Kumara Sketch Map

In January 2023 I spent time on the West Coast, and in particular, exploring around Kumara, Larrikins and Goldsborough where my Payn, Scettrini, and some of my Lalor ancestors lived.

I am a great mixer-upper of left and right, and whenever I had visited Kumara, I always found myself confused about directions. Cycling along parts of the West Coast Cycle Trail though, helped me put everything into the right place in my mind. Hopefully this sketch map will help me recall the lay of the land for any future trip.

 On the Cycle Trail, I emerged into Kumara from the Greymouth end, and found myself within a short distance from where my Lalor grandparents, and my Uncle Jack, lived. It reminded me that my Uncle Jack had told me once that the old Tramway had passed nearby- and I know that at least part of the cycle route traverses it.

Uncle Jack told me there used to be two Payn-Scettrini houses up at the top of Boundary Rd, and I knew that my Scettrini 2x-great-grandfather lived up there: family photos show him there as an old man. Now there is one house up the top there, fully renovated. Next door it is hard to tell if any of the old house is left, as there is a lot of bush on the section.

 I took the liberty of wandering through part of this second section though, and found myself coming out onto the Larrikins part of the cycle trail! That was a lightbulb moment of how things fitted together in the landscape. 

Next day when I cycled the Larrikins part of the route, from the old Theatre Royal Hotel up to the road leading to Callaghans and Goldsborough, I recognised when I was passing the back of the two Scettrini sections.

According to family stories, Scettrini sisters Johanna (Payn) and Nellie (Baretta) used to live up on Boundary Rd next door to each other. There is an architect’s sign outside the renovated house.  One of my cousins, a Baretta descendant, grew up in Kumara and has told me that Ellen Baretta née Scettrini lived in the house that is still standing.

Somehow I had also been confused as I knew that “Payn’s Track” near where Frank Payn was goldmining was on the other side of the main road, and I had thought that was Larrikins too. A more careful re-reading of some of the material the West Coast Historical Museum prepared for our Payn-Scettrini family reunion in the early 90s showed me he was in fact mining later in a different place from Larrikins. I had walked Payn’s Track on a previous West Coast visit- I must re-walk it next time I am in Kumara.

Next I took the road that led me to Goldsborough and Stafford. I am grateful to various people on the West Coast South Island history FB group, who helped me with information before my trip south. It helped me clarify where Larrikins was, and also where Big Dam was, near Goldsborough, the first place where the Scettrini family lived before they moved to Kumara.

I had hoped I might perhaps walk or even drive up a road I could see on a map for Big Dam Hill. But when I arrived I discovered there was current mining activity up there, and access wasn’t possible. At least I now have a clear idea of where it was in relation to the main Goldsborough settlement. It shouldn’t be surprising that Giuseppe Scettrini, from a mountain village in Ticino, should choose to live in such a wild and hilly place.

 

Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2022

For the first time, I am participating in GeniAus end-of-year blogging challenge, so here goes! 

1: I was happy to go back to my local genealogy branch meetings after a Covid absence. (I was really looking forward to going to the Lower North Island Irish Research Day as well, but managed to end up in isolation with Covid when it was on!) 

2: In 2022 I was particularly proud of writing about Fr Patrick O’Riordan who served as a priest in NSW- my first cousin twice removed. I had seen him mentioned in a newspaper when he visited another priest-cousin in New Zealand, but hadn’t managed to find out much about him. Suddenly, one bit of information from Andrew Redfern, a fellow Twitter-er, broke open the floodgates of information! 

5: A new genealogy book that sparked my interest was Chris Paton’s “Tracing your Scottish family history on the internet”, and I hope to delve into this more in 2023. 

6: A geneasurprise I received was this beautiful photo of my maternal grandmother, Rose Payn, that my cousin sent to me. I think she is probably a bridesmaid for one of her sisters in this photo, around 1912 or so.

7: In 2022 I finally met a third cousin from a Scettrini line that I hadn't had any contact with. 

8: Locating the birthplace of my great-grandmother Mary Burke in a rural area near Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland, gave me great joy. Doing a Pharos course by Chris Paton gave me the confidence to use maps from the National Library of Scotland effectively, and led to this discovery. 

