Halpin family of Wicklow - Part 1

[tompion]

Thanks Ray - my paternal family are from England (and I live there) and ancestry is so much easier there with good church records and, post 1840-ish, births deaths and marriages and census data!  My mother's family - all from Ireland - are difficult unless you are in Ireland and can easily access original source documents. 

Coming back to my Mary Anne Isabella Halpin greatgrandmother of the Portarlington line, I gather from your posts that the line goes back to Nicholas Halpin and Rebecca Doherty, then Rev Nicholas Halpin and Ann Greham, then William Henry Halpin and Marianne Crosthwaite. Is it then Nicholas Halpin and Anne duBois or is there a John Halpin between the latter two generations?  Wasn't quite sure from your posts?

Must get to a library and find Burke's landed gentry of Ireland.

All best and many thanks for all your sterling work on the Halpins.  Brian

[kenneth cooke]

Good to see the Forum has come to life again. I have found a Thomas Halpin
or Halfpenny of Dublin, an 'expert in informations', who was attached to Dublin police.  Halpin was used by Major Henry Charles Sirr, chief of Police in an unsuccessful plot to incriminate the Egan brothers. From Nick Reddan Extracts, Part 24
There were two Catholic distillers, Daniel and Stephen Egan at Roscrea, Tipperary. The Rev. Mr.Hamilton, J.P. fabricated a plot, claiming that the Egan brothers were planning to murder the Protestants of the neighbourhood. He enlisted the aid of a groom or stableman named Dyer, and an assistant brought from Dublin, a ‘dexterous practitioner in informations’, named Halfpenny, alias Halpin. He was then in the police, an attache of Major Sirr's office. He had,in 1798, displayed great zeal as an informer.
When Halpin arrived at Roscrea,on the 28th of December 1815, he helped Rev. Hamilton and his wife to dress up a straw figure in a suit of Mr. Hamilton's and sat this figure at a table in Mr.Hamilton's house, its back towards the window.
Halpin was given a pistol by the reverend,and later,with Dyer, fired through the window at the stuffed figure, which was hit in the back.
The Egans were arrested and brought to trial, but the jury soon realized that
the prosecution was a farce, and promptly acquitted the prisoners.
Dyer was indicted for wilful and corrupt perjury. But the grand jury, thinking perhaps that he might be useful in the future, freed him.
From ‘85 Years of Irish History 1800-1885’ by William Joseph O’Neill Daunt

Thomas Halpin, the 1798 insurgent, a close associate of Michael Dwyer, eventually turned informer to save his own life.  From ‘goireland.com’ & other sources.
Anne Devlin’s father is in jail, charged with being an insurgent. At his trial in 1803, he is freed after police informer Tom Halpin is discredited.  From film  ‘Anne Devlin’ 1984.

In 1804 Emmet sent his deputy James Hope to the Wicklow mountains to meet Michael Dwyer, leader of the Wicklow rebels. Shortly afterwards, a spy named Halpin appeared in Wicklow in the neighbourhood of Emall (Innall). Dwyer got notice  and commenced a pursuit, until, in sight of Dublin, he learnt that Halpin was too far ahead.  From ‘Life & Times of Robert Emmet’ by R. R. Madden.

Ken Cooke

[tompion]

I am trying to identify Derek Halpin - he is somehow related to William Henry Halpin and Mary Anne Isabella Halpin of Cavan, mentioned in Ray's post 46.

When my great uncle, (Arthur) Percy Bradley, died in 1952 Caroline Halpin (the wife of William Henry Halpin) sent flowers to the funeral, as did Hilary Alicia Halpin (William Henry's daugher in law) and the unidentified Derek Halpin.  Anyone know a Derek Halpin related to these Cavan Halpins?  Thanks Brian

[Shanachai]

