The latest book from James Durney, well-known historian and author, is now available. It tells the story of Co. Kildare and its involvement in the 1916 Rising, providing a chronological account of the days before, during and after the Easter Rising. This study records Co. Kildare’s huge involvement in these momentous events and reveals a story that has not previously been told using many sources available for the first time, along with eyewitnesses’ testimonies.

On Easter Monday 1916 1,600 men, women and children went out to fight for an independent Ireland. They faced the most powerful empire in the world. The battle raged in Dublin for six days and resulted in 485 deaths and the destruction of many parts of the city. While mainly a Dublin affair many of the Volunteers were from outside the city; two dozen Kildare men and women took part in the Rising, including fifteen who walked from Maynooth to the General Post Office. Several Kildare natives and residents were killed on all sides in the Rising, while dozens more were wounded or imprisoned in the aftermath.

The subsequent execution of the leaders of the Rising awakened a generation to the cause of Irish freedom. In the succeeding War of Independence and Civil War the Kildare men of 1916, including Domhnall Ua Buachalla, Tom Harris, Pat Colgan, Michael Smyth and Éamonn Ó Modhráin, would play their part.

This book is aimed at the general reader or anyone interested in the history of Co. Kildare and the 1916 Rising. It is a vital source for teachers, students and researchers who are interested in this period of Irish history.

Foremost and Ready. Kildare and the 1916 Rising will be formally launched on Friday, 20th November 2015 at 7.30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Naas Town Hall by Cllr. Fiona O’Loughlin, chair of the Co. Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee. All welcome.

The book is available in all good bookshops.

 

On Monday, 16 November 8.00 pm Jeanne Meldon (vice-chair and a director of the Castletown Foundation) will speak on teh topic:

From green pastures to designed landscape: new reflections on the evolution of the
Castletown demesne and the role of the forgotten Conolly 

Castletown today comprises a large demesne with parkland, riverside walks, woodland and areas under tillage. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Castletown lands were much more extensive and included much of the town of Celbridge as well as lands to the north and west of the current demesne. The mid to late 18^th century period in the history of the designed landscape is well known. This presentation covers the earlier period of William (Speaker) Conolly and Katherine, and also of his eventual heir, William Junior, in many respects the ‘forgotten’ Conolly. It attempts to map the outline of the demesne lands at the time of the acquisition of Castletown and the surrounding lands, and charts the accompanying story of growth and shrinkage as fortunes changed and resources dwindled over the centuries.

How extensive were the lands purchased by Conolly in 1709? It has previously been suggested that the demesne did not extend to the Liffey until after the 1760’s; this paper suggests that this was in fact not the case.  Were the 1740’s and 1750’s the fallow period that has often been suggested or did the Speaker’s nephew have a greater role than has hitherto been believed; to what extent were the influences of his wife, Anne Wentworth, brought to bear on the Conolly landscape of Castletown? These are some of the questions explored in this presentation, which uses much of the documentary evidence that survives in the Castletown papers in the Irish Architectural Archive.

Light refreshments served from 7.15pm

Admission fee:  €10.00

Enquiries to Carton House only. Telephone: (01) 6517708 

email:  sales@cartonhouse.com

Family History Conferences 2016

We are pleased to advise that the website for our June 2016 family history conference is now LIVE! We trust that the combination of research opportunities, with the Foundation’s experienced genealogists on hand to provide guidance and assistance, and an extensive touring programme to many historic sites will again prove popular.

For more information on our June 2016 family history conference please visit: http://www.ancestryireland.com/family-history-conference/summer-2016/

Publications

Men and Arms: The Ulster Settlers, c.1630

The bestselling volume in the critically R.J. Hunter Collection is now back in print and available to purchase on Booksireland at £19.99.

Men and Arms is essentially the first census of English and Scottish settlers in the nine counties of Ulster in the early seventeenth century. The edition includes extensive additional information on the settlers drawn from a variety of contemporary sources.

Also back in stock is William E. Hogg’s, Threads: From an Irish Backcloth (£9.99)

Following on from the success of Mrs. Nettlebed’s Year, Foundation Trustee Dr Sam Burnside has recently completed the second volume in this series for children, Mrs. Nettlebed and the Woodlander. An enchanting story and an ideal Christmas gift for the younger folk in your family.

