Full-Text images- Jeremiah Malone

The buzz in the genealogy world is all about Full-Text images, where for some record sets on the FamilySearch website you can now search through documents for specific words or phrases. Several people told me that it was possible now to search for Irish Deeds this way, so I thought I might have a 'quick look'. 

And a 'quick look' was all it took.  Jeremiah Malone, my great-grandfather, has a reasonably distinctive name, and a record turned up for a land conveyance to him in Ballynadrideen quite easily, in 1887.  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKS-2YN?view=fullText

Jeremiah was able to purchase the land at Ballynadrideen on which he was the tenant farmer, from the vendor Standish Henry Harrison Esquire, of Castle Harrison. The purchase, for £705, was made possible with an advance to Jeremiah from the Irish Land Commission. This happened under the provisions of the purchase of Land (Ireland) Act of 1885.

There is another document for Jeremiah Malone, dated April 1904 in which Maurice Malone (his son) is described as also being a subscriber to the deed. I don’t know enough about the legalities of this, but perhaps this was part of the process of Jeremiah passing his interest in the land over to his son more fully? https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKS-2S2L-7?view=fullText

At this stage in April 1904 both parents of Maurice Malone were alive, though Margaret Malone née Riordan died a few months later on 11 July 1904. Jeremiah Malone himself died two years later on 22 July 1906, with probate being granted to his son Maurice Malone. Probate applied to his Effects, £143 5s 0d, and did not mention the land. 

 I don’t understand all the complexities of the history, but in the 1870s/1880s in Ireland, there were legal moves made to help tenant farmers take ownership of their land from the large landlords who had had control of them. In 1870 a Land Act was passed that gave tenants some very basic rights including a right to compensation for improvements in case of eviction. In 1871 in Cullane, John Riordan became one of the tenant farmers facing eviction when the landlord hugely increased the rents. Cullane became a test case for the power of the new Land Act.

By the way, I tried a similar Deeds search for John or James Riordan in Ballylanders/ Cullane South- but there was a lawyer called John Riordan, so much more diligent searching will be needed to filter and find what I am sure must be there!

Family Search have made it very easy to download the full document as well as the AI-generated transcription. You can then find the url link and citation text at the end of the download.

Of course I then had to delve more deeply into this rabbit-hole, which wasn't on my Priority List for 2025 in any way! I found something about the history of the great house that was Castle Harrison on Wikipedia. It was demolished after 1956, but Wikipedia had a photo of it.

And I also then looked for an Ordnance Survey map on the National Library of Scotland's Map website. Ballynadrideen, where the Malone farm was, was quite close to Castle Harrison. (It's interesting looking at earlier maps before the railway ate into the Great House's land.

I'm unlikely to ever find my way back to Ireland now, but you never know, one of my nieces or nephews might, or perhaps a cousin's child. It would be good if someone can go back and stand on the land.

 

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. 

Jeremiah Malone, junior

The youngest child, and youngest son, of Jeremiah Malone and Margaret Riordan, was named Jeremiah. He was born in 1882 according to evidence from the Ballyhea Parish register, though I haven't been able to find his birth in civil registration.
In the 1901 census, Jeremiah is described as a farmer's son, aged 19, living with his parents and four other siblings. He was able to read and write.
On 13 September 1910, Jeremiah married Catherine Crowley in Clonakilty, Co Cork. (Clonakilty is in south-west Cork near the coast, quite far from Ballyhea.) Their marriage registration is available on the website for Irish civil registration.

By the time of the 1911 census Jeremiah was living in Main St, Rathkeale with his wife Catherine. He was a horticultural instructor.

Jeremiah and Catherine had a daughter Margaret (known as Peggy), born in June 1911. Three further siblings have been found: Michael James (1913),  Bridget (1915), and Mary Catherine (1919).

Peggy married a Brennan, and continued to live in Rathkeale where she brought up her family, and Aunty Mary Riordan (her first cousin) told me about her so I could visit her in the early 1980s. Michael James (Mick)  emigrated to Australia and his wife also came from Rathkeale. Bridget died young, aged just 24, of pulmonary tuberculosis. Mary Kate emigrated to the USA, her husband’s locality.

Jeremiah Malone died aged 52 on 9 October 1935 in Rathkeale, after suffering for four days from influenza and pneumonia. His death was registered by his daughter Mary Kate.

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.

Trip Prep!

