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| John Walsh (c. 1827-1894) Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, Ireland, a Brief Biographical Sketch Birth: John Walsh was born circa 1827 most likely in County Mayo, Ireland, parents unknown. His date of birth is estimated on his age at death, see below. Marriage: John Walsh married Fanny Feeney in Castlebar in 1856, see below.
Children: John and Fanny Walsh had at least 12 children: John born 1861, Michael born 1863, Mary born 1865, James born 1867, Julia, c. 1868, Thomas born 1869, William born 1871, Joseph born 1873, Fanny born 1875, Ellen born 1877, and Bridget born 1881, Patrick date of birth unknown At least 8 of their children, Michael, Mary, James, Thomas, Joseph, Fanny, Ellen and Julia immigrated to New York City. Occupation: Gardener/Steward - Kenny estate Ballinrobe Place of Residence: The family of John Walsh lived in the townslands of Carrownalecka and Knockanothish in the parish of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. Death of Fanny Feeney: Fanny Feeney Walsh died in Ballinrobe in 1892. Death of John Walsh: John Walsh died in Ballinrobe in 1894. The Name Walsh: Walsh is one of the most common names in Ireland and is particularly common in County Mayo.
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The Birth of John Walsh According to his death record, John Walsh was born circa 1827. He was most likely born in County Mayo, Ireland, exact place unknown. Possible places of birth:
His parents are not known. There are no available records in either Castlebar or Ballinrobe that cover the period of John Walsh's birth. By comparing the sponsors of the children of the Walsh families in the parish, I have been able to determine who several of his close relatives were. See below. John Walsh was a young man during the Great Famine of 1845-48. For more information about the potato famine, see Famine The Marriage of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney John Walsh married Fanny Feeney, Monday, February 18, 1856, Castlebar Roman Catholic Church. Witnesses: Patrick Rainey and Elizabeth Devine. Fanny may have been as young as 14/15 years old at the time of the marriage. John was about 29. Note: Fanny's age at marriage was not exceptional in the west of Ireland at the time. I had hoped the Castlebar records (which start in 1824 for marriages and 1838 for baptisms) would lead me to other records for either John Walsh and/or Fanny Feeney. However, I did not find any other records relating to them in the Castlebar parish ledgers. Fanny does not appear to have been baptized in Castlebar. See Fanny Feeney
The Children Of John Walsh And Fanny Feeney John and Fanny were married in 1856. There were no baptismal records for any children born to them in Castlebar. It is possible that they moved immediately to Ballinrobe. Unfortunately, the baptismal records for Ballinrobe are missing from 1857 to 1861. It is highly likely that John and Fanny had children during that time period. Agnes Walsh Lahiff, the grand daughter of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney, listed two children (Patrick and Julia) that I did not find in the Balllinrobe records. See below. The names of the following ten children were taken from the baptism record book of the Parish of Ballinrobe, Ireland and the civil birth registrations for Ireland. The civil records are available through the Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, commonly called LDS. The civil records in Ireland start in 1864. Therefore, the civil birth records for the birth of John and Michael are not available.
Further Records Joseph Walsh immigrated to New York City where he married Maggie Langan.For more information on Joseph Walsh, his marriage, children and life in NYC, either click on Joseph Walsh now or go to the bottom of the page.
★ This is my great grandfather. MHB
Patrick son of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney Family history indicates that John Walsh and Fanny Feeney had one additional child:
Additional Notes
Regarding the Births and Baptisms of the Walsh Children
The inheriting child was not necessarily the oldest. The parents kept the property in their control as long as possible. The property went to whoever remained at home at the time the parents could no longer maintain control. By that time older siblings may have immigrated and the property would go to a younger sibling.
Names Used by John and Fanny
Who, if anyone, were John, Michael, Mary, James, Julia, Thomas, William, Joseph, Fanny, Ellen, Bridget and Patrick named after? With the exception of Julia, Fanny and Ellen, the names of the children of John and Fanny Walsh are among the most common given names in the Ballinrobe Parish records and in Ireland in general.