     Thomas Halpin was a close associate of Dwyer (who ended up in Australia, where he died), and I'm delighted to see his name pulled into our reckonings.  He turned informer to save his own neck and was hated in Dublin, where he was known as "Halpin the pike finder".  I'll have quite a bit to say about him in the coming weeks.  Not yet certain he's a blood relation to any of us ( though the lore mentions 'traitors' and converts it mentions no dates, so I'm never sure who did the betraying or when the conversions took place), but he was certainly kicking around the same traps as some of our forebears.  During Dwyer's long pursuit of Halpin (mentioned by Ken) he eventually tired on the outskirts of Dublin (of course, had he entered Dublin he almost certainly would have been recognised and apprehended) and, in frustration, fired off a round in Halpin's direction.  The pistol he was using exploded and blew Dwyer's thumb off.  I imagine he was easy to identify after that.
     Just on the matter of placenames that start with "Bally", Ken.  I spent some time chasing up your request and had to accept defeat.  Even in Queen's county there are quite a few Bally's this that and the other, none of which correspond to Ballymania, or to any of the other variants you listed.  Could it be Ballymeena?  Check it again and get back to me.
     As for the other requests, I expect to address some of them soon.  Hope what I have to reveal will shed some light on the terrible events that erupted in 1798, sending the Halpins off in their respective directions.  I'll be trying to plot the routes the Halpins took through the 19th century, touching briefly on all the historical events they became involved in. 
     On a final note - Charles Greham Halpine (otherwise known as Charles Boyton Halpin) wrote an account of the Sheares brothers exploits during the 1798 rebellion, as well as a 'romance' novel about a troop of Irish rebels causing no end of trouble for the English army - the story is set in the Wicklow mountains and much of the scenery would have been very familiar to Dwyer and co., and to my great grandfather Edwin.  I've been dipping into those novels, and into the writings of Charles' uncle, William Henry Halpin, and his father, the Rev. Nicholas John Halpin.  I came across some very interesting stuff, all of which I'll pass on.  Cheers for now. 
     PS - the libraries are shut here and won't be open again till the 6th of Jan.  Will try to find out what I can about Derek Halpin then.

[J.M. Flannery]

Hi Bill,

Over the holiday period I have been reading the Halpin post from the beginning, and realised you made a request to me in reply 118 on Wednesday 24th June 09 to re-examine the memorial cards in my possession.

Shame on me  :-[but I hope to rectify not answering you until now by giving you the following information.

In Loving Memory/ of/ GEORGE HALBERT HALPIN / Who fell asleep in Jesus / THE 21st OF JUNE, 1887, /Aged 66 years.
Julia

[Shanachai]

     Like the UK, Ireland was buried under a sheet of snow and ice until Monday last.  Travel was difficult, hence the time it’s taken me to get back to you with an answer to your question.  I’ve briefly checked the online newspaper archives at the National Library here in Dublin and the only reference I can find to any Derek Halpin is in the Irish Times, Sat. March 31st 1945:
 
DEATH Halpin March 21, 1945, at her residence, 56 English street, Armagh, Rohna Elizabeth, dearly loved wife of Herbert S. Halpin, and darling mother of Derek and Hazel.

     Hope this is of some use to you Brian.  As for the confusion of my posts regarding the genealogy of the Portarlington Halpins, apologies for that.  Further research has allowed me to push the line back a little further into the 18th century, but my discoveries come with no dates, unfortunately.  If you consult Diane Carr’s postings, specifically those of Tuesday 23 June 2009, you will discover far more clarity than I’m usually capable of.  She has an ancestor by the name of Herbert Halpin, so the death notice above may well be evidence of a cross-referencing bloodline, of one branch of the family remaining in touch with the other.  Did the Canadian Halpins correspond with the Halpins of Armagh?  Maybe Diane can answer that question.  If you have a look at Bill Webster’s  family tree ( Tues. June 09 – Reply 94) it too will make things easier for you.  In the meantime, what follows is a very basic schematic that might help you find your way through the mess I’ve made of the Halpin family tree.  Following the paternal line from -
 
Mary Anne Isabella, b. 18th Nov. 1857 – d. 4 June 1897. ->

Nicholas John Halpin, b. 1818. ->

Rev. Nicholas John Halpin, b. 1790 – d. 22nd Nov. 1850. ->

William Henry Halpin, gentleman, Portarlington, m. Jan 1787. ->

Nicholas Halpin, Portarlington Headmaster, living 1809. ->

William Halpin, Royal Navy. ->

William Henry Halpin, Royal Navy.
 
Those last two entries, the Williams Halpin , were hand-written entries in a lineage that was placed in the National Library of Ireland.  It appears to be the source of the entry that made it into Burke’s Peerage.
 

