Date:
Thu, 5 Jun 2003
03:02:05 -0700 (PDT)
From:
"Caoimhghin O
Croidheain" <caoimhghin@yahoo.com> | This is spam | Add to Address
Book
Subject:
[Cryan et al.]
Roscommon Herald articles
To:
CRYAN-L@rootsweb.com
Dear all,
Just a note to say that there will be more
Roscommon
Herald articles on the
way soon (my mother,
Veronica
Cryan, is very kindly
finishing off the last few
for
me). I hope to get into
the National Library
fairly
soon to close off the
1883-1888 gap. After that
it
will be more difficult to
do 1859-1882 as these
films
are held in the Roscommon
Library. I tried to get
them
to send me the reels one
at a time to view in the
National Library but they
decided against it. So
I
will make some time to go
down and do them in
situ.
I had an article
published in Irish Roots about
the
whole collective process
of getting the articles
from
microfilm to the
internet. For those of you who
might
be interested in reading
the article but don't
subscribe to Irish Roots,
I have reproduced the
article below.
Regards to all,
Caoimhghin
Irish Roots article
Local newspapers: the
hidden archive
Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin
Have you been researching
so long that you are
beginning to run out of resources,
archives and
even
ideas? I had been
researching my family history
for
some years and was coming
to a standstill. Like
many
researchers I was having
difficulty finding
information on the
members of my family (Cryan)
who
lived during the
nineteenth century.
The Cryan surname is historically
concentrated
around
the north Co. Roscommon /
south Co. Sligo area.
My
great great grandfather
John Cryan taught in
Croghan
National School near Boyle, Co.
Roscommon. I knew
that
he started work there in
1888 and that he died in
1905
so I decided to
systematically read all the
Roscommon
Heralds between those
years to see if I could
glean
any information about him
or his family. Such
work
would probably not be
considered by someone
starting
out in his or her family
history research but in
my
case I had exhausted many
different archives and
now
had the time to start on
a bigger project. As I
read
the papers on microfilm
in the National Library I
noted all references to
the surname, as I knew
such
information could become
important at a later
date if
different Cryan families
were linked up. This
research
has produced 125 articles
to date (all of which
are
available on my Cryan
family history website at
http://geocities.com/caoimhghin/familyhistory.html).
The whole process of
bringing the articles from
microfilm to the Internet
is somewhat convoluted
but
worth explaining in some
detail for those who
might
consider doing such work
on their own names. I
usually
spend around 2 hours at a
time in the National
Library
in Dublin looking through
the microfilmed
Roscommon
Heralds. It takes me that
amount of time to go
through
6 months of the weekly
newspaper. After taking
note of
all articles, obituaries,
court cases,
advertisements,
drawings and photographs
etc where the name Cryan
or
any variants (e.g. Crean
and Crehan) are
mentioned, I
type up a list and post it to
the Roscommon
library.
The references are then
photocopied for me from
the
microfilm by the
wonderful and helpful staff
there. I
then send the copies to
volunteer typists from
the
Rootsweb.com Cryan
mailing list who type the
articles
and email them back to
me. This allows me to
check
them over and number
them. I then put them on the
Cryan mailing list (which
has about 100 members).
The
emails are then saved to a file that I
eventually
put
in an archive on my own
website to be made
available
to neophytes.
The articles range from
the comic to the tragic.
For
example on 18 August 1889
in a report of the
Boyle
Petty Sessions the police
charged Joseph Connolly
and
Batty Cryan of Breedogue,
with "fighting on the
public
street on the fair
day" in an article entitled A
Row
about "Poteen."
This was Batty's version of the
story:
""Well,"
he says, "you thief and you robber, are
you
going to pay me for the
"poteen" whiskey you
stole
from me?" I never stole
any "poteen" from him. He
said
he would take my life if
I would not pay him for
the
"poteen"
whiskey. He had a dreadful weapon of a
stick
in his hand. I struck him
a nice little blow of a
stick just to keep him
quiet (laughter)."
Similarly, serious events
like a murder trial
were
reported with the same
level of verisimilitude.
In an
article from 23 December,
1882 on the Connaught
Winter
Assizes entitled Charge
Of Murder it was
reported:
"John Cryan,
examined by Sergeant Robinson, said
- I
left the October fair of
Boyle with James Cryan,
Thomas and Winifred
Cryan. After we had gone a
short
distance out of the town
we saw some men on the
road
before us. When we came
near to them a man named
Toolan said he was about
to be beaten on his
brother-in-law's account.
Toolan and a man named
McGowan then had a
squabble and the deceased came
up
just then. When he came up Thomas Kennedy
struck
him
on the back of the head
and knocked him down.