Other recently acquired titles which we hope will be of interest are:

The Country Rhymes of Hugh Porter: The Bard of Moneyslane c. 1780 (£5.99)

The Country Rhymes of Samuel Thompson: The Bard of Carngranny 1766-1816 (£5.99)

Country Rhymes of James Orr: The Bard of Ballycarry 1770-1816 (£5.99)

Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: The Somme: A Guide for Family Historians (£12.99)

Wills of our Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (£12.99)

All available from www.booksireland.org.uk

Forthcoming Events

We are running a FREE lunchtime talk in association with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) next month.

Tina Beaird and Debra Dudek from Illinois, USA will be speaking on: All routes led to Chicago: Irish railroad workers and canal builders in the nineteenth century on Monday 16th November at 1pm in PRONI.

Debra M. Dudek is Head of Adult and Teen Services at the Fountaindale Public Library District in Bolingbrook, IL. Debra specializes in British genealogy and technology topics. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

Tina Beaird is the Genealogy/Local History Librarian at the Plainfield Public Library in Plainfield, Illinois. Tina uses her master’s degree in archiving and preservation to lecture on topics including genealogical research, archival preservation, and Illinois history at national, state and local conferences. She has provided professional research assistance for more than a decade and has been researching her family’s history for over twenty years.

To book your free place, please email proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone: (+44) 028 90 534800

In the Footsteps of St Patrick, a travelling exhibition, will be launched in Down County Museum on Wednesday 11 November at 7.30pm. For further details please contact the museum on 028 4461 5218.

 

Obama is from Offaly and now it turns out some of Bruce Springsteen’s ancestors hail from Co. Kildare. Megan Smolenyak, genealogist, has made the connection.

Sources: Article in the Independent and an interview with Megan on RTE

You might like to take a look at this article by Megan Smolenyak which outlines her research and mentions that she used our records that are available via subscription on the rootsireland.ie database to locate the records of Ann and her family.  http://irishamerica.com/2015/10/on-the-prowl-for-springsteens-irish-roots/

Our Kildare genealogist, Karel Kiely, did some some follow up research and located five children of Christy or Christopher Geraty and his wife Catherine Kelly in Rathangan:

James, of Christy Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 25th February 1828.
Address: Mount Prospect
Baptismal Sponsors: Andrew Flood and Ally Kelly

John, of Christopher Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 10th May 1830.
Address: Mount Prospect
Baptismal Sponsors: John Colgan and Ann Kelly.

Michael, of Christy Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 13th January 1833
Address: Mount Prospect
Baptismal Sponsors: Patrick Murray and Betty Kelly

Ann, of Christopher Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 2nd December 1838
Address: Kiltagham
Baptismal Sponsors: Catherine Neil

Elizabeth, of Christy Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 12th January 1843
Address: Mount Prospect
Baptismal Sponsors: James Halligan and Mary Kelly

Thomas, of Christopher Geraty and Catherine Kelly, baptised on 25 December 1847.
Address: Rathangan
Baptismal Sponsors: James Mitchel and Ann Dawson

At around the same time in the townlands of Kiltagham there was:
James Geraty and Margaret Cullen had Brigid (1844) and Patrick (1847)
James Geraty and Ann Jacobs had John (1861)Peter Geraty and Hanna Jacob had Maria (1848), Patrick (1851), Ann (1854) and Mary (1857).
Pat Geraty and Mary Kelly had Anne (1850) and Teresa (1851) – Address was Rathangan
Tom Geraty and Betty Keegan had Mary (1829) – Address was Rathangan

There are also a number of Geraty marriages in the parish.

There are Kellys at Kiltagham in the early 1800s as shown by this Tithe Applotment book page for the townland where a Thomas Kelly and a James Kelly are listed.

We were not able to find any Geratys in the area in the later 1800s or in the 1901 Census to date.

There are Kellys at Kiltagham South at the time of the 1901 Census:
Maria Kelly, a widow aged 72 years old, from Queen’s Co. and her children who were all born in Co. Kildare:
John aged 30 
Rose aged 32
Patrick Joseph aged 38
Elizabeth Alice aged 41
Mary aged 44

They were children of Patrick Kelly and his wife Maria Dunne – on the baptismal records of their children (between 1852 and 1865) the address is recorded as either Kiltagham or Mount Prospect. Patrick and Maria were married in Mountmellick in 1846 – the register pages are very difficult to read and no other information is known.

Dublin City Book Fair at the Tara Towers Hotel on Sunday, 25th October from 11.am. -5.pm. Admission €2.00.

We will have a wide selection of Books, Antiquarian, Rare, Esoteric, Signed Firsts and a selection of coins to suit almost every taste and pocket. There will also be some Prints and Ephemera.
Some dealers offer Free Valuations, so it might be time to have a look in the attic. Who knows what is up there?