Allen Blog- Hugh's brother, Edward Allen (immigrated 1880)

Aunt Helen's and Marjorie's notebooks tell us something about the family members who stayed in Ireland:

"When distributing the estate of Richard Allen (1843-1872) in Illinois, John, Catherine, and Edward were listed as living at Summer Hill, County Meath, Ireland. Edward later came to U.S. in 1880."

Edward Allen, younger brother of Hugh Allen 

The 1880 census shows Edward living with his older brother Hugh and family. Edward, age 30, was helping on the family farm in Jerseyville. An article in the Allen notebook states:

" Edward Allen, a citizen of English Township, is a native of Ireland, and was born in 1849, his parents being Richard and Margaret (Sweeney) Allen, both of whom were also natives of the Emerald Isle. His parents both died in their native country. Edward immigrated to this country in 1880. He  took passage at Liverpool, England, and sailed to Castle Garden, New York.,thence he came to Jerseyville and located in English Township. Here he made his home for about two years, then went to Gage and Johnson counties, and for a time there followed farming. He then returned to his homestead in this county, which has since been his home. He was married May 12, 1885 to Mary Ryan. They are both members of the catholic church in Jerseyville. He cultivates about 30 acres of land."


I was able to connect with Mary Dillard, a descendant of Edward Allen, who shared his story with me. After coming to the U.S. in 1880, Edward lived for a time in Jerseyville and married Mary Bryan there on May 12, 1885.
You can see that the name spellings got mixed about some. The marriage license below is for Edward Allen and Mary Bryan. The information on the right shows her as Mary Bryne, and her parents as James Brien and Catherine Riley.

Edward would have known Mary in Ireland; her parents, James Brien and Catherine Reilly had a farm in nearby Ballinrig. James Allen and Rose Allen, likely relatives of Edward Allen, were their neighbors. The Brien family attended the Summerhill Parish church in Dangan. James and Catherine were married there on June 19, 1845, and  Mary was baptized there on September 30, 1853. Edward Allen, born in 1844, was likely friends with Mary's older brothers. Mary's parents remained in Ireland and show on the 1901 census in Ballinrig; James was 84 and Catherine 75.

Sources:

Year: 1880; Census Place: English, Jersey, Illinois; Roll: 216; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 093

Ancestry.com. Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: 

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1917 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

 General Valuation of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Microforms Ltd., 1978. National Archives, Dublin and Public Record Office, Belfast.

Census of Ireland 1901/1911. The National Archives of Ireland. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/: accessed 31 May 2013.

Children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney County Meath- Catharine Allen Byrnes 1847 Summerhill- 1916 Clonmahon

The name "Catherine" has stayed with Allen descendants through the generations. This post is dedicated to you!

It appears that the family of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney had only two daughters- the eldest child, Mary, born in 1826, and the youngest child, Catharine, born twenty years later. Eight brothers were born between the two girls! Hugh would have been about 12 years old when Catherine was born on May 21, 1847- at the height of the famine. Catharine's closest sibling would have been her brother Edward, who was just 3 years old when she was born.

Catherine Allen's baptismal record at Dangan Church in Summerhill Parish

As a child, Catharine would have watched her elder siblings emigrate to America in the 1850's. She grew up in the little cottage on the farm and then remained home with her brothers John and Edward to care for her aging parents. We don't know when her mother died, but her father, Richard Allen, died in 1866. 

Courting was difficult for a young girl after the famine; many of those young men who survived had no land to offer a family, or had emigrated abroad to seek their fortune. But when Catharine was 23 she married- albeit to a man twice her age. Her husband was Owen Byrne, a 45 year old grocer. Owen's first wife, Julia McNamee, had died in 1868, two days after giving birth to her son, Eugene. Owen was left a widower with five young children.

 In the spring of 1872, Owen and Catharine were married. (Note that even at age 24, she is listed on her marriage record as a spinster!) Their witnesses were Patrick Young and Mary Reilly.

Catharine Allen's marriage to Owen Byrne

After her marriage to Owen, Catharine lived in Clonmahon townland, just north of the village of Summerhill, and only a few miles from her Allen family in Great Umberstown. Her first son, Thomas Byrne, was born on May 4, 1873. A daughter, Margaret, followed on April 18, 1875. Catharine and Owen would have 5 children together.

The 1901 census shows Owen, age 78, Catherine, age 50, Thomas Byrne 26, and Edward Byrne 13, living in Clonmahon. They lived in a nice stone house with 5 rooms inside. Owen also had a farm, and Thomas was working the farm. Edward was still in school. This was an educated family- everyone could read and write.