I have not been able to find any discussion of Irish naming patterns. However, the
names people give their children generally make a statement. There are two approaches
to naming patterns. The first is the traditions approach in many cultures of naming
children after their parents, grandparents, or other family members. The second approach
is to be "modern" and give children names that have not been previously associated with the
family. Not infrequently, a combination of these approaches is used. Sometimes the
first born children are given traditional names and younger children are given
non-traditional names. Sometimes boys are given traditional names and girls are given
non-traditional names.
Names go in and out of fashion. For example, Agnes, a name that did not appear
in the Ballinrobe records in the 1800s, became quite popular both in Ireland and
in the Irish/American population in New York at the turn of the century.
John and Fanny's first known child, John, was named for his father.
Their daughter, Fanny, was named for her mother. Since there was another
daughter, Mary, born before Fanny it is tempting to speculate that she may have
been named for either John or Fanny's mother. The parish records also
show an association between John Walsh and several other Walsh families that
include the names Ellen and Bridget.
There was no connection between the names of the sponsors and the
names of the John and Fanny Walsh's children. In other words they were not named
for the person who was their sponsor.
What did the subsequent generations of Walshes do when naming their children?
Joseph Walsh and Maggie Langan's children were; Elizabeth (AKA Lillian), William,
Margaret, Isabelle (Note: on the birth certificate, Isabelle was listed as Agnes),
Joseph, Charles, Ellen, Agnes, Joseph, and George. Joseph and Maggie were conservative
enough to name three of their children after themselves in that they named one daughter,
Margaret, and two of their sons, Joseph. They did not name any of their children
after either set of grandparents. William may have been named for Joseph's brother.
Ellen may have been named after Joseph's sister. Charles may have been named for
Joseph's baptismal sponsor, Charles Lardner. Agnes, as mentioned, became a
popular name in the early part of 1900. Who were Elizabeth, Isabelle and George named for?
Why was their first child named Elizabeth? This was not a name that appeared
in the Ballinrobe parish records.
I do not know the names of the children of all of Joseph and Maggie's children.
However, their daughter, Isabelle, and her husband, Frank Goehle, used family
names for their daughters. With the exception of the oldest, Frank, they
did not followed the traditional naming patterns with their sons. Their children
were, Agnes (after Isabelle's sister), Isabell (after her mother),
Margaret (after Isabelle's sister), Eileen (an exception), Frank (after his father),
Ellenore (from Ellen, after Isabelle's sister), Paul, Anthony, Elizabeth
(after Isabelle's sister) and Daniel.
Children of John And Fanny Walsh According to Notes from Agnes Walsh Lahiff (the daughter of Joseph Walsh and
granddaughter of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney) to her daughter, Maria
Agnes Walsh Lahiff told her daughter, Maria that John Walsh and Frances "McDonald" had
the following children (I have made notes in italics):
Agnes/Maria's further notes:
*Loel (Lowell) Guinness born c 1907 was a male heir connected the Guinness
brewery empire. However, his money came from real estate.
There is a lot on The Net about Loel Guinness. He did not marry a Walsh.
Children of John And Fanny Walsh According to Notes from Charles
Walsh (the son of Joseph Walsh and
grandson of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney) to his daughter, Mary Walsh Herdman
Charles Walsh told his daughter, Mary, that Joseph Walsh had the
following siblings (I have made notes in italics): The Walshes in Carrownalecka and Knockanotish From at least the birth of Mary in 1865 until the birth of James in 1867 the family of John Walsh lived in the "townland" of Carrownalecka . From at least the birth Thomas in 1869 until the birth Bridget in 1882 they lived in the "townland" of Knockanotish . The civil records for all the children of John and Fanny only indicate the name of a townland. There are no "street" addresses which would indicate that they lived in the actual town of Ballinrobe. Birth records for others living in the town of Ballinrobe listed a "street" address as well as a townland address. I therefore suppose that John and Fanny were not living in the town proper but at the edge of the town or in a more rural setting outside the town itself. At the time of the death of Fanny Walsh, they were living in the "townland" of Friarsquaters on Abbey Street in the town of Ballinrobe. For more information on the breakdown of the townlands, see Ballinrobe and Maps, below.