11: An informative newspaper article I found was one that told me Fr O’Riordan’s brother was killed in an ambush in 1921 in Ireland. This led to more research and discovering a military archive that contained a huge amount of information about his family, when they applied (unsuccessfully) for compensation after his death.

12: I was pleased I could contribute to my local genealogy branch by taking over as editor of the monthly newsletter. I am thankful to the long-time editor who thought to ask me to do this, and had faith that I could do it. 

14: I got a thrill from opening someone’s eyes to the joy of genealogy when I was able to go from an Irish marriage entry a friend had obtained from an old family Bible, to a whole heap more information about her family in Ireland. 

20: Another positive I would like to share is that I finally worked out how to search on Trove effectively, by using Advanced Search. This has helped me find the information I wanted, instead of being overwhelmed by 1000s of results! 

Thanks GeniAus for setting this opportunity up.

Reorganising Files- BurkeNZ

I am in the process of reorganising all my genealogy files. They were already organised to a certain extent, with an elaborate numbering/lettering system that only I could follow, and it meant I couldn't always find information I knew I had that was buried in folders somewhere. Also it was tricky to work out where to file new information. A few months ago I worked out a system for one family line where I used dates and categories within family folders/files. It seemed to work quite well so now I have extended it. I have just spent some of the weekend hours reorganising my Burke-Burton information.

My great-grandmother, Mary Burke, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1862, to an Irish father who had left Co Mayo at the time of the Famine, and a Scottish mother from Fifeshire. She emigrated as a toddler to New Zealand with her parents Martin Burke and Ann Philp, arriving in February1864 in Lyttelton. Her sister Ann was born in NZ in December that year, and a brother Thomas was born two years later in 1866. Mary married Patrick Riordan from Charing Cross, Canterbury, NZ in 1882 as a young woman.
Both her brother and sister married members of the Burton family from Redwoodtown, Blenheim. The Burtons had emigrated from Galbally in Ireland with quite a few Irish-born children in 1876. Ann Burke married Francis Burton in 1888, and Thomas Burke married Nora Burton, one of the youngest Burtons and a New Zealand born member of the family, in 1899. 

Annie Burke and Francis Burton, Marriage notice

Thomas Burke and Nora Burton

 

 

This double lot of Burke-Burton lines has been a bit confusing for me at times, and I have met third cousins who seem a bit dubious that I can be related to them! I am of course cousins with everyone descended from the Burke marriages with Francis and Nora Burton, but then there are a whole lot of other members of the Burton family I am not genetically related to. Hopefully, having reorganised all my files,  my mind is now clear about how everyone fits in.

Fr Patrick O'Riordan (1879- 1933)

I had known for some time that there was a priest in Australia who was somehow related to our Riordan family. When Margaret Malone (née Riordan) died in July 1904 in Ireland, there was a notice inserted in the ‘New Zealand Tablet’ by her three children who were living in Charing Cross, that said she was the ‘aunt of the Rev P. Riordan, West Wyalong, N.S.W.’

And just a few years later, in 1909, it was noted that Father O’Riordan from the Diocese of Goulburn, had been on a visit to his cousin, Rev J.F. O’Donnell, Queenstown, and was on his way back to Australia. I made a half-hearted attempt to learn more about this somewhat elusive Fr (O’)Riordan, but I didn’t know his first name, and “West Wyalong” as a place didn’t seem to lead anywhere promising at the time.

Enter, stage left, a recent comment on Twitter by Andrew Redfern, @anmireoz, about researching priests in Australia. He sent me a link to a site listing deceased clergy in Australia. There were just two O’Riordan priests, one was in Goulburn Diocese, and he was named Patrick, a familiar family name.

Andrew then sent me a Trove link to the 1933 death notice for Fr Patrick O’Riordan. He was from Ireland, and was an ‘outstanding horseman’, so presumably came from a rural background as you would expect for our Riordan family.

I still couldn’t be sure this was ‘our’ priest- the places Binalong and Grenfell mentioned in his death notice didn’t relate to what I already knew about him. But it was promising.

