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Irish Jack

Thanks for the connect, indeed this looks to be a link. I think that there are two Costello brothers in Kilgulbin in the early 1800s - Maurice (married Jane Day) and Edmund (married Mary Devine) - I guess there is a third brother Denis in nearby Rathkenny (who married Margaret Callahan in Tralee in 1822). By the naming conventions I might also guess that there father could have been an Andrew Costello?

The 1820 Tithe Applotment Books have: in Knocknamallough (now called Kilgulbin)  Townland were listed Maurice and Edmond Costello with 81 acres 2r 24p. And in Rathkenny townland there is Denis Costello with 43 acres and 13 perches.

In the 1851 Griffith Valuation Maurice has 42 acres of land plus a section of an acre of house and offices, while Edward has land and house and offices of 38 acres, plus a section of 1 Rod leased to Michael Ryle. Both also lease bog (46 acres), along with Nolan’s, Kenny and Duggin in section 1 in Kilgulbin West.
There is also a Maurice Costello with 50 acres of land in Fort William townland – section13. And there is a John Costello at Milltown (nearby).

Looking through the baptisms in Knocknamallough Edmond Costello and Mary Devine have four? children - Honora b 1836, Mary b 1838 (perhaps died ), Bridget b 1841 and Mary b 1843 (on the Church records site this is recorded as Edmund Devine and Mary Costello but I think it might be the other way around).

I think Maurice Costello and Jane Day may have at least 11 children, of which only 5 are recorded as baptised in the records (some before the records began and some when the records were missing in the 1840s). I have names of has Ann, Andrew, Elizabeth (married Gerald Stack), Denis (married Catherine Carroll - took over Kilgulbin farm), Mary (baptised 1836), Thomas (b 1838) Maurice (b 1839), Catherine (b 1842 - married John Nolan in New Zealand), Jane (married Hubert Ferguson in New Zealand), William (married Bridget Flynn in New Zealand), Edmond (married Kate Fahey in New Zealand). So the younger four of this family all emigrated to New Zealand in the 1860s, with Catherine marrying John Nolan who was also from Kilgulbin. Also Elizabeth's daughter emigrated to NZ too.

I think Denis Costello and Margaret Callihan of Rathkenny may have had at least nine children - Margaret, Andrew, Eugene, Ellen, Elizabeth, Thomas, Maurice, Denis, Edmond. The Rathkenny farm is taken over by the son Andrew who married Ellen Scollard.

The Costello Fort William farm is taken over by Andrew Costello - who I think is the son of Maurice and Jane Day. And his son Denis is there in the 1901 and 1911 Census.

Note here two Andrew Costellos - one in Rathkenny and one in Fort William!

The Costello Kilgulbin farm is taken over by Denis Costello - who is a son of Maurice and Jane Day - and Denis is still living on the farm in 1901 and 1911 censuses. Denis married Catherine Carroll (from Fort William) in 1864 and had a family of seven. The farm then passed to one of the sons Daniel b 1877 and married Kate McCarthy, then to Daniel's son Eugene b 1910 married Mary Walsh. Eugene and Mary had a family of 19, with Eugene dying in 2002 the farm is now farmed by one of his sons Maurice.  [There is a Costello family plot at the new Ardfert Catholic Church ].

So I am thinking that because the children of Maurice Costello took over the local farms, did your Edmond Costello family perhaps only have girls, or perhaps they may have all migrated to America?

Do you know anything of the others in your ggmather's family? Also interested to know if any of the local names such as Nolan or Ryall ended up in the same location in America? often locals travelled to the same area- so in NZ we had Nolan, Costello, Ryall, .. all ending up in the Otago goldfields in the early 1860s.

I looked to see if there was a Carmody / Costello marriage on the Churchrecords web site - one between a Michael Carmody and Ann Costello, but this is in 1848 (Ann may be a daughter of Maurice Costello and Jane Day?)

Frank Nolan

Tess

Yes you are correct that Charles Costello Ferguson is the son of Jane Costello and Hubert Ferguson, and Jane Costello is the sister of my great grand mother Catherine Nolan (nee Costello) and also of William Costello (and Edmond Costello of Gore). When John Nolan married Catherine Costello in Dunedin February 1865, one of the witnesses was Jane Costello of Dunstan.

Jane Costello married Hubert Ferguson in August 1865. Hubert was a goaler in Dunedin, starting in September 1862, later moving to Lyttelton and Wellington. He then became one of the first Factory Inspectors, first in Canterbury, then moving to Auckland in 1892. There are a lot of reports of him in Auckland papers, and he certainly seems to be something of a character.  He has an entry in the Cyclopaedia of Auckland, noting he arrived in New Zealand in 1862 on the Black Swan.
Hubert and Jane had a family of eight, two of whom died young - Matilda Jane born 1866 died 1870, Elizabeth Mabel born 1868 died 1935 married Ernest Alfred Le Cren lived in Auckland and Wellington - two sons, Kate Ferguson born 1862 died 1926 married Louis Sanderson lived in Wellington - one son, Ellen Leslie born 1871 died 1943 married John Galbraith lived in Christchurch and Dunedin - two sons and a daughter, Jane born 1872 died 1894, Charles Costello born 1874 died 1960 married Mary Sinclair - 3 daughters and a son? - lived in Auckland, Hubert born 1875 died at sea 1892, Maurice William born 1877 died 1953 married Christina Paton - lived in Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargil.
Jane's parents were Maurice Costello and Jane Day and she was born about 1845 - there are no records of baptisms from 1844 - 1852. There is no record of her moving to New Zealand that I can find. And I have been having trouble finding when she died.

