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Sunday 8 July 2012

Anne Cuthbert, née Allen, of Galbally, Limerick


Robert Stewart and Rebecca Cuthbert were our paternal great-grandparents, and the parents of our grandfather, Bertie Stewart.

Robert Stewart, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Stewart, married Rebecca Cuthbert in Dublin in 1898.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/children-of-joseph-stewart-and.html

Rebecca was the daughter of Henry Thomas Culbert/Cuthbert of Offaly and of Anne Allen of Galbally, Limerick.  
Rebecca Cuthbert was born in Galbally, Co. Limerick, on 26th April 1873 to Anne Allen and to joiner Henry Culbert of 4 St. Laurence Street, Dublin. Present at her birth was the illiterate Sarah Allen (née Airey) who was the baby's maternal grandmother.

Anne Allen was born in Co. Limerick in 1848 to Robert Allen and Sarah Airey who lived on the Limerick/Tipperary border at Galbally.  Anne's sister was Amelia Allen who married John Chamberlain of Rahard/Garryheakin, Limerick.  Brothers were John Allen and Henry Allen who emigrated and died in Queensland, Australia.



http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2014/09/amelia-allen-of-galbally-and-john.html


Henry Thomas Culbert and Anne Allen:
Our paternal great-great grandfather, Henry Thomas Culbert,  married  our great-great grandmother, Anne Allen, in Galbally Church of Ireland Church in Co. Limerick on October 3rd 1869.  At this time the Culbert family had moved south from Offaly and were living close to the Limerick/Tipperary border in the townland of Kilshane.  Henry's father was Henry Culbert Senior, carpenter, and one of the witnesses to the marriage was a fellow carpenter and relation of the bride, William Airey, who can be seen later on the 1901 census still resident in Kilshane.
The second witness was Richard Allen, possibly Anne's brother or her uncle. Her father was Robert Allen, a farmer of Galbally. Anne's mother was Sarah Airey.  

The eldest son of Henry Culbert and Anne Allen,  Robert Culbert, was born in Milltown, Offaly, on Jan.19th 1871,  this being an area close to Henry Culbert's homeplace of Corraclevin, Offaly.
 Anne Culbert moved back to her hometown of Galbally for the birth on April 26th 1873 of their daughter Rebecca, our great-grandmother, who later married Robert Stewart in Dublin in 1898.  Henry Culbert and Annie Allen must have just moved to 4 St. Lawrence Road, Clontarf, Dublin, since Rebecca Culbert's 1873 birth cert. named this as the family address. This was where the remainder of the Culbert children were born, and where Henry Culbert would suddenly, and for reasons unknown to me, change the family name to Cuthbert.

Present at the birth of Rebecca Culbert in Galbally was her maternal grandmother, Sarah, the wife of Robert Allen.

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/culbertcuthbert-family-of-monegall.html

The Allens of Galbally:
Most Allens in this area were Catholic;  given that our Anne Allen married Henry Culbert in the Church of Ireland Church, I'm only focusing on Protestant Galbally Allens, although conversion on marriage was common enough.

The tithes books of the 1830's indicate that most of the Galbally Allen families were farming on the Tipperary/Limerick border just north-west of Galbally town.   Our own Allen ancestors settled in the Park townland which is east of the town.

The 1830's Tithe Applotment Books for Galbally, Limerick:

John Allen - Ballinamona, north of Galbally.
William Allen - Ballinamona
John Allen - Annagh, north of Galbally.
Henry Allen - Lyre
Robert Allen - Ballylooby, north of Galbally.
Allen (Robert) John - Ballylooby. (ie: John Allen was the son of Robert Allen.)
Allice Allen - Park, east of Galbally.  (A Protestant Henry Allen of Galbally joined the army - Find My Past have his military records. Born in about 1856 in Ballylanders, Galbally, he joined up on 19th January 1880 in Limerick, and served in the infantry in Egypt and Bermuda.  He was stationed in Dublin in 1880, the Curragh in 1880, Galway in 1881, the Curragh in 1882, S.S.Revada, Egypt and Aldershot in 1882, H.M.S. Himalaya and Bermuda in 1883. He was discharged from service on 1st October 1880.  His next-of-kin was noted in his records as his mother Alice Allen, and his brother William Allen.)

Griffiths Valuation was carried out in Galbally in 1852; there are two Robert Allens listed:
Patrick Allen - Annagh
William Allen - Ballylooby, 36 acres.
Francis Allen Junior - Ballynamona, 20 acres.
Edmund Allen (next door to above) - Ballynamona, 21 acres.
Francis Allen Senior - Ballynamona, leasing a house from William Allen.
William Allen - Ballynamona, leasing a house from Edmund Allen.
John Allen - Keeloges, near Park, 113 acres.
William Allen - Kilgreana beside Ballynamona, 4 acres.
Edmund Allen - Lissard beside Ballynamona and Annagh, 11 acres. 
William Allen - Park, 32 acres.
Robert Allen - Galbally town, house, garden office and pound.  This seems to be our ancestor, since this Robert Allen appears in the surviving registers of Galbally Church of Ireland Church.
Robert Allen - Galbally townland, 4 acres.

(Exodus: One of the above Edmund Allens emigrated to Douro, Peterborough,  Canada and appears there on the 1851 census along with other members of this Catholic family.  His wife, Bridget Fleming, erected a gravestone for him in Douro, Ontario, when he died in 1860, on which it was confirmed that he came from Galbally.  He been born there in about 1774.  Other members of this family on the same census return for 1851 were Robert Allen, aged 30, with his wife, Johannah Curtin, and son Edmond Allin (sic).  A third Edmond Allin, aged 30, and born in Ireland, was present too, along with his wife, Ellen Clancy, and their three young Canada-born children, Edmond, Bridget and Margaret.
The 1861 census for Peterborough, Canada, records the family of William and Bridget Allen, born circa 1811 in Ireland, along with their six Canada-born children.  In the same area was the Irish-born Anthony Allen and his wife, Mary, and three children.
I recently undertook a DNA test through the Ancestry website.  The results linked me to the descendants of these Allens of Douro, Canada.)

