Rev. Nicholas Hourigan Silver St. Nenagh

[danadavkins]

Rev. Nicholas Hourigan is shown in Griffiths Valuation on Silver St in Nenagh. Is it possible to determine his likely church from this address? He was a Roman Catholic priest born about 1800-1810. He was the brother of my grandmother's family priest for 3 generations in New York, Rev. James Francis Hourigan who was also from Nenagh born about 1815. Their father was Thomas Hourigan who is described as an "architect" in the Nenagh area in a biography from my grandmother's New York church. I'd very much appreciate any information or thoughts anyone might have on this. Because Father James Hourigan was very influential in my family's immigration from Ireland and protective of them when they 1st arrived here in the US I have been curious about a possible family connection. Also Father James Hourigan and his brother Nicholas had Carroll cousins and Quinn nephews. I don't know if these Carroll and Quinn relatives were from Nenagh. My main interest for now is with the Hourigans. I'd greatly appreciate any response that anyone might have to this. Many thanks!

[shanew147]

are you sure that he's a Rev. ?

Griffith's just shows him as Nicholas Hourigan without any prefix, and there no listing for an RC parish priest with that name in an 1852 Ecclesiastical directory.. although maybe he was a curate or without a fixed parish..

The nearest RC Church to Silver st at present would be St. Mary's, but not sure when that was built (no sign of it on the OSI maps from the 1820s/40s).



Shane

[danadavkins]

Shane,

Thank you so much for your reply. My only "proof" that he was a priest is his brother's 19th century  New York biography which states that he was "a priest for many years in charge of a numerous and prosperous flock in a large and important parish in Ireland." Because of his roots and residence in Nenagh I assumed it was the  Nenagh Parish. According to this same biography he had a cousin William Carroll (1819-1890) who I think was from the Nenagh area but lived in Dublin most of his life and was I think an active member of Dublin's St Andrews Church so I guess I'll now move on to the Dublin forum. Again, many thanks!

Dana   

[shanew147]

if Nicholas was 'in charge' of a parish I'd assume he was the parish priest. Do you have any idea of years that he was a priest ?

I can check some other directories to see if he is listed


Shane

p.s. If you are not certain as to where he was located maybe it would be better to get this topic moved to the Ireland general section for the moment

[danadavkins]

His brother Father James Hourigan according to our family church was born in 1815 in Nenagh, so I'm assuming Rev. Nicholas was born within a reasonable time period of this. I did try to work this out on the IHF site but birth records for this time period in Nenagh don't seem to have survived. His priesthood could have begun as early as 1820 considering that he might have been a much older brother. Thank you very much for your help. 

[shanew147]

RC records for Nenagh on microfilm (National Library) and on the IrishRoots/IFHF website appear to go back to 1792 for baptisms...

I'll have a look for James and Nicholas and see if there's any sign of them. The listings before 1850 are by diocese and parish and not fully alphabetical so more difficult to search, but these do usually include the name of the parish priest and sometimes a few curates for the busier parishes.

p.s. late 1830s is the earliest that I've been able to find listings for RC priests


Shane

[danadavkins]

Shane,

You are so very kind to take time to help. Rev. Nicholas Hourigan's brother, Rev. James Francis Hourigan, son of Thomas Hourigan, was "born January 11, 1815 in Nenagh, County Tipperary" and ordained  before he left Ireland in 1841. "He left his home in Nenagh May 6th, 1841 to take passage to America". My source is again the New York biography. THANK YOU!!

[shanew147]

found just two RC Parish Priests named Hourigan or similar :

1879 - Thomas Hourican, Fenagh, Ardagh and Clonmac. (Co. Carlow)

1839 -  Nicholas Hourigan, Shinrone & Kilcommon, Killaloe

(name, post town/parish, diocese,)

Diocese of Killaloe covers parts of Tipperary, Offaly (old name King's county) and Clare, and as far as I can see the parish of Shinrone covers a part of southern Co. Offaly plus a section in west Co. Tipperary. I checked the same parish in 1848, but there's no sign of Nicholas at that stage.

I've checked various listings from 1839 to 1879. Maybe the dates are slightly too late for James, or he was a curate rather than a parish priest, or worked with a religious order, convent, orphanage etc


Shane

...Rev. Nicholas Hourigan's brother, Rev. James Francis Hourigan, son of Thomas Hourigan, was "born January 11, 1815 in Nenagh, County Tipperary" and ordained  before he left Ireland in 1841.
....

p.s. no wonder I couldn't find James....

[annclare]

Jane Lyons site at http://www.from-ireland.net/diocs/dioceskillaloe.htm
has a listing of parish priests and curates in Killaloe parish in 1836. There is an entry for a -personal name unknown - Horrigan as parish priest in Shinrone.
It could be worthwhile to contact the Killaloe Diocesan office e-mail   
office -at- killaloediocese.ie who may be able to give you or point you towards bigraphical details.

annclare