Occupations and Employer of John Walsh |
| John Walsh was listed in the civil records with the following dates, addresses and occupations: | |||
| 1865 | Carnalecka | steward | |
| 1867 | Carnalecka | gardener | |
| 1869 | Knockanotish | farmer | |
| 1871 | Knockanotish | gardener | |
| 1873 | Knockanotish | gardener | |
| 1875 | Knockanotish | steward | |
| 1877 | Knockanotish | gardener | |
| 1882 | Knockanotish | land steward | |
| 1892 | Abbey Street, Ballinrobe | gardener | |
| 1894 | Abbey Street, Ballinrobe | gardener | |
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All of the occupations listed, except farmer, require an employer of some standing in the
community.
In 1882 John Walsh was listed as a "Land Steward". According to REGENCY MANOR in 19th century England: "Male servants ranked above female servants and non-liveried servants, those who did not wear uniforms, ranked above those servants who did. The highest ranking male servant (who in some ways was more a professional employee than a true servant), was the land steward. He was often the son of a minister or businessman. Some land stewards were attorneys and had their own homes and own businesses on the side. The steward was the manager of the estate. He hired and fired workers, settled tenant complaints, saw to the harvesting of crops, managed the timber, collected the rents and kept all the financial records. Very wealthy men with more than one estate had several land stewards. A reader often encounters a land steward (sometimes called a bailiff) in regency fiction. David Wiggins in Carla Kelly's The Lady's Companion is the steward who manages the farm for Lady Bushnell.The places of birth listed for the Walsh children in the civil records, i.e. Carnalecka (AKA Carrownalecka) and Knockaknotish, were both "townlands" which bordered on the town of Ballinrobe and parts of the town of Ballinrobe itself. Townlands are the smallest unit in a system of Irish civil government divisions. The divisions included townland, parish, county, and province, in order from the smallest unit to the largest unit. The town of Ballinrobe was divided into several sections. These sections had the same names as the townlands that abutted them. Therefore the address, Carrownalecka, as listed in the civil and parish records, could have been within the town itself or in the townland just outside the boundary of the town. Just to make the whole thing more interesting, in this particular case, the civil parish of Ballinrobe and the Roman Catholic Parish of Ballinrobe cover much of the same territory.
John Walsh In Griffith The Griffith Valuation is basically a tax record which has been used as a census alternative to locate families in Ireland before the start of the civil records in 1864. The Griffith was first taken in Ballinrobe in 1856. It only lists "heads of household". Carrownalecka: Since they were born before the civil records started and the parish records did not include a place of birth, I do not know where the Walshes were living when John was born in 1861and when Michael was born in 1863. The civil registration for the births of Mary in 1865 and James in 1867 lists the family "Carnalecka". The research officer in the Office of the South Mayo Family Research Centre on Main Street in Ballinrobe told me that accepted correct spelling of this townland today is, Carrownalecka. Knockanotish: The family of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney Walsh were living in Knockanotish from at least the birth of Thomas in 1869 until the birth of Bridget in 1881, a period of 12 years. John's occupations while living in Knockanotish were: farmer in 1869, gardener in 1871, gardener in 1873, steward in 1875, gardener in 1877, and land steward in 1881 (all occupations requiring an employer of some standing) .
John Walsh in the Griffith: The books are not actually dated. There are dates in notations in the margins. I have numbered them to clarify the order in which they were written.
* John Walsh and Ann Walsh of High Street were the parents of: William baptized in 1854. The sponsors were George Larner and Mary Walsh. This is the only record for John and Anne Walsh in the parish records. More importantly there is NO listing for John Walsh in the Griffith in either Knockanotish or Carrownalecka between 1869 and 1882 a period of time when he was known (based on the birth records of his children) to have been living in Knockanotish. I believe that the explanation for this is that he was living in a house where someone else was listed as the "head of household". Kenny in Knockanotish: Thre are/are two parts to the area known as Knockanothis, the "townland" and the "town".
