The Sullivans in Ireland & migrations

Locations & Geographic Definitions

Main locations in the area of interest of County Cork – interactive Google Map

From the information at hand, these are maps of the area where the family of Eugene Sullivan & Catherine Horigan were linked to in County Cork. Originating in Bandon, working on Colthurst lands in Grenagh, moving to Cloghroe in Inniscarra, working at the nearby Colthurst estate of Ardrum House and finally, Courtbrack. The interactive Google Map above is, of course, geographical but other types of map are helpful in this research, such as this RC parish map.

PROVINCES: Roughly, the old division of Ireland into regions of its main kingdoms. In this case, Munster.

COUNTIES: Sullivans have their old strongholds in South West Ireland, particularly in Counties Kerry and Cork. Our Sullivan family have their roots in County Cork.

BARONIES: The division of Ireland into provinces and counties is easily understood for researching purposes, but the further division into baronies can be confusing. These are old geographical divisions still used for some administrative purposes, but were extensively used for taxation, land surveying and real estate purposes. Property locations, in the relevant periods of this research, will usually include the barony. There are also titled (Barons, Earls, Viscounts, etc ) hereditary Feudal and Parliamentary baronies which are quite different to the type used here, and which can make the use of the term more confusing. The Colthurst family are an example of the hereditary title of Baronet.
E.g. The town of Bandon is located in the barony of Kinalmeaky, Grenagh Parish straddles the baronies of Muskerry East and Barretts, and Cloghroe in Muskerry East.

PARISHES: Civil recording of births, deaths & marriages in Ireland did not begin till the mid 1860s, too late for the events of our family of interest. Researching on the birth, baptism, marriage, death and burials of our individuals of interest at this period of times relies on the Roman Catholic Parish records. However, to confuse Irish ancestry research, there are 3 types of parishes. Civil Parishes are geographic land divisions used for official, administrative purposes. Most of the time when geographic locations are given, it is the Civil Parish name being used. They are not the same as the ecclesiastical, or church based, parishes. The protestant Church of Ireland also has parishes, and care is needed to ensure the correct records are being searched according to the religion of a person

The Roman Catholic parishes are the ones of interest for this research, and finding the correct Roman Catholic parish names is essential for finding the right registry of records to search. Civil and Church of Ireland parishes usually share boundaries, but often not with the Roman Catholic parishes (which were more fluid with boundaries, or have new ones created). Not all the Roman Catholic church parishes have surviving registry books back to this period, or some have not had their records fully digitised and searchable online, some are only a series of barely readable images of the pages of the original registry books. Those that are searchable online can be either fully free (parishes in the Diocese of Cork & Ross) or require an account with one of the online ancestry companies (parishes of Cloyne).

TOWNLANDS: These are the smallest official divisions of land, though they can vary greatly in size and can number anywhere from 1 to over 100 within a Civil Parish. Grenagh Civil Parish has 25 townlands, Matehy has 14, Inishcarra 29. These are the names given to the location of rural properties.

CITIES, TOWNS & VILLAGES: These are as expected, but sometimes can share the same name with the townland or Parishes. E.g. Grenagh can refer to the village, Civil or RC Parish, the townlands of North or South Grenagh.

OTHER PLACES: In addition to the usual village, town, & city names, some small local land areas, often only a few hundred metres apart, even seemingly empty, are also given names. Not villages or townlands. This map of Grenagh shows such areas – Waterloo, Shanavagha, Pound Hill, etc.

To sum up, after several years, I still get confused trying to sort out the system of place names. While the hierarchy of Country, Province, County, Barony, Parish, Townland, etc, might eventually seem easy to follow, what appears on maps or documents, and in what order, can be inconsistent. A place name mentioned may refer to the population centre (village/town), townland or parish. Poor Law Unions are sometimes used in place locations, but as this adds another layer of complexity, these will be ignored if possible.

Bandon and origins

According to the background information in Eileen Costigan’s chapter on the Sullivans, the Horigan and Sullivan families came from Bandon, a town 27km south-west of Cork city. Whether Eugene and Catherine were born, met and/or married there isn’t known, but if we assume they were married in Bandon before the move to Grenagh, a church record of the union could exist in the local or nearby parishes.

An estimate of the marriage year would be helpful to begin the search. With our Eugene born in 1835, we can get a rough range of years based on the order of siblings given by Eileen as the order of birth. With 6 older siblings assumed born about a year apart, the latest year would be about 1828. Assuming 2 years apart, 1822 is a reasonable earlier date.

A brief search of marriages in Bandon between 1820 and 1828 has not found any suitable matching records. However, a more detailed search including neighbouring parishes may yet prove fruitful. Also, though tedious, it may be worth cross referencing ‘nearly’ matching records, possibly due to text recognition errors, against the (hopefully legible) handwriting in the photographic images of the documents.

At Grenagh

The next location mentioned in the Sullivan history is Grenagh, where the family lived and worked on an estate owned by the Baronet, Sir George Colthurst. Grenagh is both the name of a population centre, a village or town, and a Civil Parish.