ADDENDUM- POSTSCRIPT!
Well the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.... the world is in pandemic, and my trip is not to be. Hopefully, in a few years when I retire I can do this...

I've been having a stay-cation these hols as I save for my trip over to Europe. Quite a few of the things I'll be doing have a family history reason behind them, and I have organised some 'paperwork' to take with me.

For a few places that my family came from, I can find the family address quite precisely. But for most others, it is just a 'general area' that I'll be visiting. But either way, I am really looking forward to this exploration, and recording some of it for others in the family.

Here is a bit of a (vaguely) chronological outline of where I hope this genealogical journey will take me.

-Italy- Florence- to visit the WW2 grave of Robert Clarence Fleming, my maternal first cousin once removed.
-Switzerland- Ticino- to explore Corippo, Val Verzasca, the place of my Scettrini forebears.
- France- to visit the war graves and battle places of two great-uncles who died in WW1- James Riordan and John Francis Payn.
-Jersey, St Martin- where my Payn-Mourant ancestors come from.

 

-Scotland, Perth and Fifeshire.  Perth is where my Burke/Flynn family came to when they left behind the Famine in Ireland. Fifeshire is where the Philp family came from, particularly from Strathmiglo, though they moved around. I wonder what will be at 134 High St in Perth now. I am sure it would have been a tenement then, with dozens of children playing in the street nearby.

 And then I finally reach Ireland in late June, home of the bulk of my ancestry. There are many places to go...

Strabane, Co Tyrone- for my Arbuckle family, many of whom ended up making their home in Australia.

Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary, for my Heneberry origins. (Again many other descendants are in Australia.)

Kilkenny- not sure exactly which area, but possibly near the northern end of the City of Kilkenny, for the family of James Lalor.

Cullane South, Ballylanders Parish, Co Limerick. This is where my Riordans hail from. I have found maps from Griffiths which I think pinpoint their farm, and I am looking forward to visiting the area.

Ballinadrideen, south of Charleville, where my Malone grandmother came from. 

Co Mayo- Derrycraff, Aghagower- the origin of my Burke/Flinn ancestors. 

Jeremiah Malone, Ballinadrideen, my great-grandfather

So, that's the plan!

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.

Family History Expo -Follow-up!

I'm home again after a very interesting weekend in Auckland, learning so many things about how to research more about my family history.

I'd barely unpacked before I had visited Fiona Brooker's website, to downloads her Leeds method worksheet. Can't wait to go out and buy some coloured pencils to doodle on it. There's just the small matter of having to do a DNA test first!!! (Waiting for an Ancestry special.)

And if I hadn't heard the talk by Cyndi about how to build a digital research plan, I would have had no idea about her evernote templates- there is just so much info on her site. And after a bit of exploration, I can see that I need to bookmark her categories page for frequent use.

Another key resource. Patient Genie has redone Cyndi's resource checklist for us downunder. 

Have already decided that my first use of a strategy à la Cyndi will be to try and learn more about one or two mysterious John Riordan's in my tree. There was a John Riordan, brother-in-law, who was a witness who signed Mary Burke's death registration in 1892. His residence was "Christchurch". but I really know nothing more about him yet.

There was a death of a John Riordan in Christchurch, but the age seemed wrong. It's time I got a better strategy underway to identify my John Riordan and find him. Having listened to Fiona Brooker's Legacy webinar just last week, I now know about using electoral rolls on Ancestry- will just have to get down to the Palmy library to use their computer.

But there's more....  In January this year I was blindsided by the advent of a previously unknown John Riordan from Mosgiel, via Papers Past- or could he be a very old version of the first one? In 1931 this John from Mosgiel had travelled all the way from Mosgiel to Tututawa, in the backblocks of Stratford, to help my great-aunt Bridget Norris (nee Malone), while her husband was in hospital with a broken leg. (Doesn't actually sound like something an old man would do...)

So, time to get more methodical as I search to 'flesh out' the story/ies of these two (?) John Riordans!

But for now, it's just gone 7am on a Monday morning and genealogy needs to be put aside as the teaching week calls!

Sincere thanks to the Auckland Council Libraries, the NZ Genealogical Group, and the many volunteers for all the work involved in organising and running such an event.

Passing things on...

This year I have two main things I want to achieve with my family genealogy.

The first is to get a booklet together that 'introduces' the family story to our newer generations. At this stage I'm not yet half-way through what I want to share on the paternal side- words and pictures- but hopefully the booklet will be a Christmas present this year rather than next!