Notes:
Kenny in Carrownalecka: The 1856 Griffith listed Colonel Charles Knox in Carrownalecka but not in Knockanotish. The 1856 Griffith listed Courtney Kenny in with property and houses in Carrownalecka as well as the property and houses in Knockanotish. Courtney Kenny had a son, Stanhope Kenny. Courtney Kenny died in 1863. Stanhope Kenny, born in 1827, was married in 1867. John Walshe's "addresses" were always in a section belonging to the Kenny family. The fact that he was not listed between 1869 and 1882 indicates that he was listed with someone else who was the designated head of household. It is my believe that he may have lived in the caretakers cottage on the Kenny property. In 1892 and 1894 the Walshes were on Abbey Street, Ballinrobe (per the death records of Fanny (1892) and John (1894). This address is in the Frier's Quarter of the town.
John Walsh In the Kenny Family Papers The Kenny Family Papers became available at the County Mayo Library in Castlebar in 2008 . Gerry Ryder very graciously volunteered to look up records relating to John Walsh in the Kenny papers. In June 2008 he send me copies of several records related to John Walsh:
John Walsh "Vet" My mother, Agnes Goehle Land, had been told by her mother that her great-grandfather, John Walsh, was a veterinarian. When she visited Ireland in 1980 or 81, she was disappointed to find out that most of the Irish Catholics in the area in the mid to late 1800s were uneducated. Although he was not university educated, as I assumed she had believed, many people who were know to be good with animals and who could treat them for various illnesses and problems were called "vets'. These unschooled "vets" knew how to turn a calf that was presenting incorrectly, assist a ewe with a difficult or multiple birth, or help a choking animal. Some of these vets had a knowledge of herbs and grew medicinal plants in their gardens. The herbs were often were used by man and animal alike. According to Bridie Mulloy in Itchy Feed and Thirsty Work, some of these "vets' succeeded when professional vets failed. She devotes several pages to some of the more renowned of these men in the Ballinrobe area in the early part of the 1900s. According to her, much of the knowledge these "vets" possessed was handed down from generation to generation. It is quite possible that John Walsh was a "vet" in this sense. A Bit of Land John Walsh was listed as a farmer in 1869 in Knockanotish. At other times he was listed as either a gardener or a steward. Did he at anytime have a bit of land to leave to his children? It is clear from other records that there were Walshes living in Carrownalecka from 1827 and in Knockanotish from 1857. However, I don't know for sure if John was in the same family of Walshes. The names of the Walshes in Carrownalecka in 1827 and 1857 are not the same as John's or any of his children. The Walshes living in Knockanotish in 1857 was named John, but he was only renting a house and a yard, not acreage (at least at that local).
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The Death of Fanny Feeney Walsh Fanny Walsh, married, age 50 years, wife John Walsh, gardener, of Abbey Street, Ballinrobe, died on the 8th of May, 1892 of bronchitis. The death certificate indicates that she had been ill for "months", there was no medical attention and the death was "uncertified".
John Walsh, widower, age 67, gardener, died on Monday March 19, 1894, of Heart disease, five days, address Abbey Street, Ballinrobe, reported by Bridget Goggins, cousin, Ballinrobe. Notes:
Did Any of the Children of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney Remain in Ballinrobe? What happened to the children of John and Fanny who did not emigrate? Was John, the oldest, still alive when Michael left in 1885? If so, did he remain in Ireland or go to America? Mary, James, Julia, Thomas, Joseph, Fanny, Ellen emigrated to NYC. What happened to Patrick, William and Bridget? Did they die as infants and children? It would have been quite unusual at that time to have so many children survive to adulthood. Did they stay in Ireland and marry and/or inherit the "farm"? The civil death records for Ballinrobe indicate that all of the Walsh children were alive until 1870, which was a far as I can access the records in the US. None of the sons of John Walsh were listed in the 1901 census in Ballinrobe. Family history says that two of the brothers, Patrick and William stayed in Ireland. In fact the daughter of one of them is supposed to have visited the family in New York. At my request The South Mayo Family History, "Checked pre-1901 civil records of marriages of any sons or daughters of John Walsh, gardener, in the Ballinrobe area but none appear."