Kennedy
then said - "I gave
him that, and long I watched
for
him". I did not see
any blow struck but one, and
after
receiving that blow Hunt
spoke a word. Winifred
Cryan
said to the prisoner
"O Thomas, what is that you
have
done.""
In the end, Thomas
Kennedy was found guilty of
manslaughter of Thomas
Hunt and sentenced to five
years penal servitude.
While on the subject of
death,
the committed genealogist
could come across an
obituary of an ancestor
with the following
information
at the end of the
description of the funeral:
"The chief mourners
were -
Mrs. M. Cryan (wife), P.,
J., M.J., B.T., and J.
Cryan
(sons), M., M.E., and
A.E. Cryan (daughters), Mr.
P.
Cryan, Newtownforbes, and
Mr. B. Cryan,
Ballinamore
(brothers); Mr. P.
Kerins, Ballymote (uncle); Mr.
J.
Dennedy (nephew); M.
Dennedy, Dublin (niece); J.
Kerins, J. Davey, A.
Flynn, J. Benson, J.
Flanagan, P.
Davey, A. Walsh, P.
Cosgrove, B.Flynn (cousins).
Rev.
Canon Loftus officiated
at the grave. - R.I.P."
[from October 18 1902,
Death And Funeral Of Mr.
Michael Cryan, Ballymote
(Co. Sligo)]. In one
fell
swoop we have sons, daughters, uncles,
nieces,
nephews, cousins and a
grand collection of
townlands
and new extended family
names to research.
On a lighter note, what
was your ancestor like
at,
say, football? Sports
hyperbole was no different
in
the 'noughties' of the
twentieth century. The
following is from the
edition of 23 September
1901:
"Football Boyle v
Carrick-On-Shannon
[...] The Carrick
forwards made some good rushes,
but
the backs, Cryan and
Cregg, seemed impenetrable.
The
latter appeared a bit off
colour during the first
quarter of an hour, but
pulled up for it well
subsequently, as he along
with Cryan played a
most
determined and scientific
game."
Or, maybe your ancestor
played an important part
in a
major local event and you
never heard through the
family grapevine? For
example, on the 14 December
1901
a "Terrific Blaze in
Boyle" was reported:
"Big Premises
Gutted.
One of the most
disastrous conflagrations ever
witnessed in Boyle took
place at an early hour on
last
Sunday morning, when the
extensive business
establishment of Mr. W.
J. Sloan, one of the
leading
merchants in these parts,
was completely gutted
and
destroyed. […] The
following, in addition to
those
mentioned above, assisted at the
work of
quenching the
fire - Sergeant Hadlock,
Corporal Cryan, Privates
Cryan […]."
In fact, in this case,
the event had not yet
reached
into the family mythology
of Maureen McCourt
Nantista
of Huntington, NY who was
delighted to read about
her
great-grandfather, Corporal
Michael Cryan, in the
above and other Roscommon
Herald articles.
While marriage notices
were not so common then,
when
they were inserted they
contained plenty of
genealogical information.
One such notice was
published on 13 Sep1902
as follows:
"Boyle Marriages
Cryan and Devine - On September
2nd at St Francis
Xavier's church, Gardiner
St, Dublin, with
Nuptial
Mass, Mr. John Cryan,
merchant of Bridge St,
Boyle was
married to Miss Eleanor,
Mary (May) Devine,
second
eldest daughter of Mr.
Fitzmaurice Devine,
merchant,
Ballyfarnon, Co
Roscommon. The marriage ceremony
was
performed by Rev George J
Coyle PP, Highwood,
assisted
by Very Rev Canon B R
Coyne PP VF, Boyle, and the
Very
Rev Fr Conmee SJ."
Politics also played
an important part in the
lives of
the people at that time.
The controversy
surrounding
Charles Stewart Parnell
and his affair with Kitty
O'Shea had local ripples.
At a public meeting a
row
broke out which became
the subject of a Crimes
Act
Court held at Carrick-on-Shannon
and reported on
11
April 1891. According to
Constable Irwin, Robert
Cryan, a member of the
County Council, was waving
his
hat and cheering for
Parnell while Canon Hoare
was
trying to speak. The
mention of Kitty's name was
too
much for some:
"When Canon Hoare
was speaking, some one on the
platform said "Kitty
O'Shea." Paddy McManus
shouted "
Not another word"
and then in the din of the
confusion
set up again. He saw
McDermott, Cryan, and the
McManus's at the breaking
up of the platform, and
their conduct was bad.
The priests then held the
meeting in the
chapel-yard, and the Drumshambo
people
brought down Parnell's
banner, and placed it
before
the chapel door and
commenced groaning, shouting
and
whistling."
