Trying to trace Ennistymon relatives

A CORK man is searching for potential Clare cousins, having followed his ancestral line back to the 1600s. John Clohessy from the Old Youghal Road in Cork believes he may have family in North Clare after his grand-uncle migrated to Ennistymon around 1888.

 

Edmond (Ned) Clohessy is understood to have left the parish of Lisgoold in East Cork and gone to Ennistymon.

“Ned had previously worked as a woollen spinner in the local mill owned by O’Dwyers and in the 1901 Census he was a 42-year-old widower with six living children, namely Ellie (17), Patrick (15), Johana (14), Mary (12), Eliza (10) and Mathew. They lived at 25 Bogberry Street, Ennistymon at that time,” John explained.

Mathew, John believes, died in the war. “I do not know who he married or what became of his family and I would appreciate any information on Edmond, as his brother John was my grandfather. What I do know is that Edmond was born in 1856 and died in Ennistymon in 1942 at the age of 86,” he added.

Ned’s parents were Patrick Clohessy and Ellen Fling or Flynn, who married circa 1855, according to John’s research, and his siblings included Bartholemew, Michael, Patrick, Thomas, John and Mary. His father, Patrick, had a sister, Anne and his grandparents were John Clohessy and Catherine Hennessy.

Following the line back a further generation, Ned’s paternal great-grandparents were Maurice Clohessy and Julia Sullivan. The couple married circa 1800 and reared four children John, Edmond, Bartholemew and Mary.

John has managed to trace his roots back to Denis Clahisy, who was born in 1660 and who died in May 6, 1735 aged 75 years. He gleaned this nugget of information from a headstone at Gortroe Cemetery, Rathcormac, in County Cork. “I was always interested in my family tree but I didn’t get onto it early enough to talk to relatives, to be honest,” John explained.

His own father was just 49 when he died. “All my father’s family lived in Midleton. They had come there from Lisgoold parish. My father himself was from Midleton and all of them were in the woollen trade all their lives. I was one of the last out of it,” he recalled.

John visited Clare recently and has travelled to Ennistymon on a number of occasions.
“I have been to Ennistymon a few times, most recently two years ago. I failed to make contact on that occasion. I looked at the books in the parish showing births, deaths and marriages but I couldn’t get anything. We knew of cousins in Boston but they were from another brother, Tom. I am now trying to trace the Ennistymon connection to see if there is any of his family that are alive and can be traced. I have no clue if there are still people left in Ennistymon but maybe.”

Anyone with information can contact John on 086 3619388.