Walsh is a Celtic name that means "a Gaul". The Germans pronounced "gaul" as "waul ", the "g" becoming a "w"" sound, therefore the Welsh were originally from Gaul. However, while the first wave of Celts invaded Ireland around 600 BC and the second wave invaded around 250 BC, the name Walsh did not arrive in County Mayo until the 12th century with the Norman occupation of the country. In The Surnames of Ireland, (1999) Edward MacLysaght lists Walsh as,
" Walsh Breat (h) nach (Welshman), which is re-anglicized also as Brannagh, Brannick etc. A name given independently to many unconnected families in different parts of the country and now the fourth most numerous of all Irish surnames. It is sometimes spelt Welsh, which is the pronunciation of Walsh in Munster and Connacht.."Under the listing Brannagh, MacLysaght says,
" Breat (h) nach. Now widely superseded by the translation Walsh, but still extant in Cannacht" Note:
MacLysaght says: The pedigree of the Tirawley (Mayo) Walshes was compiled by Lawrence Walsh in 1588. He states that they are descendended from Walynus, a Welshman who came to Ireland with Maurice Fitzgerald in 1169 and that this man's brother Barrett was the progenitor of the Barretts of Tirawley.The name, Walsh, arrived in the west of Ireland with the 1235 conquest of Connacht by the Norman leaders Richard deBurgo and Maurice Fitz Gerald. The French speaking Walshes known as the "Welsman of Tiraley", came from the rank and file of de Burgo's army. They quickly "went native"; marrying the local women and adapting Gaelic customs. The 1855/57 Griffith Valuation listed 822 Walsh heads of household in County Mayo, making it the most common name in the county at the time. The second most common name, Gallagher, had only 468 heads of households. According to the 1890 census returns, Walsh was still the most common name in County Mayo. However, by 1890 there were only 134 Walsh families in Mayo, 249 in the province of Connacht , and 932 in all of Ireland. 1890 birth indexes for Ireland indicate that there were 932 Walsh born in all of Ireland, 249 of those in Connacht, 134 in county Mayo. Walsh was the seventh most common name in the Dublin phone book from 1961-1966. The seven most common in order were Murphy, Kelly, O'Byren, O'Connor, Ryan, O'Brien, and Walsh.
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Possible Siblings of John Walsh The records start too late to include the birth of John Walsh and any possible siblings. There are, however, some clues to indicate who his close relatives were:
For surveys of the possible relatives of John Walsh among the sponsors, other Walshes, and families living in Carrownalecka and Knockanotish, go to Possible Relatives of John Walsh
The Death of Pat Walsh, An Interesting Death Record Pat Walsh of Ballinrobe, male, widower, age 79, died on December 31, 1865, of heart disability, duration 1/2 year, the person who reported the death was Fanny Walsh who was "present at the death". Pat had to have some relationship to John Walsh and Fanny Feeney Walsh. Fanny Feeney Walsh was the only Fanny Walsh in Ballinrobe at the time. Family tradition says that John and Fanny named a son, Pat. If the age at death is at all correct, it means that Pat was born circa 1786.
The Sponsors of the children of John and Fanny as Possible Relatives of John Walsh
Generally the records for Ballinrobe parish indicate
that the most common sponsors at baptism were family members. Of the ten male
sponsors of John and Fanny's children there was only one male named Walsh.
It is hard to tell from the parish records if the female sponsors
were listed with their married or maiden names. Consequently, in considering the
female sponsors it has to be taken into consideration whether they were married or
single. The records indicate that several of the female sponsors were
married and that their maiden names were Walsh. Consequently, I believe that
they were related to John Walsh, either as aunts, cousins, or sisters. These female
relatives of John Walsh are discussed in more detail below.
Most of the sponsors of the children of John and Fanny Walsh, as did John and
Fanny themselves, lived in the north west section of the town of Ballinrobe.
This included the townlands and parts of the town itself that were called
Carrownalecka, Knockanotish, and Rathkelly. I have been able to establish some,
albeit tenuous, family links for several of the sponsors of the children of
John and Fanny in that their children had the same sponsors as the children
of John and Fanny.
There should have been twenty sponsors for ten known baptisms of the children
of John and Fanny. However, there was no female sponsor listed for Bridget in 1881.
The female sponsor for William in 1871 is know to have been a Lardner, but try as
I might, I can't read the first name which looks like either "Mrs." or "Bgt". It was not
uncommon to list a female sponsor as Mrs. So-and-So.