Anne Culbert's father, Robert Allen, died at Park, Galbally, on 28th December 1875. He was a married farmer, and had died of debility, aged 73;  present at death was the illiterate Sarah Allen, who signed the cert with her mark, and who must have been Robert's widowed wife.  If Robert Allen had been born in 1803, then his daughter Anne had been born when he was 46 years old.

Robert Allen was possibly the son the Alice Allen who was farming in Park in the 1830's.  Siblings were William Allen, Mary Anne Lamphier, and possibly Henry Allen and Richard Allen.  

Anne Culbert's sister, Amelia Chamberlain, died in Australia on 1st August 1922;  her death record names her parents as Robert Allen and Sarah McClure.  However, it seems her mother's name was incorrect.  Amelia Chamberlain was buried in Gordonvale Cemetery in Cairns, Queensland, in plot OTH 28.  Immediately next to her in plot OTH 27 was the man I believe to be her brother, John Allen.  He died aged 61 on 21st November 1916, and his parents were named as Robert Allen and Sarah Airey.  The Australian street directories show that a labourer, John Allen, lived at Mulgrave Road in the years prior to his death, while his sister, Amelia Chamberlain, lived immediately adjacent to this around the corner at Sheridan Street.
Furthermore, when another of the Allen children, Henry Allen, also died in Australia in 1932, the Australia Death Index 1787 - 1985, viewable on Ancestry.com, also named him as the son of Robert Allen and Sarah Airay.
William Airay (1820's - 10th August 1902) was the witness at the 1869 wedding of Anne Allen to Henry Culbert.  A carpenter, he was a contemporary of Sarah, wife of Robert Allen, and might possibly be Sarah Airey's brother, and uncle of the bride.  He was a member of the Airay family of Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, which is only 9 kms from Galbally.

Finally, the Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Index 1623 - 1866 show up the marriage in 1838 in the Cashel and Emly diocese of Robert Allen and Sarah Airay. 
This index also recorded the marriage in this same area of Amelia Alleyn and John McClure in 1813 - and I noted this same marriage in the Galbally church register - which might have been an earlier member of our Allen family. Whoever registered Amelia's death in Australia in 1922 might not have been familiar with Amelia's family history but might have heard mention of a family member named 'McClure' and assumed that this was the family name of Amelia's mother.

I discuss the Airay family later in this post.

Sarah Allen (1825 - 1898) née Airey, widow of Robert Allen of Galbally, died aged 73 of bronchitis on 13th January 1898 at her daughter Anne Cuthbert's home, 69 Seville Place, Dublin city.  The informant was her son-in-law Henry Cuthbert of 69 Seville Place.

The brother of Anne Allen and Amelia Allen was Henry Allen - the Church of Ireland Record Search Forms (Find My Past) show up Henry Allen on 25th October 1921 who was searching for proof of his age in the Galbally Church register, so that he might apply for the newly-introduced old age pension.   His given address was Rev. J.F. Young of Galbally, Co. Tipperary. (Galbally is right on the border of Limerick and Tipperary.)  The register confirmed that he had been born in 1852 to Robert and Sarah Allen, who were also the parents of Anne, Amelia and John Allen.  Earlier, Henry Allen had been a vestryman in Galbally Parish Church, but he 'went away' by 1892.  Henry Allen emigrated to Queensland, Australia, where he died on 10th November 1932.

Another brother of Anne and Amelia Allen was John Allen who died aged 61 on 21st November 1916 in Cairns, Australia; his parents were named as Robert Allen and Sarah Airey.  The Australian street directories show that a labourer, John Allen, lived at Mulgrave Road in the years prior to his death, while his sister, Amelia Chamberlain, lived immediately adjacent to this around the corner at Sheridan Street.

I recently accessed the only surviving register of Galbally Church of Ireland which is held in the RCB Library in Rathgar, Co. Dublin.  I noted both the Allen and the McClure entries, since there might be an Allen/McClure link....

The McClure entries were as follows:
On 31st January 1808, William and Johanna McClure baptised their daughter as Arrabella McClure.

Eliza/Elizabeth McClure of Galbally married, by banns, Francis Carney/Kearney on 8th February 1809.    They baptised a daughter, Johanna Kearney, on 25th June 1809.  This daughter must have died, since this couple christened a second child as Johanna in Galbally on 31st August 1815.  Sadly, this second Johanna also died and was buried on 29th May 1816. The Kearneys were noted as being of Duntrileague.  The Tithe Applotments of the 1830s note Francis Kearney as living in Park, the Galbally townland associated with our Allen family.
Later, a POSSIBLE child of William Allen of Park, Galbally, was Hannah Allen who married the shoemaker, John Kearney of Galbally who was the son of Francis Kearney of Park.  This Protestant marriage took place in Galbally Church on 24th November 1855 and was witnessed by William Allen and William Cousell or Connell.    
John Kearney and Hannah Allen of Park had Alicia Kearney on 15th September 1866, William Kearney on 9th November 1868, an unnamed son on 19th January 1871 and Hanorah on 8th October 1873.  John Kearney must have died young since, on 26th August 1876 in Galbally Catholic Church, the widowed Hannah Kearney of Park married the shoemaker, Denis Mullins, son of Michael Mullins.  Where did this family go?  After this, they disappear either to the workhouse or to emigration.  It is known that John and Hannah Kearney's son, Francis/Frank Allen, emigrated to Queensland and stayed in touch with both branches of our Allen family who emigrated to Australia.

