James Ryan - A Guide to Tracing your Sligo Ancestors

First published in 2012

Flyleaf Press

4 Spencer Villas

Glenageary

Co. Dublin

Ireland

www.flyleaf.ie

2012 Flyleaf Press

British Library cataloguing in Publications Data available

ISBN 978-1-907990-04-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

The information in this book is subject to change without notice.

Cover Illustration:

Eoin Ryan

www.eoinryanart.com

Layout:

Brian Smith

Contents

Foreword

Sligo is a maritime county in the Province of Connacht, bordered on the west by the Atlantic, on the north by Leitrim and on the east and south by Roscommon and Mayo. In the 19th century, the capital Sligo (population 20,000), was the principal emigration port during the mass exodus that occurred from the north-west of Ireland.

The native Gaelic families in the area are MacDonagh, MacFirbis, OConnor, ODowd, OGara and OHara. In the aftermath of the Norman invasion they regained possession of their hereditary lands. They were later joined by mercenary families such as MacDonnells, MacSweenys and OHarts. In the Cromwellian Settlement that followed upon the unsuccessful 1641 Uprising, the aforementioned chieftains forfeited most if not all of their hereditary possessions. Their lands were allotted, in lieu of pay, to the disbanded officers in Cootes Regt. Among these were the ancestors of well-known county families - Cooper, Crofton, Gore, Nicholson, Ormsby, Parke, Phibbs, Irwin and Wood.

In the Census of 1659 the principal surnames in the County were: OHart, OConnor, McGowan and Feeney in Carbury; OGara in Coolavin; McDonagh, (O) Scanlon, OHealy and Brennan in Corran; Gallagher and OHara in Leyney; ODowd, Kelly, Burke, Boland and McDonnell in Tireragh; McDonagh, Conlon, Breheny, Healy and Higgins in Tirerrill. The most common surnames in the Borough of Sligo in 1749 (Elphin Census) were: Kelly, Gallagher, McGowan, (O)Hart, Higgins, Connor/OConnor, McDonagh, Walsh, Egan and (O)Crean. An index of computerised marriage records in the Sligo Centre (page 154) shows that the most common surnames are: Gallagher, Brennan, McGowan, Kelly, Gilmartin, Healy, Walsh, Hart, Feeney, MacDonagh and Connor /OConnor.

Sligo has been the birthplace of many individuals who achieved fame or notoriety at home and abroad. These included Duald MacFirbis and Charles OConor, noted antiquaries and historians; Charles Phillips and Bourke Cockran, orators of international fame; Ambrose OHiggins, Governor of Chile and Viceroy of Peru; Count Nicholas Taaffe of the Holy Roman Empire; General Michael Corcoran of the 69th New York Brigade; Francis MacDonagh and Hugh H. MacDermot, legal luminaries; eminent chemists, Bryan and William Higgins; Eva Gore-Booth, poetess; Gabriel Stokes, noted mathematician; Edward J. Cooper, the Markree astronomer; R. T. Henn, Yeatsian scholar, and countless others.

As a board-member of the Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Society I welcome this publication which will be an invaluable tool for all those undertaking research into their Sligo ancestry. The layout and contents are easy to follow and author, Jim Ryan, is to be complimented on the comprehensive nature of the source material on offer. Tracing your Sligo Ancestors is not only a welcome addition to other titles in the series but also a valuable source for students wishing to delve into Sligos chequered past.

John C. McTernan

Seal of Sligo Corporatioon 1612