RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Tyrone => Topic started by: maggbill on Monday 04 August 25 07:51 BST (UK)
-
Looking for any info at all on Omagh workhouse late 19th century (know there seems to be no actual records re admissions etc). In particular does anyone know if they would have had their own cemetery or use other specific ones. Have been looking on "Find a Grave - Omagh" - and see that there are 41 cemeteries in Omagh.. some listed seem pretty old. Any info welcome!!!
-
There was a burial ground in Omagh workhouse. You can see where it was on the map on the attached link:
https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Omagh/
When someone died in the workhouse the relatives were free to claim the body and bury it in a family plot, but if no-one claimed the body it would normally be buried in the workhouse graveyard.
-
Thanks for that reply Elwyn! My great great grandfather Francis McNab died in the Omagh workhouse in 1890, said to be from "Mullagharn".. at that stage without family we think, as his wife Mary had died in 1885 in Omagh area, said to be from "Mullinatormog" (sorry not sure of the spelling of these two areas)... and their offspring had mostly died in Glasgow where they had moved to in 1864 (but then Francis and Mary appeared to return alone to Omagh area, after 1873). So maybe i should aim for which RC. cemetery Mary would have been buried in .... and it leaves me with the option that Francis would have been buried in the Workhouse burial area - who knows if there is any record/research on the workhouse building/surrounds etc. Pretty vague possibilities, but must say that not having done much Family research for the past few years, it seems that the Irish records have improved quite a lot.
-
Ooops - thanks also for the link re info about the Omagh workhouse... will have a good look!!...
-
Mullagharn townland west of Omagh.
https://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/east-omagh/drumragh/mullagharn/mullagharn/
Mullanatoomog townland close to Mullagharn.
https://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/east-omagh/drumragh/mullagharn/mullanatoomog/
-
There’s a choice of about 5 cemeteries that an RC person might use in the Omagh area: Drumragh New, Drumragh Old, Omagh Cemetery, Omagh RC & Omagh Convent. Bear in mind that most RC parishes didn’t keep burial records and also that labourers (which is what I see Francis was) often couldn’t afford a gravestone, so his wife might be in an unmarked grave. I think the chances of finding where either of them were buried is probably slim. If he had no next of kin in the Omagh area, then I'd guess Francis was buried in the workhouse graveyard but there don't appear to be any records for it.
-
Thanks Elwyn and Kiltaglassan for the contributions, which I will follow up ..... I know the possibilties are pretty slim - certainly don't have a chance of actually "finding a grave" i.e. gravestone or separate burial. About 100% sure Francis and his wife Mary would have ended up in common graves of some sort, but it would be good to even just find some records somewhere.... which is a rather faint possibility with the Irish records. They had struggled in their years in Scotland, we think that they went back to Ireland as they were possibly left with the responsability of raising a grandchild Mary Kenny, who wasn't eligible for Parish Relief in Glasgow as she had been born (1866) to their daughter when she was in Tipperaray with her soldier husband. And what happened to the grandchild Mary Kenny? Failed to find her in Scotland or Ireland... quite a common name. This is an old brick wall, - but one thing I have learned over the years, is never give up on the search - brick walls do crumble!
-
I can't speak to Omagh specifically, but in general workhouse burials (that is, at the expense of the Union), were in pauper's plots, or dedicated workhouse burial sites, without any permanent memorial.
-
....
They had struggled in their years in Scotland, we think that they went back to Ireland as they were possibly left with the responsability of raising a grandchild Mary Kenny, who wasn't eligible for Parish Relief in Glasgow as she had been born (1866) to their daughter when she was in Tipperaray with her soldier husband. And what happened to the grandchild Mary Kenny?
...