As a first step, I thought it might be prudent to also look at things from the other end of the story, in Ireland. I assumed that Patrick was probably from Ballylanders, the same place in Co Limerick that my great-grandfather Patrick came from. From what I knew of the family, it also seemed likely that his father might be called James. And it didn’t take long, using a Civil Records search on IrishGenealogy.ie, to find a possible birth:- Patrick Riordan, born 7 June 1879  in Cullane, Ballylanders, to James Riordan and Bridget Hanlon.

 Going backwards in time again I found the marriage for James and Bridget in April 1877, and John Riordan, a farmer, was listed as James’ father. This made it quite likely that James was the brother of our great-grandfather Patrick. The couple married in Ballylanders, and their residence was in Cullane. Bridget wasn’t quite the girl next door- but nearly. In Griffiths’ Valuations, John Riordan had a farm in Cullane South, while Michael Hanlon had a farm in Cullane Middle.
The first child born to James and Bridget was John, born in April 1878. (However, he must have died young, as another John was born and received the same name in 1891.) Patrick was the second child, born in 1879, followed by Bridget (1881), Michael (1883), Margaret(c1889), John (1891), and the youngest child I found was William (c1894).

I was fairly satisfied now that I was following up on the right priest as part of my own family and not barking up the wrong genealogical tree, so I started finding out more about Fr Patrick O’Riordan in Australia, in the diocese of Goulburn.

There was a notice in the Advocate (Melbourne) about Ordinations on June 21st 1903 at St Patrick’s College, Carlow, for Australian Dioceses. Rev Patrick O’Riordan was listed as ordained for the diocese of Goulburn.
One of the first queries I had in my mind was about Wyalong, where I knew he was in 1904 when Margaret Malone, his aunt, died. The ‘New Zealand Tablet’ helped me out again with a report in February 1904 that “The Rev Father O’Riordan, who arrived in Sydney at Christmas from Carlow College, has been appointed curate in the Wyalong Parish.”

Priests are relatively easy to research in old newspapers because of the role they had in local people’s lives. In October 1904, a Mr Hartigan of West Wyalong died and we read that “…as he breathed his last the Rev Fathers P. F. O’Shea and P. O’Riordan were present in his room reciting the prayers for the dying.” Then we are told: “When the funeral reached the cemetery hundreds of persons congregated around the grave, whilst the Rev Fathers P. F. O’Shea and P. O’Riordan performed the obsequies.”

However, as it turned out, Fr O’Riordan was in West Wyalong for barely a year before he was moved at short notice to SS Peter and Paul’s Cathedral in Goulburn. The writer noted that though he had only been stationed in Wyalong for twelve months, “…he created a very good impression there, and though there were only two days in which to arrange for recognitions, he received no less than four presentations.”

An interesting recording of his change of address from Binalong to Goulburn was an official notification from the Registrar’s General Department in Feb 1905 since he was an Officiating Minister.

After just under two years though, in late November 2006, Fr O’Riordan was on the move again, leaving Goulburn Cathedral to take up the position of Diocesan Inspector of Schools, clearly a prestigious role.
The Administrator said that “…they had never said good-bye to a priest with more genuine sorrow, for no more genial priest had ever come into the Bishop’s House.” Father Clearly spoke about how he knew Father O’Riordan perhaps better than anyone in Goulburn as he had known him in Carlow College, and “though a very young man, an adult in ability and knowledge,” and that “he had always been able, too, to take his place in the college sports.”

However, despite the high hopes everyone had for him as he began the Diocesan role as Inspector of Schools, it seems that as quite a young man, Fr O’Riordan developed some serious health issues. These resulted in him leaving the diocesan role for a parish priest position at Binalong in 1910. He also made several visits to relatives in New Zealand. In 1909 we saw earlier that he spent time with his cousin Fr JF O’Donnell in Queenstown. In early June 1910 the NZ Tablet recorded that in Christchurch he “was a visitor at the Cathedral Presbytery last week, and on Sunday was in Darfield, where relatives reside.”

