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
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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