Scaps into a picture: genealogy hunt for the Ryan Darbys
200+ year-old Irish ancestor. Part 1 of ??
Are you stuck on your 200-year-old Irish ancestor? Are you, like me, sceptical of family trees that go way back with very few to no sources? Researching Irish ancestors this far back is no easy task! You need to use all the tricks in the book. Hopefully, some of these tips I share will help - while I hunt down the Ryan Darby family.
Recently, I jumped on Ancestry. It has been a while, and I have not been using my subscription at all. So, I thought I better check out the DNA section and see if there are any new matches on the Irish side of the family. I started noticing some links that seemed to point in the same direction. They are small DNA matches from different family lines that point to a far-back common ancestor on my Ryan Irish side. Going this far back, I've found all Irish trees on Ancestry are nearly useless; they have tons of mistakes and a lot of guessing (picking any old record). But I do see a familiar family continuing to pop up - a Ryan family with the nickname Darby in the townland of Drumwood. In the past, a local historian suggested that our family could be related to this Ryan family, and even the older generation of my family met up with Jerry Ryan (Darby) when they visited Ireland and took photos of the Darby family graves.
So, I returned to some photos and descriptions sent to me years ago about the Darby family. The oldest ancestors were John and Catherine Ryan, with John being born 280+ years ago. Could these be my sixth great-grandparents?! How can I prove or disprove this? Well, I guess I will start building up this family’s tree by working down the tree and finding children. I hope the Ryan Darbys are easier to find in the records than my own family. If my predictions are correct, they should have a child named Michael, who has a child named John—my fourth great-grandfather. Otherwise, find a relation to the Ryans of Moandoherdagh or the Ryans of Commanealine, with which I have a strong DNA connection.
By using gravestones, baptismal records, and other people’s trees, it was easy to piece together the Darby Ryan (Darby) family of Drumwood. However, I may have missed some children with missing records from both Cappawhite and Solohead Parishes.
21 Feb 1814 Demetris/Demetrio/Demetreo/Darby Ryan (b. 1786, d. 17 Mar 1876) marries Maria/Marry Spalam/Spilman/Spulane/Spelman (b. ~1795, d. 28 Aug 1875) at Tipperary Parish:
Missing children? Catherine?
24 Feb 1817 Michael Ryan from Cappawhite Parish
05 Mar 1821 Johanna Ryan from Solohead Parish
12 Oct 1823 Thomas Ryan from Solohead Parish
06 Mar 1826 Brigida (Bridget) Ryan from Solohead Parish
~1830 Laurance Ryan
~1836 John Ryan
30 Sep 1839 Juliana Ryan from Drumwood, Cappawhite Parish
We cannot rely on Irish naming rules with missing records, but there is likely a missing Catherine. I know there was a Catherine/Kate Ryan living in Drumwood, but I am unsure which Ryan family she belongs to, and I have to be careful - there are two Drumwoods in Tipperary.
“In 1848, he took himself another wife, Kate Ryan, a native of the county of Tipperary, Ireland. She belonged to a notable family, the Ryans of Drumwood, who were closely related to the O'Neils and also to the Fronts, of Water Grass Hill, near Cork — the famous Father Prout being one of the family.”
-History of Santa Barbara County, California, 1883
Going back to the oldest grave transcription I received, it mentions two sons—Tobias and John Ryan. Both are from “Cooline prsh“ (Parish?). No, that's not right; there is no such parish. I found another transcription online of the gravestone; it gives “Coolinapishinney”, which is also incorrect. I figured it out. It's the townland of Coolnapisha in Pallasgreen, Limerick.
"Erd by John and Tobias
Ryan of Coolnapish
in mem of their Father
John Ryan who depd
this life May 1818
Aged 80 yrs. Also their
mother Catherine
Ryan who depd this
life May 1798 Aged
46 yrs. May their souls
rest in peace
Amen"
-St Fintan's Cemetery
Sure enough, according to the 1826 Tithe land records, Tobias Ryan and John Ryan were renting shared land. There is also a Malackey/Malachy Ryan in the lot over.
The first step in building the tree is to look up Coolnapisha in the baptism and wedding records on Findmypast, which I find best for searching, filtering, and sorting records. Annoyingly, Coolnapisha was sorely lacking in records. I found some additional land records and census records. I noticed that the Townland of Coolnapisha falls between the civil parishes of Doon and Oola, so the land records are split.
In the 8th June 1847 Tenure book (Oola):
Lot 1: Ellen Ryan and Toby Ryan (1/2 each). Lease 2 lives in 1832.
Lot 3: Toby Ryan, William Hayes and James Ryan (1/3 each). Lease 3 lives in 1806.
Lot 4: James Ryan. Lease 3 lives in 1806.
Lot 5: John Ryan. Lease 3 lives in 1806.
Lot 9: Toby Ryan and Ellen Ryan (1/2). Lease 3 lives in 1806.
Lot 10: Toby Ryan and Ellen Ryan (1/2). Lease 3 lives in 1818.
