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Here is why I think Captain William Wolverston who was married to Marcella Geoghegan (father of Honora Wolverston Stapleton and Judith Wolverston Mac Gorman) could be the same man as Captain William Wolverston who died in 1731 and is buried in Kiladreney/Killadreenan Churchyard.

First, the full inscription on the Kiladreney/Kiladreenan tomb of Captain William Wolverston who died in 1731, his wife and several children, and some grandchildren was published in its entirety in the year 1892 in Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, by John O'Hart. The full inscription read as follows: "This tombstone was erected by John Wolverston, of Cooldrass. Here lies the body of his Father, Captain William Wolverston, who died Jan. 19, 1731; and also his Mother, who died March 13, 1733; also two of their sons, Richard and William, and six of the said John's children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Here also lies the body of the above John Wolverston, who died 25 June, 1769. Aged 63 years." Notice that there is no wife "Alice"! That is an ERROR that arose when somebody tried many years later to transcribe ALL of the inscriptions in Killadreney/Kiladreenen Churchyard. On the by-then very weathered tombstone they misread "also his Mother" as "Alice his Mother." Also, the later transcriber could not even read the parts about sons Richard and William and the 6 sons of John--those parts must have been so weathered by then that they could not be made out at all.

You probably know that "Marcella" and "Margery" were the same name in Ireland then, with Marcella being the Latin version that would have been used in church registers, and Margery being the Anglicized form of the name. Thus it is very interesting that a tombstone slab for Margery Wolverston who died in 1733 turned up near the chapel built by Thomas Mac Gorman in Inchiquin. (Remember that the second wife of Thomas Mac Gorman was Judith Wolverston, daughter of Captain William Wolverston and Marcella Geoghegan.) The author of the "Inchiquin" article SPECULATES that this Margery Wolverston could have been a daughter of Captain William Wolverston, but given that her death year matches that of Captain William's wife and that Margery and Marcella are the same name, and also that the tombstone slab for Margery Wolverston appears to have been separated from the grave it once covered, I think it is quite possible that she was originally buried in her son-in-law Thomas Mac Gorman's chapel graveyard and that John Wolverston of Cooldross may have moved his mother (and possibly his father?) to the family tomb he erected in Kiladreney Graveyard years later. Here is what the Inchiquin article says about Margery's tomb slab:

"Outside the church, built against the east gable, and with its north wall on a line with the corresponding wall of the church, was some years ago a small mortuary Chapel, built in the year 1735 by Thomas Mac Gorman of Inchiquin as a burial-place for his family. Part of the wall was still standing in 1839, as can be learned from a letter of that date written by Eugene O'Curry, who calls it, incorrectly, a “sacristy,” and states that the stone with date was then fixed in the wall. It was deliberately pulled to pieces bit by bit and the stones taken to various parts of the churchyard to mark graves. Ultimately none of the structure was left but the mere foundations and two inscribed stones. From an examination which I made of these foundations a few years ago, I found that it was built somewhat out of square, the north wall being 17} feet, the east wall 17 feet, and the south wall 181 feet, outside measurement. Most of its area is now occupied by an enclosure containing the graves of the Macnamaras of Corofin, repaired in 1894-5. When the foundations were being laid for this enclosure, a tombstone was found at a considerable depth beneath the surface, on which was the following inscription :

HERE LYES YE BODY * OF MARGERY WOLVERSTON DYED * in 1733."

Margery Wolverston was a near relative (probably a daughter) of Captain William Wolverston of county Westmeath, and a member, 1 have no doubt, of that once important and influential family, the Wolverstons of Stillorgan."

The last half of my post appears to be crossed out--is there a length limit? Here it is, just in case:
 "Captain William Wolverton of the County of Westmeath," according to the same historical article. These relationships are discussed in "Inchiquin, County Clare" by George U. McNamara which appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society of Irish Antiquaries 31.4 (dec. 1901), pages 357-362.

A claimant to the title of Lord Inchiquin had to prove that Honora Mathew and her first husband, Col. John O'Brien, had no children, and for that reason a certified copy of Honora's will is reproduced word for word in the House of Lords "Case of Lucius, Lord Inchiquin, Claiming the Right to Vote at the Election of Representative Peers for Ireland" (1861), which can be found online in Google Books. In her will, Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew leaves a good deal of money and possessions to her "beloved niece Honora Stapleton, widow of Bryan Stapleton, gent, of Ennis, County Clare," and to Honora Stapleton's four children, whom she identifies by name: William, John, Ellen, Honora.

The smoking gun: Exchequer Court of Equity Case dated 5 Feb 1733, William Bell vs. Honora Stapleton als Wolferston, Christopher O'Brien, Thomas Gorman, William Stapleton, John Stapleton, Ellen Stapleton, Honora Stapleton, and John Hickie and his wife Elizabeth.

So Honora Wolverston Stapleton was Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew's niece because she was the daughter of Honora G O'B M's sister Marcella Geoghegan who married Captain William Wolferston.

I also have reason to believe that the two Captain William Wolverstons in your pedigree are the same, but I will save that for a separate post.

Hi, Aoife,

Thanks very much for responding so quickly and sharing the pdf. In the paragraph under Captain William Wolverston who married Marcella MacGeoghegan of Donore (p. 4 of 5), am I correct that it is talking not about Captain William Wolverston but about the O'Byrnes, including Phelim O'Byrne? That confused me a bit until I realized who it must be,

Looking forward to getting back to you with more information.

Julie

My second great grandparents were William O'Kane/Kane 1816-1886 and Ellen Collins 1814-1881 of Claggan, Magilligan. William also leased and farmed land in Drumhahay as well as Claggan. Ellen O'Kane was the sponsor at the baptisms of two children of James Somers and Margaret Doran of Drumnahay: Jane (baptized 4 Aug 1867, St. Aidan's in Magilligan), and William (baptized 16 Oct 1864, St. Aidan's). William O'Kane was a witness at the marriage of Ellen Somers of Drumnahay and William McConway (22 Jul 1850 in St. Aidan's). Also, their oldest son Richard O'Kane (brother of my great grandfather John) was a sponsor at the baptism of Ellen and William's son William (31 May 1868, St. Aidan's). Also, Daniel Somers was a sponsor at the baptism of William and Ellen's daughter Sarah O'Kane (27 Nov 1846). With all of these interconnections, I strongly suspect that our two families were related a generation back. Has anyone descended from the Somers of Drumnahay taken a DNA test yet?