[Shanachai]

     Before I go any further, I owe Ken a bit of an apology.  Some of the things I’ve gone on to discover, and announce to great fanfare, have been common knowledge to everyone, it seems, bar me.  I can’t explain the mind-blank, or the blind spot I seem to have in regard to Paget Halpin, someone Ken’s been quietly chatting about for some time.  I have read Ken’s postings (I promise to go over them again), and he and I have corresponded privately on a few occasions in the past, sometimes about the very things I’ve subsequently overlooked.  My only defence is that with all the material I’ve been shuffling lately, I somehow forgot some of the information Ken made available to us.  I wish I wasn’t such a dose – it might spare me a great deal of unnecessary originality.  Paget Halpin is an essential link to a more distant past than I’ve been able to reach, and he ties the Portarlington Halpins to the Halpins of Dublin – the engravers, the miniature painters, the failed thespians and libellous booksellers.  I’ll post detailed information on all of the main players in the coming weeks but much of what I have to say about Paget has already been alluded to by Ken – I just went out and discovered it all over again.
 
     That said, though, I think we may have cracked the conundrums we’ve encountered in our endeavours to link the various branches of the Halpin family.  Of course, someone will come along and point out the bleeding obvious to me and I’ll end up with egg on my face.  But for a laugh (at the very least), let me stick my neck out here and ask: Has Brian introduced a surname that we’ve seen before?  Hasn’t Bill already drawn our attention to the Bradleys?  Indeed, in our private correspondence I think Bill may have already made the point I’m about to make – isn’t it possible that the Bradleys of Wicklow town, who were related to the Halpins of Wicklow town, are linked by blood to the Bradley who married Mary Anne Isabella?
     
     I was combing through the “House of Commons Parliamentary Papers” recently and found, in the “1808 Accounts...of the Presentments Passed by the Grand Juries of Ireland, at the Spring and Summer Assizes, in the Year 1807” the Bradleys, Keatings and Halpins all involved in the repairing of roads in Carlow and Kells (Co. Meath).  John Halpin and William and Daniel Bradley are serving as sub-constables on Grand Juries during the Lent Assizes of 1807.  Elsewhere there is mention of William Bradley serving as commander under Nelson during the French wars – but this probably shouldn’t concern us here.  There are other reports that record George Halpin snr and a Thomas Crosthwait receiving payment for roadworks in Ringsend, Dublin.  These papers reveal a good deal about Paget Halpin and others, which I’ll elaborate on in my next posting.  But for the time being let’s stick to the Bradley – Halpin link, and its implications. 
     
     Bill’s posting of Wed. July 1st 09 (Reply 133) presents the following info:

Eliza Bradley, born 1831 County Carlow, married Dr. George Halbert Halpin, who was a resident of Wicklow town.
 
George was also Captain Robert Charles Halpin’s brother and my great grandfather Edwin’s uncle.  Eliza had Bradley relatives living next door to another Wicklow resident – Doctor James Henry Halpin.  If we can link the Bradleys of Wicklow/Carlow to the Bradley who married Mary Anne Isabella, then we can credibly claim something my family lore has always maintained – that the Halpins of Laois (Queen’s county, Portarlington) and Wicklow town were blood relatives.  It is something we need to keep in mind from this point on. 
     
     I’ll leave things there for now – you need to think about what I’m saying here and point out the errors I’m oblivious to.  In the meantime, I’ll prepare the rest of what I have on the Halpin clan in and around the years 1780 - 1810.  Have another look at Ken’s entries on Paget and Mark Halpen, they will be essential to some of what I have to relate.  All the best.

[tompion]

Dear Ray,

Unfortunately, I don't have too much on my Bradley's.   I think the direct line of William David Bradley of Dublin who married Mary Anne Isabella Halpin goes William George Halpin, then William James Halpin. (ca. 1795-1865).  All were solicitors in Dublin (going back to William Gordon Bradley working in 1780) and as such these Bradleys would know many people in Dublin needing legal help.  They worked in Central Dublin but their deaths are all recorded at Rathdown Registration District which I think covers South of Dublin and Wicklow?  I haven't been able to check this Bradley line with original documents but these three Bradley generations are the same family as they working at the same address(es) as solicitors.

I have a note that:

Griffith's Valuations has two Bradleys in Dublin and one has Joseph Bradley as the occupier and George HALPIN as the Lessee!  May 27th 1854,address 7 Oriel Place, Oriel Street, Lower, Parish of St Thomas, DublinNorth, City of Dublin.


Best wishes, Brian

[Shanachai]

Ah well done, Brian.  Now we have the Bradleys connecting Bill's ancestors to the Portarlington Halpins.  It looks like we may well have cracked the Halpin nut - at least for our purposes.  We can move on now confident that the bloodline connecting all three families is a reality.  Great stuff.

     We need Bill Webster's sobriety - when he has a look at the Bradley links, he'll subject them to proper interrogation.  Of course, if anyone else has an objection to raise, I'd like to hear it. 

     Seriously.