I would be interested if this fits with anything that you have, and am especially interested in any photographs. I am not aware of any contacts between the Ferguson family and the Nolan's from the second generation, although with Jane and Hubert in Dunedin and the John Nolan's in Central Otago, I might have thought that they may have met. And perhaps with John's  brother and 2 sisters also in Dunedin, perhaps they met up with Jane - after all they lived close together in Ireland?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Frank Nolan

Peter,
I have just come across your message today. My great grandmother was Catherine Costello, who married John Nolan, both of whom came from Knocknamalough - in fact they lived only about a quarter of a mile apart - married in New Zealand in 1865.

My name is Frank Nolan and I currently live in London. I have been following this Nolan Costello family for about 25 years. I do not think that I have any photographs of Costellos, apart from my great grandmother. One of my father's cousins is still alive aged 92 and I have got a lot of information from her, but I do not think that she knew your grandparents family. However she knew Annie Stack and the family of Edmond Costello - see below.

Catherine was daughter of Maurice Costello and Jane Day and was baptised at Abbeydorney Parish on March 26 1842. I visited the church last Easter and saw a copy of the baptism. There were also baptisms for a sister Mary - March 18 1836, Thomas March 12 1838, and Maurice November 3 1839. I did not find any further baptisms, but it was very difficult to read some of the old writing.

There was also a brother of Maurice Costello (husband of Jane Day) - Edmond married to Mary Devine, and I found two daughters baptised Honora 1836 and Mary 1843.

I was aware of several of Catherine Costello's siblings migrating to New Zealand. Jane Costello, married Hubert Ferguson on August 5 1865 - he was a prison warden and later an Inspector of Factories - lived in many places in new Zealand - Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland; Edmond Costello, married Kate Fahey March 24 1888 - first lived around Hampden, but mainly around Gore and died in Dunedin - Edmond  - listed generally as a contractor. There may also be two nieces in New Zealand - one definitely - Annie Stack, who was the daughter of Elizabeth Costello - sister of Catherine, Maurice, Edmond and Jane - and Jerold Stack. Annie married Robert Gibb who farmed on the Taieri - she later lived in Dunedin. There was also another Catherine Costello daughter of Thomas Costello - perhaps another brother of the above - and Nora Cavanagh - who married Alexander Hoffman of Gore.

And then there is your great grandfather William Costello who married Bridget Flynn (or Glynn) at St Mary's Invercargil on November 1 1877. I have first found William on the electoral rolls in 1879 with a free hold section in East Gore, then in 1882 as a hotel keeper in Gore, 1883/84 at the Commercial Hotel in Gore, then 1885/86 at the Universal Hotel in Gore. By 1896 he is a farmer in Cheviot - it is a little confusing here as there are other Costellos in Cheviot as well. By 1908 they are settled in Rotorua, with William dying at Te Pu on July 8 1918 and Bridget on November 12 1914.

I have had some difficulty tracing their children, but what I have is something like: Jane Costello born Gore March 22 1879, Patrick John Costello born Gore December 25 1880 died France May 11 1917, Bridget Ann Costello born Gore August 1 1884, Maurice Costello born Gore October 8 1885 died Wairoa March 16 1936 - a horse trainer - married Annie? 1908, William Andrew Costello born Gore April 11 1889 died Gore December 9 1889, Thomas Stephen Costello born Gore December 26 1890, Mary Ann Costello born Gore June 6 1892, Margaret Catherine Ellen Costello born Gore October 12 1893 [I have baptism records for all of these except Patrick - Edward Costello is godfather for Jane, Annie Stack is godmother for Bridget, and Catherine Nolan likewise for the last - so links are there]. I think that there may have been two other children born in Cheviot, but with other Costellos, I have not looked further - perhaps Elizabeth May and William Joseph?? - this matches up with the number of children on William's death certificate. I was also aware that Jane may have married Thomas Dunn - which is where Peter Dunn must come from??

When I visited Kilgulbin last year I visited both the Nolan and Costello families - Eugene had died in 2002, but his youngest some Maurice is now on the farm. They were about to demolish the old house and build a new one next to it.

I have the Census records from Kilgulbin in 1901 and 1911. Eugene's grandfather was Denis Costello who was born about 1836 - again could not find the baptism for a Denis, BUT I am presuming that he is another brother of Catherine, Jane, Maurice, William who all migrated to New Zealand. They had children Daniel, Kate, Annie,... Eugene's father was Daniel, married to Kate, with children Kate, Denis, Madge, Jane, Christina, and Eugene (in 1911). The grandfather Denis was still alive in 1911.

There is still quite a bit on the land that the Costello's had from the Valuation rolls. The County Kerry Archive has a 1835 Tithe Appointment Book with Knocknamallough: tenants Maurice and Edmond Costello: acreage 81 acres, 2 roods and 24 perches. In the Griffith Valuation in 1853 Maurice Costello had land in Kilgulbin East - section 5A and B 42 acres, plus section 6B - house of 1 acre, while Edmond had section 6A - 38 acres - these add to about the 81 acres above.

Hope that this is helpful and you can fill in some of the gaps.

Regards,

Frank Nolan