digitised access to so many more records... So somehow I found myself on the National Archives of Ireland census search page.
And here is the 1901 census entry for my Malone great-grandparents: Jeremiah Malone and Margaret (nee Riordan) his wife. I love that they spoke "Irish and English".

By the time of this census my grandmother Margaret and her sister Bridget were in New Zealand. Also another brother Patrick was known to be in New Zealand- but another day I will have to 'chase him up' to find out more about him.

The family are in house #2 of this house and building return- in Ballinadrideen, the place of my grandmother's birth.

Thanks to National Archives of Ireland for this information. I hope one day to get to Ireland to find Ballinadrideen, somewhere just south of Charleville.