In the 8th June 1847 Tenure book (Doon):
Lot 1: Toby Ryan & Ellen Ryan (1/2 each). Lease 3 lives in 1830.
Lot 2: Toby Ryan & Ellen Ryan (1/2 each). Lease 3 lives in 1806.
Lot 3: John Ryan. Lease 3 lives in 1806.
We can already see some possible family connections. Ellen is likely a sister who hasn’t married yet, James is another brother, and William could be a brother-in-law. Because so many people share the land, the parents, John and Catherine, likely lived here and passed down the land when they passed. Lot 10 strengthens this case with the 1818 lease date (when John died).
Looking at the 1853 Griffith’s Valuation land records, mainly the same names remain with renumbering. But I did notice that one Ellen Ryan shared with Tobias becomes an Ellen Foley, and Tobias swaps with John with the three-person shared lot. Looking at Griffith’s Valuation map, you can see the land split into two and shows two Coolnapishas. The outer shell is under Oola, and the inner is under Doon civil parish.
Sometimes, you get lucky when looking into the newspaper archives (I use The British Newspaper Archive). I quickly find that Tobias may have had a family—a possible daughter, Maryanne (third daughter), who married Thomas Moore on 21 February 1844.
I found a match: Tobias’s family, with Mary as the third-oldest daughter and 12 baptisms in the family!
Tobis/Tobeo/Tobeo/Thoma/Thobaldo/Thiobaldo/Theobaldo (Tobias) Ryan married Brigida/Brigeda/Brigeda (Bridget) Ryan:
18 Nov 1812 Joannes (John) from Pallasgreen Parish
16 Mar 1813 Honora from Pallasgreen Parish
09 Apr 1815 Stephanus (Stephan) from Pallasgreen Parish
29 Jun 1816 Catherina (Catherine) from Pallasgreen Parish
23 Apr 1817 Maria (Mary) from Pallasgreen Parish
20 Nov 1818 Maria (Mary) from Pallasgreen Parish
18 Jan 1821 Jacobus (James) from Pallasgreen Parish
06 Jul 1823 Matheus (Mathew) from Pallasgreen Parish
05 Jul 1825 Winefrida (Winifred) from Pallasgreen Parish
21 Jul 1828 Daniel from Pallasgreen Parish
09 Jun 1831 Brigida (Bridget) from Pallasgreen Parish
04 Feb 1833 Elizabetha (Elizabeth) from Pallasgreen Parish
Irish naming rules match and also suggest that Tobias's oldest brother is James, the next oldest is Daniel, and his oldest sister is Winifred. I could not find a marriage record; they would have likely married in Bridget’s Parish, which may not have surviving records from this far back—like Doon Parish.
So, I started hunting down all the different ways the townland could be spelt. The website www.logainm.ie is a good starting point, but it has nothing. I found Coolnapisha, Coolnapish, Coolnapishe, Coolanapish, Coolunapish, Coolapish, but they were not very helpful. I did notice records with Lough, and found a post of someone asking where it is—it was near Coolnapisha. Well, looking at the records, I found people who gave both addresses. I concluded that they must be in the same area. Google Maps shows that near the townland of Coolnapisha, the area is called “Lough Coolnapisha.”
The Encumbered Estates records on Ancestry show a Tobias living there from 1873. Then, it mentions the “late” Tobias in 1884, which usually means he passed away between 1873 and 1884. However, no such death record appears. A younger Tobias from Lough, with a birthdate around 1827 and a death date of September 23, 1918, was found in a death certificate. Therefore, two individuals named Tobias lived on the same lands, making it more challenging to distinguish between them. None of the land records mentions “junior” or “senior”, and no baptismal record is found as the son of the older Tobias.
A few newspaper articles after 1881 show that Tobias was evicted from his Coolnapisha lands—he didn’t die. One article showed that he had a son, Patrick, who worked for his uncle, James Ryan.
I found the younger Tobias family, and it shows that John is likely the father and, therefore, a nephew of the older Tobias.
07 Feb 1861 Tobias Ryan marries Mary Brown/Bown/Bowne/Browne at Dromin Parish:
10 Feb 1862 Mary Teresa from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
21 Mar 1863 Ellen from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
31 Oct 1864 Ellen from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
04 Mar 1866 Kate from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
08 May 1867 Margaret from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
06 Mar 1869 John from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
06 Jul 1870 Patrick from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
02 May 1872 Hanna from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
21 Nov 1874 James from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
10 Jan 1876 Winifred from Lough, Pallasgreen Parish
Hunting the marriage details was tricky; I had to do a broad search. Tobias was transcribed wrongly (as Johan) in a different parish. The Parish was quite far, but lucky the record says he was from Pallas (Pallasgreen). I've reported the mistake to Findmypast, who has already updated the record.
According to Patrick’s baptism, he was 13 while at court and working with cattle on his uncle's farm. At first, I thought Patrick was too young, so I thought this was the wrong family, but the article above says “young lad”.
