Paulstown Past Postponed

As the alliterative title indicates, Old Paulstown Stories won’t be updated for the foreseeable future. There are many posts on here to give you a flavo(u)r of the history and genealogy of the area.

 

Kelly Park, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia

Kelly Park is located at the corner of Lawrence St and Melrose Place in Wodonga, Victoria, Austraila. An entry in the newsletter of the Wodonga Family History Society outlines that the park is named after Kellys who emigrated from Australia.[1]  It reads:

Three Kelly brothers left Paulstown in Ireland in 1850. Their sister Mary, who was employed in Sydney, paid their fare on the ‘Hilton’ as she feared that they may be conscripted for the Crimean War. They purchased an area of 80 acres, on which Kelly Park was a part of, from Mr W McFarlane in 1872. The majority of this land was heavily under vines. The Kelly brothers, and their family, cleared the land and farmed the property they called ‘Melrose’. [The] Council purchased the land in 1963.

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[1] Burrows, Norma. 2012. Article in Borderline News, Wodonga Family History Society p.8. http://wodongafamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WFHS-Newsletter-2012-02.pdf accessed 16 May 2012.

Brigidine Convent II

The Delany Archive stores the archival collections of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin, the Patrician Brothers, Brigidine Sisters and Carlow College. The Roman Catholic parish of Paulstown is in the Kildare and Leighlin diocese. A few months ago they put pictures of the Brigidine Convent in Paulstown on their Flickr stream. You can view them here.

You can read about the history of the Brigidine Convent in Paulstown in my first post about the convent.

Paulstown man 102 years old

A report in the ‘news from Ireland’ section of the Kentucky Irish American newspaper outlines that a man named John Malay [sic, possibly Millea], living in Paulstown, celebrated his 102^nd birthday in September 1898.[1] He worked as a labo(u)rer and the article states that, “the centenarian was engaged last week at Paulstown where his dexterity in handling the sickle won the admiration of all.”

During his life he was married three times and the article further adds that he had a vivid recollection of The Famine and the tithe wars in Carrickshock, Kilkenny.

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[1] Author Unknown, Ireland in Kentucky Irish American, 17 September 1898, p.4; Chronicling America, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov  :  accessed 10 July 2012

A Paulstown Olympian 2012

This is an entry that will be regarded as Paulstown history in the years to come. On Saturday 28 July 2012 Paulstown native Darren O’Neill represented Ireland in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Darren is competing in boxing at the 75kg Middleweight event. He won in his first round bout, beating Muideen Akanji from Nigeria on a score of 15-6. On Thursday 2 August he will fight in the Round of 16 against Stefan Hartel of Germany. If he wins this bout he will be one fight away from a least a bronze medal. You can read his personal thoughts about it all on his Twitter account.

Population, Food and Fuel 1816

Interesting observations from Mason’s 1816 publication A Statistical Account, or parochial Survey of Ireland (Vol 2) in relation to population food and fuel.

Townlands of Kilmacahill civil parish 1816

The study of placenames has a long tradition in Ireland. Classics of the field include Joyce’s The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places, among others. The standout modern day effort is the work of the Placenames Database of Ireland.

More localized and specific examples abound and one such publication is the work of William Shawn Mason. In volume two of A Statistical Account or Parochial Survey or Ireland he gives the following origins for the townlands in the civil parish of Kilmacahill.

You can also see an accompanying map from a previous post.

Minnesota Shortall’s meet their Paulstown cousins

A great story in the Kilkenny People newspaper from May 2012 outlines how Shortall’s from the state of Minnesota traced their ancestry back to Paulstown and met some of their Irish cousins.

Read it here.

19th Century Quarter Sessions Road Repairs III

For a brief introduction to quarter sessions see the first entry in this series.

Spring 1833 – To James Kearney Aylward Esq. and Mich. Cooke, to repair 294 perches of the road from Goresbridge to Castlecomer, between the Church at Shankill and James Maher’s gate at Shankill, at 2s. per perch, £29 8s., wages £1 9s. 5d., stamps 6s. 2d. [1]

Spring 1839 – Patrick Byrne – To keep in repair for half a year, 764 perches of the road from Castlecomer to Goresbridge, between Mark Walsh’s house at Boohgurteen (Ballygurteen?) and the widow Deegan’s house at Paulstown, at 1s 6d per perch per year. [2]

Spring 1839 – To Patrick Bridget, to repair for one year, 614 perches of the road from Castlecomer to Gowran, between Patrick Purcell’s house at Kellymount and the Widow Phelan’s at Garryduff; all in the townlands of Ballyvalden, Ballinvally, and Garryduff, at 1s 10d per perch.[3]

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[1] Author Unknown. 1832. County of Kilkenny: General Assizes and General Gaol Delivery….Kilkenny: T. Shearman.

[2] Author Unknown. 1840. County of Kilkenny: General Assizes and General Gaol Delivery….Kilkenny: A Denroche Kilkenny Moderator Printing.

[3] Author Unknown. Year Unknown. County of Kilkenny: General Assizes and General Gaol Delivery….Kilkenny: A Denroche Kilkenny Moderator Printing.

19th Century Quarter Sessions Road Repairs II

For a brief introduction to quarter sessions see the first entry in this series.

Spring 1832 – Thomas T. Bookey Esq., Of that part of the road from Goresbridge to Castlecomer, between the cross roads at Duninga and Michael Hughes’s house at Paulstown – 524 Irish perches at 5 ½ d. per perch.[1]

Spring 1832 – To Thomas T. Bookey Esq. the Rev.  James Maher and James Brenan, to lower a hill and fill a hollow, at Ballyvalden, on the road from Castlecomer to Gowran, 21l. 4s. 4d., stamps 6s. 2d.[2]

Summer 1832 – To Thomas T. Bookey Esq. the Rev.  James Maher, James Brenan and Pat Bridget, to fill ruts on 760 perches of the road from Goresbridge to Castlecomer, between Michael Deegan’s house at Paulstown and Mark Walshe’s house at Boolagurteen, at 1s.per perch, £38, wages £1 18s., stamps 6s. 2d. [3]

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[1] Author Unknown. 1832. County of Kilkenny: General Assizes and General Gaol Delivery…. Kilkenny: T. Shearman.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.