Evidence of early family ties with Clonavaddy, Co. Tyrone.

From The New London Gazetteer (1826):

"COUNTY TYRONE: It is about 43 Irish miles long, and from 18 to 33 broad, and contains 35 parishes. A great portion of it is rough and mountainous; in many parts the soil is rich and fertile, and equally calculated for tillage or for pasture. Principal rivers, the Blackwater, Foyle, Mounterlouny, Drimna, Fentona, Owenreagh, Longfield, Derg, and Fin. The linen manufacture is in a most flourishing condition through the whole extent of the district. Pop. 259,691. Capital, Dungannon."

Our McGrath/Magrath family was from Clonavaddy, County Tyrone, and there is evidence that they were established there as early as the 18th century, if not sooner.

Clonavaddy Townland 1798-estate map of the Stewart Family:
Neil O’Neill and Hugh O’Neill shared an area of land with Patrick Laphan, John Laphan, Patrick McGrath, Patrick Sharkey, Neil McCane.
They had 23 acres of pretty good land and 47 acres of poorer ground including bog.

These families were still living in Clonavaddy at the time of Griffiths Valuation more than half a century later, with 'Laphan' spelt as 'Lappan' or 'Lappin'.

The Tithe Applotment books from 1824-1837 have the following entries for Clonavaddie (sic. 'Clonavaddy')

1826: Felix Sharkey, Clonavaddie, Donaghmore
Patrick Sharkey as above

1826: Biddy Lappin, Clonavaddie, Donaghmore
Thomas Lappin “ “

Exciting news on the McGrath, County Tyrone, front!!!

Above: Because of the lack of 19th century census returns in Ireland, much dependence is placed on a set of records called the 'Griffiths Valuation'. The Griffith's Valuation of Ireland was executed under the direction of Sir Richard Griffith to determine the amount of tax each person should pay towards the support of the poor within their poor law union (division of land). For each county, both the leasers of land as well as the land owners were recorded, and each individual property was valued. The Griffiths Valuation for County Tyrone was completed on 13 July 1860. The Valuation for Clonavaddy, Parish of Donaghmore, County Tyrone (Bridget McGrath's home village), can be seen above, displaying John Magrath (most likely Bridget's father), as well as a James Magrath and a Thomas Lappan (Bridget McGrath's mother was Susanna Lappan). There are also O'Neills, who I suspect are closely tied in with our McGraths, and Sharkeys, whom I suspect became related by marriage.

Above: Extract from the Census of Ireland, 1901. This shows the household of 54 year old widow Alice Sharkey of Clonavaddy, county Tyrone. Living with her, as well as her son Hugh and neice Mary Donaghey, is her mother, SUSAN McGRATH!!!!!!!

How amazing is that!!! I am sure that this Susan McGrath is Susan Lappan McGrath, our Bridget McGrath Sheridan's mother, and that Alice is Bridget's sister. Susan's age is correct..she was 84 years old in 1901, putting her birth year as approximately 1817.

We know that she was married on November 4, 1840, in the Parish of Donaghmore, Tyrone , to John McGrath, bachelor, and that she was from Clonavaddy. If she was born in c. 1817, she would have been aged about 23 years when she was married, which fits in beautifully with the age of the Susan McGrath in the 1901 census.

The chance of finding a Susan McGrath of the right age to be Bridget's mother in a tiny place like Clonavaddy who wasn't ours would be minuscule. Plus the name Alice was not overly-common in Irish Catholic families, yet Bridget used it for her last child, Alice Christina, who was born in Australia in 1884.

Alice McGrath Sharkey was born c. 1847. Bridget McGrath Sheridan was probably born c. 1845-46, although her age on the birth certificates of her later children favoured 1847-48 as she dropped a few years off her age. Similarly, her age at death gave an approximate birth year of c. 1847.

Whatever the case, Bridget was still of the perfect age to be an elder sibling of Alice, born only a year or two before her.

Alice McGrath of Clonavaddy married Felix Sharkey in the Galbally Roman Catholic Church, parish of Conavaddy, on January 9, 1870. I have just downloaded the details from their civil marriage record, which prove that Alice is the sister of our Bridget McGrath Sheridan:

Nameof Groom: Felix Sharkey.

Address: Dragtoll

Occupation: farmer

Age: Full age (over 21)

Status: Bachelor

Father: Hugh Sharkey, farmer

Name of Bride: Alice McGrath

Address: Clonavaddy

Age: Minor- under 21 years.

Status: Spinster

Father: John McGrath, farmer.

Witnesses: Hugh O'Neill

Sarah McGrath

To be continued tomorrow....

Sheridan residence in Carisbrook.

Above: The will of Patrick Sheridan, brother of Nicholas Sheridan, in which he left land in Carisbrook to Nicholas.




Above: Taken from an application written by Nicholas Sheridan some years after Patrick Sheridan's death re. his ownership of the land at Carisbrook bequeathed to him by his brother. It specifies the exact block of land concerned.

Above: The little cottage in Annesly Street, Carisbrook, located next to the railway crossing. Initially purchased by Patrick Sheridan, policeman, it became the home of Nicholas and Bridget Sheridan and their ten children.