The 1911 census, Catherine was 69 years old, and her husband, Owen was 90!
Their son, Edward, was a young man now, 23 years old. Patrick Byrne, age 50, and his wife and family live nearby.

 Catherine's son,Thomas Byrne, was no longer living with them. In the 1911 census he is shown living with his uncle, John Allen (now 76 years old) helping with the farming on the Allen family farm in Umberstown. 

Catherine died on January 11, 1912. She was 60 years old, and suffering from heart disease and "dropsy"- what we would call congestive heart failure. She died at her home in Clonmahon, with her son Thomas Byrne, of Umberstown, signing that he was present at her death. Owen lived to be 94 years old, dying in Clonmahon in 1916. Thomas was also present at his death.

Civil Death Registration for Catherine Allen Byrne age 60

What happened to Catherine's other four children? (next post)

Sources:

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Baptisms, 1742-1881 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Select Catholic Marriage Registers, 1775-1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Census of Ireland 1901/1911. The National Archives of Ireland. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/: accessed 31 May 2013.

Catharine Allen Byrne's civil death record- you will have to sign in but it will then take you to the record. If you click on "image at the bottom, you can see the original entry and download this if you wish.

Allen Blog- Making a Map of the Allen Farms in County Meath

Thank goodness for hedgerows and stone fences! These classic land markers have stood the test of time...

Hedgerows and an old stone wall near Richard Allen's farm in Ireland

If you take a look at Google Satellite Maps, and type in Summerhill, County Meath, Ireland, you will come to the area in Ireland where our Allen ancestors lived. If you zoom in a bit, you will see that the many fields of green are subdivided by clear lines of trees and hedgerows. In some areas, I recognize hawthorns, which grown on my land here in West Virginia. I am fairly certain that it is impossible to kill these thorny bushes, which soon grow into small trees. Cut them down, they sprout from the stump. So maybe it is no surprise that briary hawthorns, multi-floral rose, and old stone walls still divide fields in Ireland. In any case, this time they were a great help to me.

 Griffith's Valuation of 1855 lists each tiny townsland, the inhabitants, their acreage and whom they leased from. It gives a number key which corresponds to the 1855 Griffith's Map. I had found Richard Allen's farm, where Hugh Allen and his sibling grew up in Great Umberstown, (Laracor Civil Parish) not far from the town of Summerhill.

 Now I wanted to find the other Allens in the area who were likely his kin, as well as the Sweeny's, who were likely the kin of Richard Allen's wife (Hugh's mother) Margaret Sweeny. Here is a list of all of the Allens in Laracor Civil Parish in 1855.

Allens in Laracor Civil Parish


If you click on the largest "Original Page" symbol next to the name, it will go to the page which shows the person under their townland, along with information on their farms- who their landlord was, how many acres they leased, and how much tax they paid. Here is Richard and John Allen, Patrick Sweeny and their neighbors in the townland of Great Umberstown .

Great Umberstown townland- neighbors

On the left of this list is a key which shows the number of their farm on the Griffith's Map. Going Back to the Allen's in Laracor Parish list, after the "original page" symbol is a "Map Views" symbol. The one on the right will take you to the Griffith's Map. Here is what you find if you click on the map view for Richard Allen.

Griffith's Map View for Richard Allen in Great Umberstown

As you can see, you  have to zoom in and hunt a lot to find Great Umberstown, then zoom in until you find the number for Richard Allen's farm (4a.) It takes a while! And all of those tiny townslands are confusing! Where in the world is "Ballinrigg??

I wanted to get a better idea of where the Allen and Sweeny families lived in the area, so I decided to make a map of the farms from Griffiths- labeling them so I would have a better picture of where they lived and how far apart their farms were. I used Google Maps to create a map on "My Maps" and clicked on the Satellite View.

There they were- those tenacious hedgerows. They still matched up nearly exactly to the land plots in the 1855 Griffith's Valuation Map. I was able to follow the hedgerows on the Google Map to draw lines and map the properties. So- long story short, here is the map. Most of the Allen farms were within a half hour walk to the church in Dangan, and less than that to each other's farm. We have no proof at this time that they were related, but it is certainly highly likely. (Someday with more DNA evidence...)

 Here is a link so you can see the Allen farms marked on the map. You can click on each shape and it will tell you who lived there.  If you go back to You can also zoom in to explore how the farms look today. If you want to explore further, you can go back to regular Google Maps and find the farms (just follow the roads.) Street view appears to work well in this area so you can drag the little person onto the road to take a walk though our ancestor's neighborhood. Hope you enjoy!

My Google Map of Allens near Summerhill