On 3rd April 1813, John McClure married Amy or Amelia Allen. 

On 7th July 1813, by licence, John McClure married Elizabeth Howell of Galbally.  I wonder was this the same John McClure as the preceding one? Had Amy Allen died young?   John and Elizabeth McClure baptised a daughter as Johanna on 12th April 1818.

On 8th February 1820, Ellen McClure of Galbally married, by licence, William Stilman of the Parish of Tipperary.  I also consulted the Tipperary Church of Ireland register and came across the marriage of Alice McClure to Richard Stillman on  28th April 1811.

On 13th December 1820, by banns, Anna McClure of the village of Galbally, married William Brennan of Clonbeg.

Allen Entries in the Galbally Church Register:

Amelia Allen, daughter of Richard and Ellen Allen, was baptised on 6th January 1828;  Richard Allen was noted as a police constable stationed at Templemore, Co. Tipperary.  Once again the name of Amelia recurs. This Richard Allen was possible a brother of Robert, William, Henry and Mary Anne Allen of Park, Galbally.
Richard and Ellen Allen baptised a daughter as Mary Allen on 12th April 1830.   The Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Index 1623 - 1866 for Cashel and Emly show up this couple's marriage in 1824 when Richard Allen married Ellenor Blackburn. Amelia Emily Allen had born 27th December 1827 in Galbally to Richard Allen and  Nellie Blackburne and was baptised on 6th January 1828.

DNA links both me and my father to several of the descendants of Richard Allen and Ellen Blackburn.
Amelia Emily Allen, known as Emily,  the daughter of Richard and Ellen Allen, emigrated to Leamington, Warwickshire, where she worked as a grocer, before marrying in the Church of The Prior, Leamington, Charles Addison Whyman in 1851. The following year she returned to Galbally briefly to take up an inheritance at Little Round Hill, which is in the same Park area of Galbally where our Allen family was living.
Emily Whyman, née Allen, subsequently emigrated to the US with her husband, Charles, settling first in Pennsylvannia, then in Gage County, Nebraska, where she died in 1901.  Her husband, Charles Whyman, was a celebrated baptist preacher in Gage County.
Emily Allen's father was Richard Allen of Galbally, who, it is believed, emigrated also to Canada with his wife and younger daughters in about 1830; he later moved to the US where he joined the Union Army and died at Gettyburg in 1869 following a long day's march.  It seems that, when the family left Galbally for Canada, that their daughter, Emily Amelia Allen, stayed behind with her grandmother,  who was possibly the Alice Allen named at Park in the Tithe Applotment Books of the 1830s.

But to return to the Galbally register....

On 5th August 1829, by licence, Mary Anne Allen of the town and parish of Galbally married Joseph Lamphier of the parish and town of Tipperary.  (This marriage was also recorded in the Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Index 1623 - 1866.)   Mary Anne Allen must be related to our Park Allens, since, when Thomas Lanphier or Lamphier died in Gurtavalla on 20th May 1890, Alice Thompson, wife of Edward Thompson of Gurtavalla, and daughter of William Allen and Catherine Cussen of Park, Galbally, was named as the sole beneficiary of his estate -   he named her as his first cousin once removed.  ('Original Will Registers 1858 - 1920', viewable for free on Find My Past.)  Mary Anne Allen was most likely the sister of our Robert Allen of Park, Galbally.  

Robert Allen and Sally Holmes baptised a son as Thomas Allen on 9th September 1832.

There were no other Allen entries in the registers, most of which are missing. However, the Vestry book for the church still exists, and confirms that the family of Anne, Amelia, Henry and John Allen lived at Park, Galbally....

In 1875, Robert Allen of Galbally, William Allen of Park and Edmund Allen of Park were vestrymen. as was John Allen of Galbally.

In 1877, there was William Allen of Park, Edmond Allen of Park and William Allen of Galbally.
There was also an Edward Allen but no address was noted.

In 1884, William Allen was of Park,  William Allen was of Galbally, Edmund Allen (deceased, see below) was of Park and Edward Allen of Galbally had 'gone away'.

In 1886 and 1887, there was William Allen of Park, and also William Allen of Pound, Galbally. This is significant, since Griffiths Valuation of 1852 had showed up Robert Allen as being of Pound, Galbally.  The later 1888 entry clarifies things further when it shows that there were two William Allens, one of Park and the other of Park (Pound) Galbally.  The pound in question here was an actual pound, used for the rounding up of stray animals which would be returned to the owner following the payment of a fine to the poundkeeper, in the same fashion as modern car clampers.  'The Limerick Report' of 7th September 1849 listed Robert Allen of Galbally as one of the men who registered their Pounds within the last year.

In 1889, Henry Allen of Park was added.

In both 1890 and 1891, the Allen vestrymen were William Allen of Park and William Allen of Park (Pound) Galbally.

In 1892 there was William Allen of Park/Pound, and Henry Allen of Park/Pound, although by now Henry Allen had 'gone away'.
NB: The Church of Ireland Record Search Forms (Find My Past) show up Henry Allen on 25th October 1921 who was searching for proof of his age in the Galbally Church register, so that he might apply for the newly-introduced old age pension.   His given address was Rev. J.F. Young of Galbally, Co. Tipperary. (Galbally is right on the border of Limerick and Tipperary.)  The register confirmed that he had been born in 1852 to Robert and Sarah Allen, who were also the parents of Anne and Amelia Allen.

In 1893,  there was William Allen of Park (Pound), but by 1894 this William Allen of Park/Pound was dead.  

