We are using Cong as a base to explore the area around Dunmore and Tuam where I hope to find the remains of the farmhouses of distant relatives. I fully appreciate that reading about someone else's ancestry is like looking at someone else's high school yearbook. No hard feelings if you leave this post now! For those with time and perhaps a wee bit of curiosity, here is a wee bit of my journey to find the homes of my Irish ancestors.
My Irish lineage comes from my mother's mother, Kathryn, who was orphaned as a baby. Before we left America, I researched everything I could about my grandmother's family: birth and baptism records, marriage and burial certificates, ship manifests, and Famine Refugee registers. Eventually, I found the marriage record of my grandmother's grandmother, Bridget Kerrigan, to Patrick Monaghan. They were married in Cincinnati Ohio in 1871and both were born in County Galway, Ireland. I have been unable to find either of their birth/baptism records - church fires destroyed most of the parish records over the years. But I found the marriage record of Bridget's parents in Tuam, County Galway in 1846. And the real jackpot: I located both the Kerrigan farm and the Monaghan farm in the1855 "Griffith's Valuation" which listed both families as land occupiers. Handwritten surveys contained in the Valuation allowed me to locate the farms in today's Ireland, and Google Maps' "satellite" view allowed me to see them today. Incredibly, the farms were untouched over time. The houses and outbuildings were all exactly as they were in 1855. Even the farm boundaries and those of their neighbors were unaltered over the years.
A few clicks of the mouse, a debit card (5 euros), and voila: the property ownership records were in my inbox! I learned that both families were tenant farmers in 1855, not landowners. But the Kerrigan farm had stayed in the name of the landlord (O'Reilly) until 2004. Twenty years is "yesterday" in genealogy time. Bridget Kerrigan had been the youngest, and last, of four sisters to emigrate to America. Family lore was that an older brother had stayed behind. Had the Kerrigans stayed on as tenant farmers all these years? Were any still alive? Could I meet them?
I contacted the current owner and learned that the house and farm had just been sold. When I explained my interest in the land, he assured me there was no one on the property (the sale would not be finalized for another month), but that I was welcome to poke around if I could find it.
Our host in our B&B in Cong gave us turn-by-turn directions to Tuam (pronounced "Tch-ume"). It looked so close on the map! But getting there from Cong meant lots and lots of tiny villages and tiny roads.
Once in Tuam, the cathedral was hard to miss. Until we parked the car and started out on foot through the winding streets. Tuam is an actual city, with traffic lights, people, and lots of cars. Within minutes, we were lost. Fortunately, two women must have noticed our distress and offered assistance. "The Cathedral? Just look up when you get around that corner. What brings you to Tuam?". Within minutes, we were wondering if we were cousins. They are both from the Monaghan's family parish, Dunmore. "Everyone is related here", one laughed as they wished us luck and continued on.
We left Tuam and headed north, toward Dunmore. Dunmore is a very small village, and the only named landmark we can find. There is no street or street address for the Kerrigan Farm. Full disclosure: Kerrigan Farm is the name I have given this property in my quest to find it! The property is described in the land records as: "County Galway; Baronry Ballymoe; Union Glennamaddy; Parish Dunmore; Townland Slieve; Place Name Slieve." Slieve is the name of the bog that abuts the farm. Lacking an address, I clicked on the Google Maps, and obtained GPS coordinates which I fed into the Garmin. I am SOOO outside of my comfort zone! Ron is surprisingly calm and quiet. I suspect it is because of the utter lack of ANY traffic, except cows. And sheep.
The roads are not named, or at least not with any signs we are able to locate. Even the Garmin has stopped including street names as it directs us to turn. Occasionally we see an old stone monument that we suspect identifies a long-ago landowner. Perhaps these names are still used locally as place names.
We are almost to our destination. The final turn has us on a road that we suspect no car, and certainly no American, has ever traveled.
But the reward is great - we found the Kerrigan Farm, and the old out-buildings, just where they were located on the 1855 survey!
We pressed our noses (and phones) up to the window and were reminded NEVER to be fooled by outward appearances.
It was obvious that the farm had not been worked in years, as it was quite overgrown, but all of the neighboring farms and grazing pastures were in good order.
We still had a long way to travel (almost 10 km - here, that could be hours!) so I bid a tearful goodbye to the last home Bridget had known in her homeland. As we pulled away, Ron noticed a neighbor standing at his fence. We stopped to explain our snooping. What a wonderful visit! The neighbor, Tom Flanagan, had known the Kerrigans! Two brothers, Jack and Jim, "I knew them like I know my front door". Jack had worked the farm for as long as he knew him and had had a daughter. The daughter married the son of the landowner, O'Reilly, and she had lived here until she was widowed and moved to Dunmore. She was the "O'Reilly" that I saw on the property records: Kerrigan by birth, O'Reilly by marriage. So the Kerrigans did, eventually, come to own the land that was their home.
Now, time to find the Monaghan homeland! I fed the GPS coordinates into the Garmin, and we were off. In no time at all, we were making the final turn. I noticed an old stone marker and jumped out to snap a photo. Back in the car, I made the photo bigger so I could read it. Roy Monaghan. "That's my family, Ron. That's my family!". We did it! What a day.
Car Talk
Distance: not far
Speed: -6 km/hour
Road Report: car wider than the road.
Driver Report: he doesn't want to talk about it.
Editors Note:
The below picture was taken at the edge of the bridge. Fortunately, the road widened just enough to allow our Toyota Yaris to pass without scraping!