This might be John’s family, but it's missing Tobias. (Edit: it’s not, and I discuss this in part 3).
06 Jul 1816 Joannes/Joanne (John) Ryan marries Maria (Mary) McCarthy/Carthy from Lough at Pallasgreen Parish:
24 Apr 1817 Catherina (Catherine) from Pallasgreen Parish
13 Jul 1822 Joannes (John) from Pallasgreen Parish
16 Jan 1827 Jacobus (James) from Pallasgreen Parish
21 Mar 1830 Jeremiah from Pallasgreen Parish
The naming rules match and show there could be an older brother, Jeremiah, which matches Darby (an alternative to Jeremiah) Ryan, who lives at Drumwood.
Unlike John, Mary, etc., Tobias Ryan seems to be a relatively rare name. So I searched the will records for the older Tobias’s death details. Nothing. I searched for him as a benefactor, and I got a hit. Sometimes, you get fortunate… A full-written will of John Ryan of Killuragh states he died in 1860. He passed the same day he wrote it.
His wife is Anne Hogan.
He gives his brother James of Newtown Ellard his lands.
He talks about James Hammersly of Loughcoolunapish, aka Coolnapisha (who could be a cousin's husband).
He tells James to give the lands of Foxfield to Tobias Ryan, the oldest brother. I thought this might have meant the townland of Linfield (and a James Ryan was living there), which was nearby. However, I randomly came across a house called Foxfield while searching for “Coolnapisha” on Google—a heritage house dated “1860 - 1900.”
With no children mentioned in John’s will, he might not have had any, or they were young. The records show he was recently married, and I found no children.
Looking back at one of the family graves (beside the other family members), there is this transcription:
"Erected by Catherine Ryan Newtownellard [Newtown Ellard] in memory of her beloved husband James Ryan who died 15th April 1914 aged 88 years [b. ~1826]"
-St Fintan's Cemetery
This James matches the above one in the will, which confirms I have the right John (b. ~1775) family. If Tobias is the oldest brother, it means he must have been born around 1820.
I found James's family by searching “Lough” on Findagrave. Now, this doesn't totally follow the naming rules, but everything else seems to line up.
23 Nov 1818 Jacobo/Jacobus/James Ryan marries Judith/Joanna English from Garrydolis(Garrydoolis) at Pallasgreen Parish:
28 Sep 1819 Joanna (Johanna) from Pallasgreen Parish
31 Aug 1821 Malachius (Malachy) from Pallasgreen Parish
22 Jan 1824 Catherina (Catherine) from Pallasgreen Parish
07 Aug 1826 Margarita (Margaret) from Pallasgreen Parish
14 Jun 1829 Maria (Mary) from Pallasgreen Parish
07 Aug 1833 Thomas from Pallasgreen Parish
23 Dec 1835 Joannes (John) from Pallasgreen Parish
11 Apr 1838 Ellena (Ellen) from Pallasgreen Parish
11 Aug 1840 Helena (Hellen) from Pallasgreen Parish
21 Sep 1842 Jacobus (James) from Pallasgreen Parish
I'm still unsure when the older generation passed, and when the next took over the lands.
As I said above, the name “Tobias (or Toby) Ryan” is rare, so I did a general search everywhere for it. I found him again in the 1834 Tithe records at the townland of Trienmana/Treanmanagh, beside Newtown Ellard, with a note beside his name mentioning “Coolnapisha.” Also thanks to the obituaries page on the Limerick Local Studies website, I found the death of “John Toby Ryan” of Coolnafeesha (Coolnapisha):
"At Coolnafeesha, Pallasgrean, deeply and sincerely regretted by his family and friends, Mr John Toby Ryan"
-29th of April 1843, Limerick Chronicle
This could be the John Ryan who married Mary Carthy. As we know, his father - John died in 1818, and his son John died in 1860. But there is one other John - the son of Tobias Ryan and Mary Brown. The lack of detail in the record could be telling - that maybe he was young and single. There is a John Ryan (Darby) at Brackyle (the townland beside Coolnapisha) who I thought might be Tobias's son John for various reasons, so I’m unsure - more research is needed.
Do you know anything about Coolnapisha or the Ryan Darbys?
From the three brothers, James, John and Tobias, I have mapped and found their descendants living at Coolnapisha in the 1901/1911 census records.
Next steps for me to find out more about this family:
Order land records to see what happens after the Griffith records.
Get a Rootsireland subscription, and look at all civil records (especially deaths) that mention Lough or Coolnapisha.
Get a subscription to Irish Newspaper Archives and try to find any more articles.
Map the Ryans from the townland Brackyle.
Look at older records like The Civil Survey.
I’ve been spending the past two weeks like it's a full-time job (and more) researching Irish family mysteries from 200 years ago. These are great puzzles that hardly anyone would care about if I solved them, and they might not even be linked to my family (so far, no luck). You need to cast a wide net if you are going back this far, using all sources you have at your disposal. I hope I find more records and write a part 2 article! Best of luck to anyone breaking down those tricky brick walls.