The second thing I want to do is to get going on some proper organisation of all my family photos- both recent and older and even photocopies I have of very old photos. If I can digitise them, hopefully they are more likely to last over time to reach somebody interested in more family research.

Dad, second from right

Yours truly and sister

Of course, I haven't stopped trying to follow up some new leads as well. One thing I really want to do is track down where exactly our Lalor family came from in Co Kilkenny. There is a really useful article in Papers Past that states that my great-grandfather, James Lalor, is a 'full cousin' to the famous Irish orator, Richard Lalor Shiel. I have found a 'pedigree' on the National Library of Ireland site that seems to relate to this exact family in 1855, and hope to get it 'looked up' soon- but it seems like the researchers in Dublin are currently overloaded with business. Maybe I will have to look it up myself on a visit. I suspect 'my' Lalor connection will be turn out to be just over the county border from the Templetuohy area- if I actually can break through this brick wall!

Riordan Quane family via James

There was a time, not so many years ago, when I thought that my Irish family history would remain unknown- but in recent years more and more documents are being digitised and are now accessible from the other end of the world.

Last night. Christmas Eve, I was fiddling around, and made yet another fortuitous combo of words in a Google search. Bingo! Thanks National Archives of Ireland! It led to a census abstract from 1916, that seems pretty certain to have been made by Patrick's older brother James to prove his age for the pension. Down the side of this document, it also has a list of names that must be his siblings. I haven't been able to get Patrick's birth entry- it was too early for the microfilm online from Ballylanders Parish- but his name is listed in the siblings, as are the names of Ellen and Bridget who I had found on the register. It also lists John who came to New Zealand and Margaret who was my great-grandmother via her Malone marriage. The only one I wasn't aware of before was Mary...

Oh- and for some reason I had to use Safari to access this document properly on my Mac- in case that affects some of the rest of you...

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.

List of ancestors

I know this blog has had hardly any attention- it's turn will come!- but I have some info on some old web pages I must transfer over here.

Here is a list of ancestors back to 4X great grandparents where I know them.

Eight great-grandparents

Patrick RIORDAN was born in Curraheen, Co Limerick, Ireland, sometime in the late 1840s, the child of John Riordan and Bridget QUANE. He seems to have arrived in New Zealand aged about 21, c1868.

Mary BURKE was born in the Parish of Inchture, Perth, Scotland, on 21 August 1862. She was the first child for her Irish father, Martin Burke, who left Co Mayo around the time of the Famine as a child, and her Scottish mother, Ann PHILP. She emigrated with her parents to New Zealand aboard the "Mermaid" when she was still only a toddler, arriving in Lyttelton on 16 February 1864.

 Patrick Riordan married Mary Burke on 11 April 1882 at the Catholic Church in Lincoln. 

  

Jeremiah MALONE and Margaret RIORDAN (no photo) were the parents of my grandmother, Margaret MALONE, who was born in Ballinadrideen, Ballyhea Parish, near Charleville, close to the border of Co. Cork and Co. Limerick. Another of their daughters, Bridget,  also emigrated to New Zealand.

  

James LALOR was born in Co. Kilkenny Ireland, c 1840, to John and Mary Lalor. He seems to have reached New Zealand c 1866, becoming a goldminer at South Beach. 

Catherine ROWLAND was born 26 August 1845 in Heidelberg, Melbourne, to Christopher Rowland (who was probably a convict from Cork) and Margaret ARBUCKLE. Her younger sister Margaret also later came to New Zealand.

James and Catherine married in 1871 in the Catholic Chapel in Greymouth.

  

 
Francis Davis PAYN was born 1854 in "Les Ruettes", St Martin's parish, Jersey, Channel Islands. He was the son of Thomas Payn and Elizabeth MOURANT. He arrived in Canterbury in 1874 on the "Dilharee" with Philip Payn, and was one of three "Larrikins" who discovered the Larrikins lead in 1878 in Kumara. 

Johanna SCETTRINI was born in Sandhurst (Bendigo) in 1865, the eldest daughter of Giuseppe Scettrini (from Corippo, Ticino, Switzerland) and Catherine HENEBERRY (from Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary, Ireland.) The family moved to the West Coast and after living in Waimea (Goldsborough) for a time, settled in Kumara. 

Johanna and Frank were married in 1886 in Kumara.