On June 13 1910 he “was the guest of Dean O’Donnell in Ashburton for a few days, prior to his departure for Sydney.” In the Intercolonial column of the New Zealand Tablet in September 1910 it spoke of him being obliged to give up the inspector of schools role ‘owing to ill health’.
However, his stay in the Binalong Parish was to be a long and fruitful one. 

Father O’Riordan was reported to have arrived in the parish of Binalong by late September 1910, and the people of the parish were reported to be delighted with his appointment. He came with an excellent reputation from his work as a diocesan inspector. His ill-health continued though, and he had a ‘serious operation at the Lewishham Hospital’ in 1912, before returning to his parish on October 24th.

Probably because of his continuing ill-health, he was recorded as having another visit to New Zealand in 1913. In April 1913 he celebrated Mass at St Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin. One might assume he had spent more time with his cousin Fr JF O’Donnell in Queenstown as he recuperated, and Queenstown has a beautiful stone church that was built under the direction of Fr O’Donnell. 

However, despite his poor health, he was instrumental in organising the building of a new church for Binalong Parish, which was opened in early June 1913. Burrowa News covered the event- “Grand Religious Function at Binalong”- with a detailed description of proceedings.

There was a procession to the front door of the Church, then Dr Gallagher, the Bishop of Goulburn gave a brief address. He explained that he had been invited to Sydney for a ceremony there, but had written to explain that arrangements had already been made to open the Church at Binalong the same day. He also said that “the ceremonies had previously been arranged for November, but had to be postponed on account of the temporary illness of Father O’Riordan (parish priest). He (Dr Gallagher) was pleased to know that Father O’Riordan was well again, and able to attend to his duties.” During the following High Mass, Fr O’Riordan was the Master of Ceremonies, and at its conclusion he told the people the costs of the new church and asked for contributions to reduce down the debt. 

Photo of Binalong Church by Ian Lamont, from www.churchhistories.net.au

Following the opening and blessing of the church, there was a banquet at which Fr O’Riordan presided. The final toast was proposed to him, The Pastor, by Mr J. F. Shine (Burrows). He said that “he wished to congratulate the people of Binalong on their important undertakings on behalf of religion, but still a great deal of the success was due to the great organising power and zeal of their Pastor (Fr O’Riordan).” Fr O’Riordan then “briefly responded, and said that he had received hearty assistance and co operation from the people in whatever movements he had undertaken.”

The newspaper account ended with comments about how all classes of the community had mingled to build the church, and that there was an absence of sectarian animus. I found this last paragraph interesting as similar things were said about the way Fr O’Donnell, who was Fr O’Riordan’s cousin, also worked with the whole community building the church in Queenstown, NZ, that was opened in 1898.

There was a description of the new Binalong church in the Yass Courier. “The building is of bluestone (quarried not more than 150 yards from the site), with freestone buttresses, fibro-cement roof with terra cotta ridging, the whole being surmounted by two freestone crosses carved by Mr Dave Larkham. The stonework of the church will bear close inspection, as the whole of the joints are accurately lined up. The inside fittings include a choir gallery of polished redwood, and seats of polished kauri. Lead lights have been fitted to all windows, the memorial windows being beautifully executed.” It was noted that the St Patrick’s Statue in the church was gifted by Fr O’Riordan.

In 1921 a stark reminder of Fr O’Riordan’s Irish family and origins appeared in the news. His brother William had been killed at Lackelly during a British ambush during the War of Independence, and he was reburied in the Republican plot in the Ballylanders graveyard. A more detailed account of the huge funeral procession was carried in The Catholic Press, where the chief mourners were listed as James O’Riordan and Mrs O’Riordan (parents), John and Michael O’Riordan (brothers), and Bridget O’Riordan (sister).


No doubt much more can be uncovered about Fr O’Riordan’s time in Binalong Parish in the pages of Trove, but I will leave that to another researcher, and will now turn to his large farewell function from the parish in May 1928.