William Allen of Park (1803 - 1892):

William Allen of Park was most likely the brother of our Robert Allen of Park, given their similar ages. A third brother might well be the Richard Allen who married Eleanor Blackburn in Galbally in 1824 - we share DNA with Richard and Ellen's descendants.  A sister was probably Mary Anne Allen who married Joseph Lamphier in 1829.  The mother of William, Robert, Richard and Mary Anne, might be the Alice Allen who was farming in Park, Galbally, in the 1830s.

William Allen, a widowed farmer, committed suicide by cutting his own throat on 19th December 1892; his daughter Annie Baylor registered his death.  William's wife, Catherine Allen, died in Park on 20th November 1890;  her daughter Annie Baylor was present.
The marriage licence bonds for the Diocese of Cashel and Emly record the marriage in 1837 of a William Allen and Catherine Cuission - the Irish census shows up a Catholic Cussen/Cushion family living in Park, Galbally.

I have identified five children of William Allen of Park, Galbally - Edmund Allen, John Allen, James Allen, Alice Thompson and Annie Baylor.  The Australian descendant of John Allen - Ken Crompton - kindly provided me with family photos.

Edmund Allen (1848 - 1886), noted above as a vestryman of Galbally Church of Ireland, was the son of farmer William Allen and Catherine Cussen of Park, Galbally.  He married, on 6th February 1893, in the Parish Church of Doon, Co. Limerick, Eliza Thompson, the daughter of a farmer of Gortavalla, Doon, Co. Limerick, Edward Thompson.  The witnesses were Edward Allen and John Howard.  His sister, Alice, would marry Eliza Thompson's brother, Edward Thompson, in 1883.

The Galbally Parish register records the baptism of a child by a farmer, Edmund, and Eliza Allen of Park - William Edward Allen was born on 13th February 1884 and was baptised on 20th February 1884.  The baby's death was registered the same year.  His mother died shortly afterwards.

The following relates the murder of the Protestant Edmond/Edmund Allen, who lived at Park, Galbally. According to newspaper reports, he had been born circa 1848, although, when his death was registered in the Rathkeale area in 1886, his date of birth was given instead as 1819;  other reports have him aged about 35 at the time of his death, which would mean he was born in the 1850s.

The obituary of Edmond Allen, Park, Galbally, was published on 19th January 1886 in The Limerick Chronicle.
'Shocking Murder Near Tipperary - On Saturday evening a brutal murder was committed at a place called Shronell, situate about 3 miles from the town of Tipperary, but does not seem to be connected with agrarian matters.  The victim was a farmer named Edmond Allen, living at Park, near Galbally, in this county.  Deceased, who was about 35 years of age, left his house at midday on Saturday for Damerville, Shronell, the residence of Mr.Austin Chadwick, for the purpose of taking back a farm horse which a few days ago was lent to him by Mr. Chadwick's land steward, John Tobin.  He arrived at Damerville at about half-past 4 o'clock. He remained there half an hour, and then left for home, a distance of seven miles. He was seen walking down the avenue and passing out of the entrance gate. At the Shronell side of Damerville gate is a high wall, opposite which is another high wall closing in the kitchen garden of Shronell House. By these two high enclosures is formed for about one hundred yards a regular alley.  In this lane-like place a few minutes past five o'clock was found stretched on the middle of the road the lifeless body of the murdered man Allen. The persons who found the body were Patrick O'Neil, grocer, Lattin, Michael Daly and Thomas Looby who live near Lattin.  There was no blood on the face of the deceased nor on his person or clothes, nor any marks whatever of violence.  Hence the men concluded the deceased had suddenly died a natural death. They did not know who he was, and they searched his pockets for any papers which might have been about him that would reveal his identity.  These they found.  One of the three men then ran up to Thomas Brown's public house, at the Cross of Shronell, and informed Brown of the matter. Brown is a second cousin of deceased. Brown and his son-in-law, an ex-policeman, David Hoey, at once proceeded in their car to the scene of the outrage. They placed the body on the car and drove back to their house.  On arriving there they immediately sent for Dr. Condon, of Shronell. On the doctor's arrival, they removed the clothes from the body, when it was seen that the man had been foully murdered. There were three bullet wounds on the back, one near the shoulder-blade, another a little lower down, and a third directly opposite the heart. They were pistol shots. Evidently he was fired at from behind. Two of the bullets lodged in the body and death must have been instantaneous. It appears the deceased had quarrelled with his neighbours at Galbally about a right of passage, and litigation was begun about 12 months ago, and has not yet terminated. It is stated a man was sent to gaol for three months at the prosecution of deceased in an assault case, arising out of the contention of the right of passage. 
Deceased was a Protestant, and was well-known in Tipperary, where he had several relatives. He was a second cousin of Allen, one of three Manchester "martyrs." He was a widower and had no family. He held a comfortable farm, on which he kept sixteen cows.'

The inquest was also published in the same newspaper:
  'The Murder Near Tipperary - Yesterday an inquest was held in Shronell National Schoolroom, before Mr. Tobias J. Morrissey, district coroner, touching the death of Edmund Allen of Park, Galbally, who was foully murdered on Saturday evening near the town of Tipperary under circumstances related in our fourth page. Mr. P.K. O'Neill, grocer, of Lattin, deposed to finding the body of the dead man which was lying in the road in the water-course, the hands being quite warm.  His watch and knife were in his pocket. Other witnesses proved the finding of the body on the road. The result of the doctors' post-mortem examination showed that there were no less than six wounds on the body, five being inflicted by revolver bullets and another by a dagger or some similar weapon.  One bullet had passed through the unfortunate man's heart and two through his chest.  The following verdict was found by the jury: - "That Edmund Allen came by his death at Shronell, the result of gunshot wounds, and that said wounds were wilfully and maliciously inflicted upon him be some person or persons unknown."  Shortly after three o'clock, the remains were removed to Galbally by the relatives of the deceased, near to which he was interred. The funeral cortege was a large and respectable one.'