Robert Cryan was punished for
his activism. A
vote for
his expulsion from the
County Council "was
seconded
'una voce' by eleven
Nationalists and warmly
endorsed
by a ringing cheer from
hundreds outside."
Out of the 125 articles
posted on the mailing
list (so
far) only 4 articles
referred to my family
directly.
However, their
significance made the long hours
worthwhile. Both John
Cryan, my great great
grandfather, and his
daughter Mary J. Cryan were
members of the Boyle
Teachers' Association which
had
regular meetings reported
by The Roscommon
Herald. One
report of 24 October,
1896 noted John Cryan's
retirement and another of
8 February, 1902 noted
the
death of one of his sons.
The most significant of
all
was the discovery of a
long obituary article
about
Mary J. Cryan published
on 22 March, 1902 which
reported that "her
remains were interred in the
family
sepulchre at
Eastersnow" cemetery. I had made
many
disappointing field trips
over the years to the
cemeteries around Croghan
so you can imagine my
delight with this discovery.
The obituary also
mentioned cousins with
the names of Lowe and
Eardley,
which was also new
information to me.
The significance of old
local newspapers for
genealogical research lies
not just in their
range of
local stories and events,
e.g. obituaries and
court
cases, but also in the
style of reporting which
would
not be entertained in
local papers today. Court
cases
were reported verbatim so
one could have the
actual
words of an ancestor in
your collection and
almost all
the names of everyone who
attended a meeting,
funeral
or public gathering were
mentioned. You didn't
have to
do much for your 15
minutes of fame in those
days.
Indeed, the odd report on
a political gathering
would
provide a good alternative
to a local census.
Similarly, drawings of
the local people appeared
on
the front of most issues
from the early 1880s to
the
1900s. I have collected
17 drawings of Cryans and
scanned them to my
website. Photographs were rare
enough but I have found a
few of the local Cryans
(who
can also be seen at
http://geocities.com/caoimhghin/familyhistory.html).
The significance of such
photographs and drawings
lies
in the possibility that
they may be the only ones
in
existence of these
people. A nice surprise if one
turns out to be your
great great grandfather!
There
were also advertisements
for Cryan's pub in
Boyle, a
pub still carrying that
name in the centre of the
town.
Ultimately, it would be
ideal if the articles
could be
published in book form
illustrated with the ads,
drawings and photographs.
Such a book, I believe
would
be unique in Irish
genealogical research. While
the
market may appear to be
small it would have
universal
appeal in that it would
demonstrate the variety
and
style of material to be
found in Irish local
newspapers. The idea could be
developed by
setting up
projects whereby the
papers could be gleaned for
references to all names
and illustrations which
would
then be put on a website.
The current local
newspaper
titles could be
encouraged to invest in such work
on
their historical
antecedents as a way of
publicising
their newspapers and
encouraging others to see
them as
"newspapers of
record". At least by then, we will
have
gone some way in making up for
the disastrous
losses
of genealogical
information which covered the
nineteenth century.
From:
"Derrick
Caddy" <derrickcaddy@ntlworld.com> | This is spam | Add to Address
Book Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003
17:27:16 +0100
Subject: [Cryan et al.]
Stephen Crean from Bandon
To:
CRYAN-L@rootsweb.com
Hi ,I'm trying to find
information about Stephen
Crean from Bandon,which I
now know is near Cork .
Although we know he
married Mary Ann Cowgrave(or
possibly Cosgrave) from
Wexford in 1850's ,we
don't know where . They
brought their children up in
Newport Mon ,but it would
be interesting to know
if anyone has connections
to Mary Ann or Stephen
before they reached
Newport . Thank you Gill
From: "Bob Cunning"
<bcunning@iprimus.com.au> | This is spam | Add to Address Book Date: Sat,
21 Jun 2003 00:28:26 +1000
Subject:
[Cryan et al.] Catherine Cryan
To:
CRYAN-L@rootsweb.com
Hello
from Australia. I am trying to find
relatives of Catherine who came to Australia
in 1854. I
have
been hampered because on various documents,
her name
is shown as CREON/CRANE/CRYAN and even
CRYING.
Her
Death Cert. says that she was born in Mason
County,
Maysville, Kentucky, but her Marriage
Cert. I
received today shows her birth place as
Roscommon Co.
Any help
here would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bob in Melbourne.
From:
"kathy" <kgk2450@adelphia.net> | This is spam | Add to Address
Book To: caoimhghin@yahoo.com
Subject:
Bridget Cryan
Date:
Tue, 15 Jul 2003 13:31:22 -0400
My great
great Grandmother, Bridget Cryan, according to the family Bible, was born in
Roscommon, County Boyle, in 1840. Per her
wedding certificate, from Northwich, England, in