Could you give us some more details about the parents of Mary Kenny so we can look for her. (if you want us too)
-
Hi Shanreagh, Thank you for the offer, but I don't know whether you would be into what is a long complex story! Quite some years ago, I did a lot of research on Mary Kenney (Kenny) and her parents Michael Kenney (Kenny, Canny) and Jane McNab (my great, great aunt). Mary was born/baptised 1st August in Nenagh Co. Tiperrary, and also appears with mother Jane McNab and McNab grandparents in 1871 Glasgow census. Her mother Jane had applied for Poor Law Relief, Glasgow in 1870, but was refused as the child was not born in Glasgow. This is the last time I have any actual official documents mentioning the existence of Mary the child. Jane then died in Glasgow in 1872. Through all this the father Michael Kenney, an Irish soldier, is in India etc. etc. He then goes back to Ireland, marries again, and migrates to New Zealand, dying there in Oamaru in 1890. So to get to the point, I have failed to find ongoing records for Mary Kenney (Kenny) in Scotland, or Ireland, and she definitely did not go to New Zealand with her father. Jane McNabs own parents Francis and Mary McCue leave Scotland some time after 1873, (after ten very sad years in Scotland) and both of them, Mary's grandparents, died (1885 and 1890) in Omagh area Co. Tyrone, place of the family origin. We had thought they could have taken the child with them back to Ireland, as no family available to help in Glasgow.... but there is no mention in their own death records of the child, in fact Mary's grandfather Francis McNab dies in the Omagh Workhouse. Wow..... I wasn't fooling when I said it was a long complex story - and it could be a total waste of time for anyone to attempt further research! Poor child Mary could have died, got married, migrated, ended up in a workhouse.... but "Mary Kenny" is quite a common name. A true "needle in a haystack"! so.... Thank you for the offer!!!!
-
Oh, and by the way, I have all the paperwork to prove all of the details listed above!!!!
-
So just throwing some thoughts out:
1 To clarify so you believe that Mary was born in Nenagh on 1/8/1871
2 What date was the Glasgow census?
3 Under what name was Mary noted in the census ie Kenney or McNab?
4 Were the parents married? When/where
5 If Michael was based in Co Tipperary and Jane McNab's parents were in Co Tyrone do you have any idea how they would have met? ie was Michael's regiment based in Tyrone at one stage etc etc.
-
Hi again Shanreagh,
Sorry - a typo - omitted year of birth of Mary - to clarify other points;
1) Mary was born on 1/8/66. in Nenagh Co. Tiperrary.
2) Date of Glasgow census was 1871, child listed as Mary Kenny age 4 (birth mistakenly listed as Glasgow Scotland - should have been Ireland.)
3) Mary was always under the name Kenny or Kenney - never McNab
4) Mary's parents Michael Kenney (cert. actually written as "Canny" but all else correct), and Jane McNab were married on 6th February 1866 in Templemore, Thurles Tipperary.
5) Michael and Jane actually met in Glasgow Scotland in 1865. Jane, her parents and her siblings had moved from County Tyrone in 1864, and they lived in the Gallowgate Glasgow - close to military barracks. Jane and 2 of her sisters married soldiers. Michael Kenny was born circa 1828 in Tulla Co. Clare, he was with 59th Foot Regiment which was stationed in Glasgow for a time, where he met Jane. The Regiment went from there to Tiperrary, where he and Jane married.- He served a total of 18 years in India, East Indies, Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon.. before discharge on 18th December 1873. He went on to marry Isabella Carter on 3/3/1874 in Limerick. He and Isabelle sailed for New Zealand on 14/4/1874.... (and actually left a trail of incidents of petty crime in NZ which makes very interesting reading). In all of this there is never a single mention of the child Mary Kenny. They go on to have one child in NZ, - no descendants. Mary's grandparents Francis and Mary McNab seem to leave Scotland fairly soon after their daughter Janes death in 1872 - no further records for them found in Scotland, but after much time found deaths for both of them in Omaha Co. Tyrone area - 1885 and 1890.
Sorry, I told you it is a long complex story. So many possibilities...