Later, on February 2nd 1886, Richard Hannigan/Richard Hourigan of Damerville, Shronell, was arrested on suspicion of having shot Edmund Allen.  It was reported that Richard Hannigan 'was cousin to Widow Hannigan, the reinstated tenant at Ballyconroy, near the Limerick Junction'.  He was about 30 years old and was married.

It seems that the right of way dispute had been ongoing for many years -Edmund Allen had already been jailed in Limerick for assault.  His prison record - available to view on the LDS site - stated that he had been born circa 1848 in Galbally, and that the assault offence had taken place in 1876, 12 years prior to his murder.  There were no other details for this.

Other newspaper reports stated that Edmund Allen had relatives in the area of Shronell, 3 miles from Tipperary town and 7 miles from Galbally, Limerick.   It was stated that he held a comfortable farm in Park, Galbally, and had 16 cows.  He was a close friend of Austin Chadwick of Damerville, Shronell, and,on the day of his murder, had been returning a pony which he had borrowed from Chadwick three days earlier.

Richard Hourigan was found not guilty of the murder of Edmund Allen on 15th July 1886.

Edmund Allen's second cousin, named erroneously as Thomas Brown above, was actually the publican Richard Brown who died on 31st December 1893, and whose will was administered by his daughter, Margaret Hoey who was married to the ex-policeman, David Hoey of Derry.

Because Edmund Allen was also noted as a second cousin of William Philip Allen, who was one of the Manchester Martyrs, I will do a second post on this individual as well. 
(Second cousins share great-grandparents.)


http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/07/william-philip-allen.html

Edmund Allen's brothers, John and James Allen, emigrated to Queensland.   John Allen's family have confirmed that he was a brother of the murdered Edmund Allen.
John Allen, the son of William Allen and Catherine Cussen of Park, Galbally, had been born there on 2nd April 1838 and emigrated to Australia in 1862 - he died in Mackay, Queensland, on 22nd January 1902.
John Allen's first wife, Jemima Cook, died in 1878.  He married subsequently Sarah Ann Nash.  By Jemima he had William Cushen Allen, Edmund John Allen, Catherine Jane Allen and Grace Adelaide Allen.  By Sarah Ann Nash he had Nella, Ella, Annie Allen, John Edmund, Beatrice Maud, Alice, Emma Kathleen, Henry James and Marjorie Aline.

The above photo was kindly supplied by Annie Allen's grandson, Ken Compton - the top row shows Edmund, Grace, John Snr and his second wife Sarah.   Seated are John, Annie, Kathy, William, Catherine, Nella and Ella, while the bottom row shows Edgar, Marjorie and Harry.

John Allen's brother, James Allen, also emigrated to Australia - he had been born in Co. Limerick to William Allen and Catherine Cushion in about 1849 and left for Australia in 1870 where he worked as a draper, settling in Goldsborough where he lived for 30 years before tragically losing his life in a drowning accident in the Mulgrave River on the 15th June 1914.  He was survived by his wife,  Emma Jane Nicholson who he'd married in 1880, and by his daughter, Kate Allen who had married Senator Thomas Givens in 1901.   James Allen's registration of death confirmed him as another child of William Allen and Catherine Cushen/Cushion.
When Amelia Chamberlain, the daughter of Robert Allen and Sarah Airey, died in Queensland in 1922, the newspapers noted that Mrs. J. Allen of Melbourne had been invited to attend the funeral - this was James Allen's widow, Emma Jane, who went to live with her daughter, Kate Givens, following James Allen's tragic death in 1914.  

Edmund Allen's sister, Alice Allen of Park, also married into the family of Edward Thompson of Gurtavalla when she married Edward Thompson, son of the older Edward Thompson.  The marriage occurred on 6th February 1883 in Galbally Church and was witnessed by William Groves and John Fryday.  Alice and Edward Thompson farmed for a time at Gurtavalla, near Lattin, and had a daughter, Elizabeth Thompson, on 4th June 1885.
Alice Thompson, wife of Edward Thompson of Gurtavalla, was named as the sole beneficiary of the estate of Thomas Lanphier of Gurtavalla when he died there on 20th May 1890 - he named her as his first cousin once removed.   (As noted above, the Galbally church register recorded the marriage on 5th August 1829, by licence, of Mary Anne Allen of the town and parish of Galbally and Joseph Lamphier of the parish and town of Tipperary.)
Although Alice and Edward Thompson appear on the 1901 census at Gurtavalla, they have disappeared by the time of the 1911 return.

Annie Allen, also a daughter of William Allen of Park, married Robert Baylor of Duntaheen, Fermoy, Co. Cork, son of farmer George Baylor. The marriage in Galbally Church on 8th February 1887 was witnessed by John Hanan or Havan and Andrew Corbett Hinchy C.P.S.
Annie and Robert Baylor had four daughters in Park, Galbally - Mary Baylor born 13th January 1888, Catherine Baylor born 22nd April 1889, Jane Alice Baylor born 25th April 1890, and Annie Elizabeth Baylor born 1891.
The family moved to Robert Baylor's hometown of Duntaheen, Fermoy, Co. Cork, where son, George William Baylor, was born on 14th June 1892.  He would later, on 7th October 1915, in Fermoy Church, marry Mabel Bird of Woodview, Fermoy, the daughter of farmer Richard Bird. The witnesses were John, Georgina and Mary Bird, and Goodwin...?

Annie Baylor, née Allen, died of influenza aged only 50, on 21st March 1904 in Patrick Street, Fermoy.  Her husband, George Baylor of Duntaheen, registered the death.