Baptism of Eugene 1835

This baptism entry comes from the adjoining parish of Mourneabbey (Mourneabbey/Ballinamona – “In the R. C. divisions the greater part of the parish forms the head of the union or district of Ballinamona, comprising also the parish of Grenagh and part of Rahan, and containing the chapels of Burnfort, Monaparson, and Grenagh: the remainder is included in the Mallow district”). Baptisms in Grenagh were recorded at Mourneabbey until 1840.

The entry can be matched to our Eugene with a high degree of confidence, matching the rough date & location expected, and the exact names of the parents (though with the common surname spelling variations of Horigan, Horgan, Horighan, etc).

Baptism of Margaret 1838

Also recorded at Mourneabbey. The entry is consistent with expectations, except for the use of Owen as the father’s name. The names Owen and Eugene were often interchanged at this time in Ireland, one sounding like the Irish Eoghan, the other an Anglicised version having a similarity in spelling, (in the letters from Timothy, he uses the name Owen for our Eugene). However, it is a difference and thus the degree of confidence is fair.

Baptism of Catherine 1842

The writing of this record entry is very hard to discern, fortunately the index for the entry (from Ancestry.com) provides the vital details.
This entry, being after 1840, is registered at Grenagh itself rather than at Mourneabbey. Again there is some variation in the spelling of names; Owen for Eugene & Horagan for Horgan/Horigan. However, with the registration being at Grenagh, the confidence is fair.
This entry also provides us with a place of residence – Ballyglass – a townland in the parish, west of Grenagh village – enabling an avenue for more research.

Ballyglass farms c.1852

By the time of the Griffith’s Valuation in the area (Volume 61 published in 1852), the family had well and truly moved on, but it was worth doing some investigation on the land where they were living to provide some referenced verification of events in the Sullivan story and some general background to their lives.

The entries don’t refer to the actual owners of land, but are the names of occupiers and from whom they lease the land, house, etc. Because chains of leasing and sub-leasing was a common practice, the name of the actual land owner may not appear.
The record for Ballyglass shows land being leased out by Sir George Colthurst, and since it’s unlikely for him to be leasing it from anyone else, those estates would almost certainly be owned by him. It indicates that Patrick Murphy is leasing one of his properties (2), and then subletting the houses on it to several others. Mary Sullivan is also leasing a large farming property (4) from him (and another from David Byrne (3) where she lives, and also sublets a house).

So the statement that the family lived in Grenagh, and on a Colthurst estate, is verifiable and the actual location can be narrowed down.

Comparing the two detailed Ballyglass maps below, some roads have changed, many of the old small fields have been amalgamated, and there are a lot more buildings (probably through division of the estates into smaller properties). The Ringfort (or Fairy Fort) shown near the bottom of the valuation map can still be seen on the Google map.

At Cloghroe

From Eileen Costigan’s history of the Sullivans, sometime during (or shortly after) the Irish potato famine, the family of Eugene Sullivan & Catherine Horigan moved from one ‘Coultrist‘ estate at Grenagh County Cork to to another at ‘Cloughroa‘. The eldest son, John, was employed at this estate as a steward, and other family members also found employment there. This suggests that the estate was large, and important/wealthy enough to have a steward and a number of employees. Research and the consideration of spelling variations/mistakes have led to the estate owner being identified as Sir George Colthurst rather than Sir John Coultrist, and the location as Cloghroe rather than Cloughroa. The Colthurst family are hereditary Baronets of the district and important land owners and landlords in counties Cork and Kerry. The family seat and estate/demesne of the Colthurst Baronets at this time was Ardrum House, a large estate just a few hundred metres from the nearby linear village of Cloghroe.

The Colthurst estate Ardrum

The estate is clearly large enough to employ a steward and have a large number of employees in a variety of occupations attached to the household and farm. Whether the Sullivan family lived on the estate itself, or nearby at Cloghroe, as well as their employment details, are interesting questions that the Colthurst estate records donated to the Cork City and County Archives could probably shed some light on. (Unfortunately they are view-able by appointment only, and are not available online.)

Ardrum on 1830s Survey Map

It seems that the Colthurst estates were relatively well run, and with progressive views on how tenants should farm and strongly encouraging them to improve on their traditional agricultural practices. (Testimony in 1844, of Charles Colthurst and Peter Fitzgerald representing the Colthurst estates, in; Report from Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the Law and Practice in respect to the Occupation of Land in Ireland. Dublin: Alexander Thom, 1845, p.55-6, 70-4.) The examples of advice given to the tenant farmers are eerily poignant, considering the disaster with the potato crops which began just the following year in 1845 (tenants had been encouraged to diversify their crops, including planting green vegetables and turnips). During the years of the famine some Colthurst estates were noted for costly programs of building infrastructure and other major land improvement works that employed large numbers of locals, and therefore, probably providing a life line to many of the tenants who would otherwise be destitute or starving (“The Land and the People of Nineteenth Century Cork”, Donnelly, James, S.,  Routledge & Kegan, London,1975, p109). In later years, into the 1870s, Sir George Colthurst was still being held up as an example of progressive and responsible tenant management and land reform, with the practise of the gainful employment of farming tenants during difficult times noted (“Landlords and Tenants in Ireland”, https://archive.org/details/landlordstenants00dunf p.67). 
       –N.B.–    Though a ‘Resident Landlord’ and, from the literature, given an impression of what would be described as a ‘good’ landlord, there are still ample examples to be found on internet searches of evictions and harsh treatment on the Colthurst estates and properties during the famine years.

