The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys
Chapter 4.
Our Irish Cousins
No direct descendants of
Philip and Rose (Boylan) Callan,
our descendant line, currently
live in or near Coolkill. All of
their children left Ireland for
America by 1890 and there is no
evidence known that any of their
descendants returned to live in
Ireland.
We may, however, have
distant Callan descendants still
living in the Coolkill area. Philip
Callan, who died in 1846 in
Coolkill, had three siblings, all of
whom may have had children.
Descendants of these siblings
may still be there. Additionally,
there were other Callan families
living in Coolkill in the early to
mid-1800s. Mindful that Coolkill
was only 427 acres in size, this
close proximity of the Callan
families suggests that a blood
relationship may have existed
amongst one or more of the
other Callan families. The data,
in fact, support this. Let’s try to
shed some light on how these
Callan relationships may have
existed and comment on the
prospects for finding descendants
of these early relatives
living there today.
Widow Widow Widow Widow Widow Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose Callan’s Callan’s Callan’s Callan’s Callan’s
family family family family family of of of of of 1821. 1821. 1821. 1821. 1821. The 1821
Census of Coolkill shows that
Philip Callan had three siblings,
James, Ellenor and Catherine.
Author Luke Callan, in his book
(p. 106), identifies a granduncle,
Shamus. Shamus is old Irish for
James. Shamus is likely Philip’s
sibling James recorded in the
1821 Census. This James would
be Luke’s granduncle. Unfortunately,
Luke reveals little about
the descendants of Shamus. He
does mention that Shamus had a
daughter, “Big Ann” Callan, who
married a Frank Reilly. Luke’s
writings suggest that Big Ann
died before she had children.
Descendants of Philip’s siblings,
Ellenor and Catherine Callan,
could still be in the Coolkill area,
but not knowing if they ever
married, we may never know.
James James James James James Callen Callen Callen Callen Callen family family family family family of of of of of
1821. 1821. 1821. 1821. 1821. This James Callen of
Coolkill may have been a
~ 20 ~
brother of the deceased husband
of the widow Rose Callan of
1821. If so, his children and
those of widow Rose would have
been first cousins. In fact, there
are two instances in the research
literature that strongly suggest
that a cousin relationship did
exist between descendants of the
2 families. The first instance
involves James Callen’s daughter
Anne and the second instance
involves James Callen’s son,
Peter. The logic of the analysis
that follows attempts to show that
Anne and Peter were first cousins
to the children of widow
Rose Callan, our Callans, and,
consequently, their father James
Callen of 1821 was a brother of
widow Rose’s deceased husband.
Anne Anne Callan Callan of of of 1821
1821
Widow Rose Callan of
1821 had a grandson, Father
James Callan, who served in the
gold rush lands of California
from 1861 to 1887. According to
a 1946 book on the pioneering
priest’s of California, Hallowed Hallowed Hallowed Hallowed Hallowed
Were Were Were Were Were The The The The The Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Dust Dust Dust Dust Dust Trails, Trails Trails Trails Trails by
Henry L. Walsh, S.J., Father
Callan was joined in 1864 by a
“cousin” from County Cavan,
Father Charles M. Lynch.
The old records at All
Hallows College in Dublin,
where Father Lynch studied for
the priesthood, list his parents as
Patrick Lynch and Anne Anne Anne Anne Anne Callan Callan Callan Callan Callan
who lived near Coolkill. It
appears, therefore, that the
cousin relationship between the
two priests derived from Anne
Callan. The two priests could not
have been first cousins since that
would have required Father
Callan’s father, Philip Callan, to
have had a sister, Anne, which
he didn’t. The 1821 Census
shows that Philip’s sisters were
named Ellenor and Catherine.
So Father Callan’s cousin relationship
with Father Lynch had
to come from another branch of
Callans, a family who had a
young daughter Anne in 1821.
The 1821 James Callen
family in Coolkill seems to
match that requirement. It is the
only Callan (Callen) family in
Coolkill that shows a daughter,
Anne. She, at age 14 in 1821,
would have been 35 years old in
1842, the birth year of Father
Charles Lynch. If this is so,
Fathers Lynch and Callan would
have been second cousins and
Anne’s father, James, would have
been a brother of our widow
Rose Callan’s husband.
There is one other Callan
family identified in the 1821
Census as having a daughter
Anne. This is the family of
Michael and Catherine Callan
living in the Townland of
Mullycastle, which is adjacent to
Coolkill. Their daughter Anne is
12 years old in 1821, certainly
qualified, chronologically, to
have been the mother of Father
Charles Lynch. Other children
of Michael and Catherine Callan
were, Molly (24), Patrick (22),
Rose (20), Michael (16), Philip
(6) and what appears to be a set
of 8-year-old twins, John and
Bridget. It may be that this family