Fr O’Riordan was acknowledged as having been Parish Priest for nearly 18 years at Binalong before receiving a ‘promotion’ to take charge of the larger Queanbeyan parish. Mr Browne in proposing a toast spoke of Fr O’Riordan “who by a tolerant spirit and co-operation, had endeared himself to all sections of the community.” The speaker spoke of Fr O’Riordan carrying out the duties of church and also of the town and district, in such areas as sporting bodies, and the debating club.  Rev Rose, the Church of England minister, spoke of the wonderful disposition of Fr O’Riordan, and of the broad-minded outlook he took on all matters. Fr O’Riordan was the first visitor he had had when he came to Binalong.

When Fr O’Riordan rose to respond to the many speeches, he “was given a great ovation, it being some minutes before he was heard to say how much he appreciated the great reception given him, and said he found it difficult to fittingly express his thanks for the highly flattering remarks passed by the various speakers and for the handsome present received.”

Fr O’Riordan was at Queanbeyan from 1928 until late 1931, when he was appointed to Grenfell, where he was acting administrator during the illness of the incumbent priest. (One might assume that perhaps Fr O’Riordan himself was already suffering with the illness that was to prove terminal in 1933.) In February 1932 there was yet another large farewell gathering. Fr O’Riordan “stated that he had learnt at Queanbeyan what genuine charity meant.”

When Fr Riordan died in 1933 at Grenfell Parish, his death was not unexpected. He had known his illness was terminal for more than nine months before his death.

The Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated in St Patrick’s, Binalong, and it was in the cemetery there that he was buried, as was his wish, under the shade of a pine tree he had planted 18 years ago.

It was reported that his mother and a sister, both living in Ireland, survived him.

A Binalong correspondent wrote:
“This loved priest and friend of the people fittingly was laid to rest under the sheltering branches of a spreading pine, which stands as a living monument beside his grave,” and  “The Rev Father O’Riordan was a great lover of the beautiful in tree and flower. The church grounds at Binalong bear ample testimony in their leafy growth to the pleasure his artistic nature found in that handiwork of the great Creator.” 

Headstone photo from Billion Graves website

Please leave a comment if you would like to know more about the sources etc used for this blog post. If you happen to come across this blog, and know where I could find a photo of Fr Patrick O'Riordan, please let me know in the comments!

Mary Burke's Birthplace

Early on when I started delving into my family history, a trip to the local Family History centre led to the ordering of a microfilm for the Scottish parish of Inchture. It wasn’t long before I had the joy of discovering the record of the birth of Mary Burke, my great-grandmother. She was born on 21^st August 1862 at 3h30am in the Parish of Inchture in the County of Perth, in what I had interpreted for many years as Poleavie Cotter's Houses. She was the first child born to Martin Burke from Co Mayo, and Ann Philp from Fifeshire.

In the last couple of months, to help me find out more about how to research my Scottish ancestors, I have done an excellent course through Pharos Tutors, taught by Chris Paton, called Scottish Research Online. This course has really opened my eyes to the abundant riches available on the internet for researching in Scotland.

One of the topics we looked at was Maps, and I decided to use the excellent maps found on the National Library of Scotland website to try and work out more exactly where Mary Burke was born. But much searching in the OS maps only turned up Powgavie as a place near Inchture. Looking at the handwriting more closely I realised it had a "g" and her birthplace was "Polgavie" rather than Poleavie. Powgavie and Polgavie appeared to be in pretty much the same place on different maps, but there was still a difference of spelling to reconcile. You can check out a map on the Old Roads of Scotland site.

Next, in the Ordnance Survey Name Books- Perthshire, 1859- 1862  I discovered that there was a relevant note that explained it: ‘It would appear from a correspondence with the Examiner Corpl Webster that there is some attempt made to distinguish the farm name above from the name Powgavie as applied to the houses about the little harbour or creek, but as this is only a difference in spelling the same name, I think it is better spell it alike in both cases.'

Both the old (1792) and New (1842) Statistical Accounts refer to a settlement where there is a harbour used for import and export, called Polgovie (1792)and Powgavie (1842).

Ordnance Survey Map showing Powgavie in the Parish of Inchture.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14&lat=56.42512&lon=-3.15471&layers=1&b=1
NLS OS One Inch 1885-1900 Outline, with transparency overlay with modern map.