A fourth  child of William Allen and Catherine Cussion/Cussen of Park, Galbally, was Hannah Allen who was noted as the daughter of a Galbally farmer William Allen when she married the shoemaker, John Kearney of Galbally who was the son of Francis Kearney.  This Protestant marriage took place in Galbally Church on 24th November 1855 and was witnessed by William Allen and William Cousell or Connell.
Eliza/Elizabeth McClure of Galbally had married, by banns, Francis Carney/Kearney on 8th February 1809.    They baptised a daughter, Johanna Kearney, on 25th June 1809.  This daughter must have died, since this couple christened a second child as Johanna in Galbally on 31st August 1815.  Sadly, this second Johanna also died and was buried on 29th May 1816. The Kearneys were noted as being of Duntrileague.  The Tithe Applotments of the 1830s note Francis Kearney as living in Park, the Galbally townland associated with our Allen family.
John Kearney (the son of Francis Kearney and Eliza McClure) and Hannah Allen of Park had Alicia Kearney on 15th September 1866, William Kearney on 9th November 1868, an unnamed son on 19th January 1871 and Hanorah on 8th October 1873.  John Kearney must have died young since, on 26th August 1876 in Galbally Catholic Church, the widowed Hannah Kearney of Park married the shoemaker, Denis Mullins, son of Michael Mullins.  The son of John Kearney and Hannah Allen was Francis/Frank Allen who moved to Queensland along with our Allen family members - Frank Kearney took part in the search for James Allen in 1914 - James Allen was subsequently found to have drowned in the Mulgrave River.

Other Allens of Galbally:
The death of a second Robert Allen was registered in the same Mitchelstown registration district - he was born in 1834 to John Allen, and died in 1899.  The Galbally marriage of this Robert Allen was registered in Mitchelstown in 1865; his bride was Nancy/Ann Riordan - they had Alice Allen in 1865, John in 1867 and Michael in 1870. Nancy/Ann Riordan was the daughter of Michael Riordan who lived in Lissard, Galbally in 1852.  Robert was the son of John Allen - there was only one John Allen in Griffiths Valuation for Galbally;  he was farming 113 acres in Keeloges next to Park townland where Anne Allen's father died in 1875. It's interesting also that Robert Allen and Nancy/Ann Riordan named their daughter as Alice, given that there was an Alice Allen named on the Tithe Books in Park in the 1830s.
John Allen, the London-born descendant of Robert Allen and Nancy Riordan, contacted me about his Galbally family.  His grandfather was John Allen who moved from Galbally to Glenrohane, Limerick, while his great-uncle, Robbie Allen, continued to reside in Annagh/Lizzard, Galbally, until the 1980's.  It was accepted by John's family that their family had originally been Protestant, and also that they were distantly related somehow to the murdered Protestant, Edmund Allen.  Great-uncle Robbie took John and his brothers to visit Lattin graveyard in nearby south Tipperary to see the gravestones of the old Allens - John remembers seeing two standing Allen headstones decorated with an English rose and dating to the 17th century.  His great-uncle told him that all the Galbally Allens, of both denominations, descended from these people. John remembers one of them as being Benjamin Allen, and the other as, possibly, Robert Allen.

The Airey/Airy/Airay/Airie family of Ballingarry, Co. Limerick:

As already discussed in this post, my immediate ancestor, Robert Allen of Galbally was married to a Sarah.  Although, when their daughter, Amelia Chamberlain, died in Cairns, Australia, in 1922, the death index named her as the daughter of Robert Allen and Sarah McClure, Amelia's two brothers, John and Henry Allen, also died in Australia and were named as the sons of Robert Allen and Sarah Airay.

When Robert and Sarah Allen's daughter, Anne, married Henry Culbert in Galbally in 1869, the wedding was witnessed by another member of the Airey family, the carpenter William Airey.  Although it's impossible to establish the correct relationship between these two Aireys, they are both contemporary and might possibly be brother and sister.   This is what I've uncovered about this Airey family.

 On 25th July 1846, in St. John's Church, Limerick, William Airey, carpenter of John's Square, Limerick, and son of the smith George Airey, married Margaret Molony, the daughter of nailor Michael Moloney.  This was witnessed by the illiterate Mary and James Hewitt.  (James Hewitt also witnessed the wedding in the same church on 13th July 1846 of George Allen, a pensioner of Cornwallis Street, and son of the mason Robert Allen, to Ellen Comerford of William's Lane, the daughter of carpenter Michael Comerford.  Was this George Allen a relation of Robert Allen of Galbally who had married Sarah Airey in 1838? Both the marriage of William Airey and of George Allen were written on the same page of the civil registration ledger.)

William Airey and Margaret Molony settled in Kilshane, Co. Tipperary, where William Airey died aged 74 on 12th August 1902 - his granddaughter Annie Switzer was the informant.  The widowed Margaret Airey, née Molony, died on 18th September 1913 at 64 South Dock Street, Dublin, the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Henry and Amelia Margaret Cripps.  Margaret Airey was named as 'Amelia Margaret Airey' on her registration of death.

