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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Offaly (Kings) => Topic started by: Simon1a9 on Tuesday 20 May 25 21:17 BST (UK)
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Grosvenor Cooke and Charlotte Odlum were married in the Church of Ireland church in Ballykean. It's between Geashill and Portarlington but is probably no longer in service. I'm struggling to understand where that church is. I wonder if it is this ruined church here:
https://maps.nls.uk/view/246837727#zoom=6.8&lat=6503&lon=11548&layers=BT (https://maps.nls.uk/view/246837727#zoom=6.8&lat=6503&lon=11548&layers=BT)
Their marriage register is here: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=8f6abc883a-535344 (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=8f6abc883a-535344)
Can anyone help me find where this church is as I'd love to visit it. TIA
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That map is way before 1918 so that church was a ruin long before the marriage.
I think when they refer to the church as Ballykean they mean it's in Ballykean Parish rather than in Ballykean townland.
St.Mary's in Geashill is more likely
https://maps.app.goo.gl/widoUZpC74Nufw8W9
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Not at all sure about Geashill church but there is another Odlum marriage in 1916 mentioned in the Newspapers and it says Ballykean Church Portarlington
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1916/09788/5553377.pdf
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..and another marriage-
Marion Kathleen Odlum married Digby Odlum - 22 June 1915 - Ballykean Parish Church as well.
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1915/09813/5563265.pdf
Note that her sister Ethel was one of the witnesses.
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There was/is a COI church in Sranure townland which is also in Ballykean Civil Parish likely Church Parish as well but I don't know it's name or if it was in use in 1918.
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If I'm understanding correctly it looks like Geashill, Ballykean, Cloneyhurke parishes were joined in 1872 so were they using the church in Geashill in 1918?
Back to Geashill, I'm going around in circles. :)
https://www.churchofireland.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/registers/ParishRegisters/ABC/CloneyhurkeParishRegisterList.pdf
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There was/is a COI church in Sranure townland which is also in Ballykean Civil Parish likely Church Parish as well but I don't know it's name or if it was in use in 1918.
Thanks for your help. Yes, I think this is the one. I don't think they were married in the Geashill CoI church because the register would say that. The Offaly Live website reports on a local history book "History, Heritage and People of a Midlands Village" and says that the book includes pictures of "Ballykean Protestant church (Templetyrine)". The Clonygowan FB page states this church was completely dismantled in the 1980s.
https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/tullamore-tribune/1621166/landmark-history-of-famous-offaly-village-and-district-republished.html (https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/tullamore-tribune/1621166/landmark-history-of-famous-offaly-village-and-district-republished.html)
https://www.offalyhistory.com/shop/books/cloneygowan-district-history-heritage-people-of-a-midlands-village (https://www.offalyhistory.com/shop/books/cloneygowan-district-history-heritage-people-of-a-midlands-village)
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Great that sounds good.
Found a little confirmation.
Looking at the map the name looks like Templekieran, I found a report in the Offaly Independant from 2002 about a book of Offaly Place Names which quotes an earlier Name Book
Temple Kieran it forms one of the group of ruins commonly called the Seven Churches and lies N of and attached to the Protestant church of the parish.
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Simon, I have the book in question and Sinann is correct.
"The parish was also known as Killeighy alias Ballykean"
"Teampall Tireen, or 'church of a small portion of land', was Templetherneen, then Templekieran in the OS Maps. This Ciaran, Ciaran Cluana Sasta, may have been a monk of the monastery of Clonsast. Kilkeeran is a townland near Cloneygowan (Cill Ciaran: Church of Ciaran) but no site shown on any map, nor noted in early OS documents". "Templetyrine was a site of some antiquity, there was a chapel and three acres glebe here in 1569."
The author of this book, P.J. Goode, covered a lot of extremely local history and very obscure facts that you probably will not find anywhere else, I highly recommend it if you're researching in the area.