Above: Map showing the location of the Sheridan cottage in Annesly Street, Carisbrook. Whilst the individual allotments are not shown, the Sheridan block occupied allotments 5 and 6 in section 18. It can be seen that the railway line passes through two blocks in Section 18- the Sheridan home would have been located here as Bridget was in charge of opening and closing the railway gates as trains passed through, and would have needed to be close on hand for this job.

New Information Re. Nicholas Sheridan's Occupation & Residence.

I have been wondering for several years about two references to Peter Sheridan's birthplace as being Moolort rather than Carisbrook- once in his attestation papers for WW1, and the other in a hospital admission record for Maryborough hospital:

" Peter Sheridan, 5th Battalion; Joined 15 September, 1914. Born in the parish of Moolort, near Carisbrook, Victoria. Occupation: sawyer. Aged 36 years."- Attestation papers.

"Sheridan, Peter. Date of admission: January 25, 1886. 8 years old, Maryborough. Roman Catholic. Accident. Native of Moolort."-Hospital records, Maryborough Hospital.

Apart from eldest child Barney Sheridan, who was born at Walhalla, as far as we knew the other nine Sheridan siblings had all been born in Carisbrook, so I never got around to officially checking Peter's place of birth.

I remedied that situation last night when I downloaded his birth certificate from the wonderful Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages site, and my two morsels of information were proved correct...Peter Sheridan was indeed born in the little settlement opf Moolort, located some 13 km by road from Carisbrook. It lies about half way between Ballarat and Bendigo, and was once a large gold mining area
Peter Sheridan was born at Moolort on December 2, 1877. His father, Nicholas Sheridan, was noted as being a 36 year old "platelayer'. Investigation revealed that a platelayer was employed by the railways to be responsible for all aspects of track maintenance, such as replacing worn-out rails or rotten sleepers. They usually worked in gangs with a given area, or 'length', of track to look after.
The Moolort Railway Station was opened on July 7, 1874. In May of 1874, Nicholas Sheridan was still a miner living in Carisbrook (information given on the birth certificate of his daughter Mary). By the time his next child, son James, arrived in January 1876, however, Nicholas had joined the Railways and the family had moved to Moolort.

Thomas Francis Sheridan, child number eight, arrived in May of 1880, and his birth certificate reveals that he was born in Annesley Street, Carisbrook, the same address as his sister Mary in 1874. This tells us that the Sheridan family left Carisbrook in c. late 1874-75, and returned by 1880. Nicholas's obituary is more precise: "Giving up mining in 1874, he entered the government service as a permanent officer of the Railway department."

Nicholas continued to work for the railway for over twenty years. Again, to quote from his obituary:
" Having proved himself to be thoroughly reliable, and a man who could be depended upon, he was sent to this town (Yarrawonga) a little more than twenty years ago. Mr Sheridan shortly afterwards brought his family here, and made Yarrawonga his home ever since. About six years ago he was removed by his department to Arcadia, but as he did not relish leaving Yarrawonga, where he owned a good deal of real estate, and where his family were comfortably settled, he resigned his appointment after two months further service and retired on a pension." -Yarrawonga Mercury and Southern Riverina Advertiser, March 3, 1904.

The railway from Melbourne reached Yarrawonga in 1886, which coincides with Nicholas Sheridan's appointment in the town.
The Victoria Government Gazette from July 1887 published a List of Railway Employees, which included both Nicholas Sheridan and his wife Bridget:

"Sheridan, Bridget. Gatewoman
Sheridan, Nicholas. Ganger."
No location was stated, but the Sheridans were living in Yarrawonga by this stage, so the appointments must have applied to Yarrawonga. A gateswoman was responsible for closing the gates across a railway crossing when a train was due to pass, to prevent anyone from being injured or killed in a collision. This would have required the Sheridan family to live very close to the crossing, which was located in Telford Street, Yarrawonga.

My Uncle, Jack Sheridan, informed me that Bridget also acted as gateswoman at Carisbrook, and that the family lived close to the railway crossing.

A similar list of Employees published in the Government Gazette in March 1890 still had Nicholas Sheridan as a ganger with the Engineer's branch, but there was no sign of Bridget as a gatewoman or gatekeeper.
Nicholas was still residing in Telford Street when he died in 1904, but it not known if it was the same home as where the family initially settled.

Comparison photos of James Marshall

We know, thanks to his granddaughters Judy Clifton and Helen Howard, that the older man in the bottom photo is James Marshall, Rose Annie Sheridan's husband. This photo would have been taken prior to 1926 when James Marshall passed away.

The question is...does the real James Marshall in the bottom photo match any of the men standing in front of the Volunteer Arms Hotel in the top photo? About 15 to 20 years would separate the two photographs...I still favour the man under the 'J. Marshall' sign as being James Marshall publican.

Opinions, anyone???

Death certificate of Annie Veronica Marshall, daughter of Rose Annie Sheridan and James Marshall.

Above: The death certificate of Annie Veronica Marshall who died of cholera aged only six months.

Birth & death certificates of James Dunbar Marshall, son of Rose Annie Sheridan & James Marshall.

Above: The birth certificate of James Dunbar Marshall, first child born of the marriage of James Marshall and Rose Annie Sheridan.

Above: The death certificate of six year old James Dunbar Marshall.