10.04.2013 Views

The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!

Leverage SEO-optimized Flipbooks, powerful backlinks, and multimedia content to professionally showcase your products and significantly increase your reach.

Chapter 2.<br />

Widows Widows <strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> hardship<br />

hardship<br />

<strong>The</strong> earliest record known<br />

that captures our <strong>Callan</strong> ancestry<br />

is the 1821 Census of Irel<strong>and</strong>.<br />

With a bit of deduction, that<br />

census offers clues that trace our<br />

family well back in to the 1700s.<br />

<strong>The</strong> 1821 Census of<br />

County Cavan shows a Philip<br />

<strong>Callan</strong> living in Coolkill as a 19year-old<br />

on a 6-acre home site<br />

with his widowed mother, Rose<br />

<strong>Callan</strong>, age 46, <strong>and</strong> 3 siblings;<br />

Ellenor, age 23, James, age 15,<br />

<strong>and</strong> Catherine, age 13.<br />

Philip’s mother, Rose<br />

<strong>Callan</strong> was thus born in 1775,<br />

one year before the American<br />

Colonies declared their independence<br />

from Engl<strong>and</strong> to become<br />

the United States of America.<br />

We know from her son, Luke<br />

<strong>Callan</strong>, who wrote a memoir in<br />

1933, that this early <strong>Callan</strong><br />

family came to Coolkill, Co.<br />

Cavan, from Co. Monaghan<br />

sometime during the early 1800s.<br />

We do not know the first<br />

name of widow Rose <strong>Callan</strong>’s<br />

husb<strong>and</strong> because he died before<br />

the 1821 Census was taken. In<br />

keeping with geneaology research<br />

traditions, we can label<br />

him simply “FNU <strong>Callan</strong>,” for<br />

first name unknown. However,<br />

Irish traditions of the day called<br />

for naming the first gr<strong>and</strong>son<br />

after the paternal gr<strong>and</strong>father.<br />

His first gr<strong>and</strong>son, born in 1834,<br />

was named Luke <strong>Callan</strong>. So, the<br />

odds are that the first name of<br />

widow Rose <strong>Callan</strong>’s husb<strong>and</strong><br />

was Luke (not FNU!). As we<br />

follow the subsequent generations<br />

of our <strong><strong>Callan</strong>s</strong>, the name<br />

Luke becomes common to our<br />

<strong>Callan</strong> family line. <strong>The</strong> name<br />

Philip has also been prominent,<br />

as has been the name Bernard.<br />

Widow Rose <strong>Callan</strong>’s<br />

husb<strong>and</strong> (Luke?) died before the<br />

1821 Census was taken. His last<br />

child, Catherine, was born in<br />

1808. Thus, he died sometime<br />

between 1808 <strong>and</strong> 1821, presumably<br />

in Coolkill.<br />

It appears, from the death<br />

records of Crosserlough Parish<br />

that his wife, Rose, died in<br />

Coolkill in 1851 or 1852 at age<br />

76, an unusually long life for the<br />

time. Widow Rose<br />

<strong>and</strong> her husb<strong>and</strong><br />

are most likely<br />

buried in the<br />

Crosserlough<br />

Catholic Graveyard<br />

in Coolkill.<br />

This cemetery<br />

lacks records or<br />

headstones for<br />

most of the burials<br />

prior to the 1880s.<br />

Consequently, we<br />

do not know the<br />

exact location of<br />

their burial plot.<br />

Widow<br />

Rose’s son, Philip<br />

<strong>Callan</strong>, went on to<br />

marry a Rose<br />

Boylan in Coolkill<br />

in the early 1830s.<br />

In the next chapter,<br />

we piece together a<br />

relationship between<br />

Rose Boylan<br />

<strong>and</strong> known early<br />

19 th century Boylan<br />

families in the<br />

Coolkill area.<br />

Upon marriage, it appears<br />

that Philip <strong>and</strong> Rose lived in the<br />

same <strong>Callan</strong> home with Philip’s<br />

mother, the widow Rose <strong>Callan</strong><br />

of 1821. <strong>The</strong> common practice<br />

of the day for poor Irish families<br />

was that newlyweds lived in the<br />

home of the husb<strong>and</strong>’s parents.<br />

<strong>The</strong> young husb<strong>and</strong> in a poor<br />

Irish family did not have the<br />

means to establish a separate<br />

household. His aging parents<br />

needed him <strong>and</strong> his new wife at<br />

home to contribute meager<br />

wages to the good of the house-<br />

~ 9 ~<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong><strong>Callan</strong>s</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>McClarys</strong><br />

Above, last st<strong>and</strong>ing Coolkill Cottage, now used for storage.<br />

Mattie Lynch is in foreground.<br />

Below, a restored thatched-roof cottage near<strong>by</strong>. Notice how similar<br />

in design to the one in the photo above. This is probably the<br />

best guess we’ll ever have as to what the <strong>Callan</strong> homestead<br />

looked like when the young seminarian Bernard <strong>Callan</strong> lit out<br />

for a new life as a priest in America.<br />

hold. <strong>The</strong>y were also expected to<br />

work the small acreage around<br />

the homestead to produce the<br />

food necessary to sustain the<br />

needs of the family household. If<br />

lucky, they had enough left over<br />

to sell in the local markets.<br />

In contrast to sons, Irish<br />

families were anxious to have<br />

their daughters married off to<br />

join their husb<strong>and</strong>’s family. To<br />

them, the daughter was one less<br />

mouth to feed <strong>and</strong> care for. <strong>The</strong><br />

daughter at home, starting at age

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!