Of the remaining eighteen sponsors, ten of them, Thomas Walsh, Bridget Lardner,
Charles Lardner (twice), Mary Lardner, Patrick Lardner, Bridget Flanagan,
Bridget Murphy, John Murphy, and Ellen Goggin were more likely to have been
related to John Walsh than to Fanny Feeney.
The relationships of the sponsors to John Walsh are as follows:
Note: For more specific information on Bridget Walsh Larner and the
Larners in general see Lardner
The sponsors of Bridget Walsh Lardner and John Lardner's children were: James and
Elizabeth Larner, Pat Walsh and Jane Fagan, Charles and Bridget Murphy, Pat Larner and
Bridget Flanagan, Julia Walsh, and Margaret Moran. Three of the sponsors for the
children of Bridget Walsh Larner and John Larner were the same as the sponsors
for the children of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney.
Honor Walsh and Charles Lardner had at least two children in 1854 and 1866
(Note: the records are missing from 1856 to 1861.) Based on the date of birth
of their first known child, Charles Lardner and his wife, Honor Walsh, were
born no later than 1834.
The sponsors of the children of Honor and Charles were: Anne Lardner, James Lardner,
Mary Ann Larner and John Walsh.
John Walsh was the sponsor for Charles Lardner's son in 1866.
There were several John Walshes in the parish at the time. However, since
Charles was the sponsor of a child of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney ,
I assume the sponsor of Charles Larner's son in 1866 was John Walsh himself. The Sponsors of the children of John and Fanny as Possible
Relatives of Fanny Feeney
The following sponsors seem to have more of a connection to
Fanny Feeney than to John Walsh. There were two male Mally sponsor
and I believe one female Mally sponsor to John and Fanny's children as follows:
Sponsors Where No Relationship Has Been Established
I would assume that there was some relationship between the remaining
sponsors to either John Walsh or Fanny Feeney. I have not been able to figure a
direct connections to either John or Fanny for the five remaining sponsors:
James Burke, Mary Hughs, Pat Keaffe, Michael Meehan, and Mary Morahan.
John and Fanny as Sponsors
There are several listings for John Walsh as the sponsor. However,
John Walsh was a very common name in the community, so I have to be very careful
with these records. Already in 1857 when the Griffith Valuation was made, there
were 13 listings for the name John Walsh. These listings represent at least seven
John Walshes and could represent more than the 13 that were listed, since only
heads of household were listed in the Griffith. Later records indicate that there
were as many as 21 John Walshes in the parish in the mid 1800s.
However, I believe John Walsh (himself) was the sponsor of sponsor of
Charles Larner's son in 1866.
Fanny Walsh was a sponsor, for John, the son of Pat Malley and Cath
Gill on May 16, 1866. The other sponsor was John Colleran.
These are the only two certain records of John and Fanny as sponsors.
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| RELATED PAGES |
| For information on Fanny Feeney, the wife of John Walsh, go to Fanny Feeney |
| For more information on Joseph Walsh, his immigration, marriage, and children, go to Joseph Walsh |
| To see copies of some of the original Walsh documents, go to Copies of Original Walsh Documents |
| For information on the town of Ballinrobe, go to Ballinrobe |
| To see maps of the area, go to Maps |
| For information about John Walsh in the Griffith Valuations go to Griffith Valuation |
| For information about the children of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney in New York City go to The Walshes in New York City |
| For information on the possible relatives of John Walsh in Ballinrobe go to Possible Relatives of John Walsh |
| For information on the Kenny Family in Ballinrobe go to Landlords |
| To se photos of the children and grandchildren of John Walsh and Fanney Feeney go to Children and grandchildren of John Walsh and Fanny Feeney John Walsh |
| If you have any suggestions, corrections, information, copies of documents, or photos that you would like to share with this page, please contact me at maggie@maggieblanck.com |
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| ©Maggie Land Blanck - This page was created in 2004: Latest update, July 2016 | |||
The signature of Michael Walsh from his US naturalization application.
The signature of Thomas Walsh
from the naturalization papers of his brother, Michael.