 
So it seems that Polgeavie and Powgavie are pretty much the same place. And today there are even self-catering cottages there that have been converted from farm houses into modern holiday homes. 

Whether these are the same cottages where Mary Burke was born would require a lot more research. It seems that some of the cotter’s accommodation of the time was very primitive, and was sometimes just a draughty lean-to on the end of the farm buildings. But she must have been born somewhere very close by. Maybe someone of the younger generation will go there one day and explore to find out more.

Thomas Jean Payn

 It has been interesting to see how many Payn family matches I have in my DNA- and also where they are 'missing' in this family line. I have oodles of second cousins in our New Zealand line, descended from my great-grandfather Francis Davis Payn (1854-1929), and also several from his father Thomas's siblings. But surprisingly, none from his own siblings have shown up. 

However, all has become clear as I have delved more deeply into this family line from the Island of Jersey. Francis Davis had six siblings, but of these, three died as very young children. A fourth appears to have remained single, at least until the 1911 census when he was aged 52. The remaining two became mariners. Of these, John died in 1881 at sea, aged about 28. I am not certain yet whether he had married or had any descendants. The remaining brother, Thomas Jean (John) also died at sea, in 1893, as a ship's captain. It's this Thomas Jean whose life I will tell a little more about here.

Thomas Jean Payn was the first child born to Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant. He was born on 2 February 1848, and was baptised on 3 February 1848 in St Martin's Church, Jersey.

He appears in the 1851 census of Jersey in St Martin's parish, aged 3, living with his parents and a baby sister Eliza J. In the 1861 census he is still living at home, as a 13 year old son who is a sailor. He has three younger brothers living at home:- John, 8, and Francis Davis, 6, who are both scholars, and Helier who is 3. By the time of the 1871 census, Thomas Jean is no longer recorded as living at home, though his two brothers John and Francis D are both described as Mariners, and his father Thomas is listed as a Ship Carpenter.

In January 1876 Thomas is recorded as receiving his certificate of competency as a Master in the Merchant Service.

The following year, on 9 August 1877, he married Mary Elizabeth Payn in St Mary's Parish. She was the daughter of Charles Payn, and it appears Thomas and Mary were first cousins. In his marriage entry, Thomas is described as being "Capitaine au Long Cours".

Hilda Selina, a daughter, was born to Thomas and Mary Elizabeth on 29 February 1884, and was baptised on 9 March 1884 at the house of her parents. Her baptism is recorded in the French Wesleyan rather than the Anglican register. 

On 7 March 1884, Thomas made a will. He was residing at No.1 Brighton Rd in the parish of St Helier's, and he bequeathed his whole personal estate to his wife Mary Elizabeth Payn, who was also named as sole executrix of his will. His signature is appended.

In 1881 we find Thomas J Payn on a crew list for the ship Gryalva, based out of Liverpool. He joined his present ship on 11 January 1881 as a Mate, and it is recorded on the crew list that he succeeded as Master in Benin on 4 April 1881. He then left this ship in Liverpool on 10 July 1881.

Sadly, Thomas Jean lost his life at sea, in 1893, and this is recorded on the family headstone, in St Martin's Parish, Jersey,  as:

'comme aussi de
Capt Thomas Jean Payn
perdu en mer
dans l'année 1893
dans sa 46ème année.'

There are documents in the Jersey Archive dealing with the affairs of Thomas Jean's parents, Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant. It appears that as the eldest son, Thomas Jean inherited Les Ruettes, and that after his death, his daughter Hilda Selina Payn, became the sole inheritor. On 11 July 1908, Hilda entered in a contract to sell Les Ruettes to George Le Masurier for £290.

In 1909 his widow, Mary Elizabeth, is listed as being admitted to the hospital/workhouse on the island for a short period.

His daughter, Hilda Selina Payn, emigrated to New Zealand at some stage, and was known by the cousins as "Cousin Hilda". She is found listed on a passenger list for the ship Rangitata that departed from Southampton in 1931, a single woman aged 47. She arrived in Wellington on 26 November 1931, though I am not certain if this was her only voyage.

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.