The known children of William Airey and Margaret Malone were:
a) Baptised in St. Michael's, Limerick City, Sarah Airey was born on 5th June 1847, the daughter of carpenter William Airey and his wife Margaret of Dominick Street.   In 1901 a Sarah Airey, born Limerick, was working as a domestic servant in Co. Mayo, but she disappears by the time of the next census in 1911.  An Irish Sarah Airey, born in 1847, was working in New Jersey as a maid in the 1870s, so she possibly returned to the States in later years.

b) A possible son was the Henry Airey born 17th May 1853 and baptised in St. Michael's, Limerick, by his father turnkey William Airey and his mother Margaret.

b) Thomas H. Airey, born circa 1863 in Tipperary, who died on 21st April 1928 in Chicago.  Thomas Airey of 815 Logan Street was naturalised on 24th October 1894.  He had married Anna Bergin, the daughter of Terence Bergin and Julia Molloy of Mountmellick; she died in Chicago on 4th November 1935.

c) On 25th June 1896 in Kilshane Church, Amelia Margaret Airey, the daughter of carpenter William Airey, married Henry Cripps, a corporal in the Royal Horse Artillery, son of a County Carlow saddler George Cripps.  This was witnessed by Tipperary-born butler, James William Carter, and by the bride's niece, Annie Louisa Switzer.   Amelia Margaret had been born in County Limerick in about 1862 and died on 21st May 1940 in Dublin.  Henry Cripps had died of gastric trouble on 9th April 1915 at 51 Home Villas, Donnybrook.

c) Susan Jane Airey, the daughter of carpenter William Airey, married the butler John James Switzer, son of the carpenter of Adare, Co. Limerick, Nehemiah Switzer.  The wedding, which took place in Kilshane on 22nd May 1878, was witnessed by William Airey and Nathaniel Scales.  Daughter Anna Louisa Switzer was born in Cappa, Limerick, on 17th August 1879.  The family settled for a time in Dublin where they had a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Switzer, at 5 East James Street, on 9th February 1881.  Their third daughter, Amelia Switzer, was born in Manhattan on 27th June 1883.
Susan Jane Airey, wife of John James Switzer or Sweitzer, must have died young.  John James Switzer married, secondly, Martha Jane Smyth, daughter of Thomas Smyth and Lucinda Wolfe, in NYC on 20th January 1886.     On 4th  April 1895, there was a third marriage - bride number three was Letitia Anne Trotter, the daughter of John Trotter and Mary English.   This couple ultimately settled in Toronto.
The daughter of John James Switzer and Susan Jane Airey, Annie Louisa, must have stayed in Ireland, since she was living in Kilshane with her grandparents, William and Margaret Airey in 1901, and witnessed the death of her grandfather, carpenter William Airey, there in 1902.

John James Switzer was the son of Cummeen, Adare carpenter, Nehemiah Switzer and of his second wife, Elizabeth Corneille.   Nehemiah had been born in Court Matrix, Limerick, to carpenter Samuel Switzer and Mary Corneille in September 1793. By his first wife, Ann, he had a large family, some of whose marriages are recorded - son Christopher Switzer married Jane Fizelle, daughter of Tobias Fizelle, in Adare on 10th June 1857; a tailor, he would die in Croom workhouse aged 89 on 11th November 1908.   A tailor,Francis Switzer married Teresa Walsh, daughter of Joseph Walsh, in Adare on 6th May 1862.  He settled at home in Cummeen, Adare, and had numerous children there -  Ann on 15th January 1865, Zachariah on 28th March 1867 but who died soon after, Christopher on 18th June 1868, Sarah Jane on 27th January 1874 (she would marry Louis Wippert, son of John Wippert and Hannah Smith, in Springfield, Massachussetts, on 11th November 1897), John in Cummeen on 12th February 1877, and Joseph Edwin on 19th January 1880.


The brother of the carpenter William Airey was the gardener/land steward, Richard Airey (circa 1822 - 13th March 1901) who married Elizabeth Latchford, daughter of Joseph Latchford, in St. Patrick's, Limerick on 11th October 1855.
Richard Airey, a gardener of Nelson Street,  was the son of George Airey of Ballingarry, Co. Limerick.  Elizabeth Latchford was of White Hall, St. Patrick's.     Her father might be the Joseph Latchford who was farming in Ballycahan, Kilcornan, Castletown, in the 1850s.

Richard Airey and Eliza Latchford, who settled in Castletown, Limerick, had:

a) Richard on 15th June 1864.

b) Robert born 6th August 1866.

c) Joseph born 17th October 1868 - on 20th November 1895, in St. Michael's, Limerick, coachbuilder  Joseph Airey, son of land steward Richard Airey and Elizabeth Latchford, married Gertrude Switzer, the daughter of carpenter Robert Switzer of Adare.   The witnesses were Alexander and Margaret Lucretia Benn.   Carpenter Robert Switzer would die in Ballyloughnaan, Adare, on 18th August 1916;  his daughter Gertrude Airey was there and registered the death.

d) William, born 29th March 1871

e) Henry born 9th May 1873 - Henry Airey was also a coachbuilder;  he would die of TB in the Limerick workhouse aged 30 on 2nd October 1903.

f) Elizabeth born 4th November 1875 - on 29th April 1910 in Kilcornan Church, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Airey, married the widowed prison warder, William Dunne of Tralee, son of Charles Dunne.  Jacob and Lilly Miller were the witnesses.

g) Ann born 1st November 1880 - on 9th April 1902 in Kilcornan Church she married coachman Henry Taylor of Miltown, Pallaskenry, son of steward Henry Taylor.   Thomas Taylor and sister Elizabeth Airey were the witnesses.

Both the carpenter William Airey of Kilshane and the gardener Richard Airey of Castletown were the sons of the smith George Airey. 
I consulted what little remains of the registers of the Ballingarry church registers, which showed up the birth of George Airey, the son of a John Airey, in 1805.  The exact date had faded completely, but the place of birth was named as Glanraha. Only a tiny portion of the Ballingarry registers remain, most of the archives being the vestry records.  I also noted the burial on 23rd April 1834 of what could be John Airey, but I can't be entirely certain that this name is correct.