Considering the references mentioned above, the Sullivan’s shift from Grenagh to Cloghroe and the employment of family members at the Ardrum Estate seems entirely consistent with the Colthurst response to the famine. However, the position of steward is a far cry from the estate drain digging and road building work typically on offer to the tenants in such hard times. It may well be the case that John Sullivan was a young man of real ability and potential, that his employment was more than charity, and that he was a boon for the fortunes of the family. (Or, was John and/or other family members already in a position of proper paid employment at Grenagh? The employee – tenant question! The Tithe Applotment records should show any Sullivans as Colthurst tenants at Grenagh in the early 1830s, and the Griffith Valuations in the early 1850s.)

Eugene’s wife Catherine and two daughters died while the family was living at Cloghroe. It is unclear as to the timing, since Eileen states the family moved from Grenagh after the famine, but that the deaths occurred at Cloghroe as a result of famine. Finding any death or burial records would provide some valuable dates to establish a timeline. Two cemeteries are nearby: St. Senan’s and the Inniscarra graveyard. No useful online records have yet been found for either. Since Eugene stayed in Ireland and intended to be buried with his wife, we can expect that whichever cemetery was chosen, it would most likely have the burials of these 4 family members.

Update, Dec 2022: Family moved to nearby Courtbrack after Cloghroe – will need to search the cemeteries!

In the 1870s Sir George Colthurst moved the family seat from Ardrum to the newly built Blarney House on the grounds of Blarney Castle. The House, Castle and Estate are still the official seat of the Colthurst family today. (Any family member that has visited Blarney Castle has been on Colthurst property and the home of an old employer and landlord !) The old Ardrum house was demolished and only some ruins remain on the site.

At Courtbrack

There is one line among the notes by Eileen Costigan the mentions the Sullivan family moving from Cloghroe to nearby Courtbrack, probably for employment. Rereading the 1883 letters from Timothy to Eugene, Timothy mentions friends from Courtbrack that are now living in New Haven. Also, their sister Catherine (Catarina) has married the son of one of their old neighbours from Courtbrack.

Prior to this rereading, I’d assumed the family was still at Cloghroe till the 2 emigrations. Now, searches for burial records and land occupation can be focused around this area. In particular, if they’re land tenants the Griffith Valuations (which would have been conducted around the late 1840s) may include them.

Emigration

First family group

Several of the siblings emigrate to Canada, others remain with their father Eugene. Move from Canada down to New Haven, Connecticut. John, Denis, Hannah, Margaret, Eugene
It’s likely that they left from the port of Cobh, also called Queenstown around that time. Will need to check what emigration records are available.
The journey to Canada, then ultimately on to the US, appears to be a common pattern for the Irish migrants of the this period.

Many famine emigrants went initially to British North America (now Canada) because of fare structure and government regulations, but the majority subsequently settled in the United States. 

https://www.cobhheritage.com/emigration/

Eugene’s move to Australia

Date of arrival? Eugene’s obituary says he arrived in 1858, but the letter from from his brother Tim to their cousin Mary Serong in 1883 says it has been 26 years since the family had last contact him. Tim in another letter states that the last address his family had for him was simply to Mr Michael D’Arcy/Dorsey, Melbourne. (Dorsey appears in later versions of the Sullivan Chapter, but the earliest draft I have, the ‘Narrandera text’ says D’Arcy). So, Eugene probably arrived in 1857. According to Sand’s & Kenny’s Melbourne Directory for 1858 (would have been compiled 1857), there was a Michael D’Arcy who ran D’Arcy’s Hotel in Swanston St (cnr A’Beckett Street, now the Oxford Scholar Hotel). If this hotel was Eugene’s initial, and temporary, accommodation upon arrival, it’s understandable that later letters would not reach him. Where he went next is unknown.

A search of the passenger lists for Victoria at around this time shows an E Sullivan aged 20, arriving 24 Oct 1857 on the William Sprague, from Boston on July 17.
This could be Eugene, possibly – but without more specific evidence, the degree of confidence is low.
“E” could be the initial of a number of names. If it is our Eugene, he would have been 21 when leaving Boston – but 20 is within range because of birth date uncertainty. The ship departs from a port within the New England region, not too far from New Haven, and arrives in our revised year of 1857.

Queensland gold rush?
How did he get the money to purchase the Preston land?

Second family group

Their father Eugene/Owen dies 11/07/1862. 29 April 1863, remaining family leave from Queenstown (Cobh) to join the others in New Haven, Connecticut. Timothy, Jeremiah/Jerry, Catherine/Catrina/Kate. Attempts by Timothy upon arrival in US to contact Eugene in Australia fail.

The Relevant Records

Timeline of events