 I also recently consulted what remains of the church records of Tipperary Church in the Church of Ireland library - limited records survive, but the vestry notes record ironmongry work done between 1816 and 1821 by both Robert Airey and George Airey.  In May 1816, Robert Airey fashioned iron rods for the organ loft, made up curtain rods and repaired a lock.  In April 1819 George Airey was paid for three small repairs in the church, while, in 1821, Robert Airey repaired the lock on the gate and George Airey repaired a key. Obviously if this George Airey was the George Airey of Ballingarry, then he was incredibly young when he started working.

(The only surviving records of the Aireys in the Tipperary register proper was the burial on 13th December 1816 of a Robin Airey who had died of fever and who was to be buried at Cullen. On 5th August 1807, Elizabeth Airay married Alexander Moore both of the parish of Tipperary.)

The profession of smith recurs in the Airey family in this region.  A widowed Robert Airey (1810 - 1895), whitesmith, died aged 85 in Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, on 27th July 1895.     Robert Airey's grandson, Richard Airey, was present when he died in Ballingarry in 1895. 
Grandson Richard Airey had been born in Ballingarry on 13th April 1864 to the gunsmith John Airey and his wife Eliza Lane.   This couple had married in Ballingarry on 6th June 1863, John being the son of Robert Airey, and Eliza being the daughter of Richard Lane.   John and Eliza Airey emigrated shortly afterwards to New York where the 1871 census captured them living without their young son who must have stayed with his grandparents in Ireland.
John Airey had enlisted in the US army during the Civil War and the US Army Register of Enlistments records that John Airey, gunsmith of Limerick, had been discharged from the army on 6th November 1868.   In 1900 the elderly widowed John Airey was living in North Bergen, New Jersey. By 1910 he was in a Home for Disabled Soldiers in New Jersey, and confirmed that he had emigrated in 1864.

When the gardener Richard Airey, son of smith George Airey, married Elizabeth Latchford in Limerick in 1855, he was living in Nelson Street.  The family of whitesmith/locksmith Robert and Mary Airey also lived in Nelson Street at this time and were most likely related.  Robert and Mart Airey of Nelson Street had Robert Airey born 14th April 1849 in Boherboy, Henry Airey born 17th May 1853 in Nelson Street, Thomas Airey born 28th July 1858 in Nelson Street, and Richard born 15th July 1860 in Nelson Street.
 Robert's son, the locksmith Thomas Airey, married in St. Michael's, Limerick, on 20th July 1884, and stated on the marriage certificate that his father, also a locksmith, was dead.   This means that this Robert Airey, locksmith, can't possibly be the same Robert Airey, smith, who died in Ballingarry in 1895.  Thomas Airey's bride was Catherine Godsell, the daughter of the late baker, Thomas Godsell;  the wedding witnesses were John Godsell and Marian McAuliffe.   Thomas Airey died of TB at 4 Anne Street on 16th July 1892, leaving two daughters, Mary Jane, 15, and Thomasine aged 8, who would also die of Tb in 1918.

A daughter of a Limerick Robert Airey was Susan Airey who married John Parry, the son of saddler George Parry, in Limerick on 14th September 1865.   

Schoolmaster John Airey:
Another member of this same Limerick Airey family might well be the ghostly schoolmaster John Airey who must have lived and died prior to civil registration....he had three known children:

1)  John Richard Airey, also a schoolteacher, son of schoolteacher John Airey, married Elizabeth Meara, daughter of Henry Meara in Co. Cork on 12th April 1884.

2) Mary Ann Airey, who had been born in Emly, Co. Tipperary, married Francis Benn on 15th November 1884.  He was a machinist in Taits Factory, and was the son of bootmaker Zachariah Benn.   This was witnessed by a James Mahoney and by the bride's brother, John Richard Airey.   When Alexander Benn, bootmaker of Limerick, son of bootmaker Thomas Benn, married Margaret Murphy of Aghadown in January 1884, the witnesses were John Richard Airey and Samuel Gosnell.  Alexander Benn and a Jane Mahony witnessed the 1889 wedding in Limerick of shoemaker Thomas Benn, son of Joseph Benn, to Elizabeth Bickley, daughter of William Bickley.  Alexander Benn was one of the witnesses when Joseph Airey, grandson of Ballingarry smith, George Airey, married Gertrude Switzer in 1894.

3)  A possible daughter of schoolmaster John Airey was the Margaret Charlotte Airey who married William John Carrick, son of Anthony Carrick,  in Limerick in 1857.  This couple emigrated to Victoria, Australia where they had Margaret Lucinda Carrick (1860 - 1863) and Elizabeth Carrick in 1863.




















3 comments:

  1. Hi there - I recently was doing research on my great-great grandfather, Patrick Thomas Noonan, who lived in Galbally, and came across the murder of Edmond Allen articles that you have quoted here. Do you know if anyone was ever convicted?

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  2. Hi there Angela, I've scoured the internet looking for further information on the trial but haven't yet come across the outcome of this trial. I might be able to track down something in the newspapers of the day however - just keep an eye on my Allen posts on this blog, since I'm constantly updating whenever I find new info!

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  3. Hi Alison, thanks for the great research on this page. We have trouble find any documents relating to my ancrestor John Robert Allen, prior to his Catholic marriage in charlieville 1859. Family legend has him born in Patrickswell, county Limerick around 1837 and becoming a ward of protestant Dean of limerick. Unfortunately limerick genealogy said there was no church from the COI Patrickswell. Your page is the only one talking about religious conversion of Irish allen's in the 1800s.
    Since it was distant automsal DNA results that led me to finding Edmund allen that emigrated to of Douro, Canada. I suspect my common ancrestor is few generations back from Edmund allen. I was hoping some allen males from galbally would y-DNA tested and join the group at https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/allan/dna-results (the same people run https://isogg.org/wiki/Free_DNA_tests/Allen_Guild_International_DNA_Project)
    All the best,
    Slán,
    Tom

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