Hi Pastmagic,
That's incredible amount of information. Thank you so much !!
It got me thinking about Anne Rainsford, and yes it's VERY possible that George had a sister.
This is invaluable for me now, because I can also try and work off Anne Rainsford now.
Usually I do a 'Google Maps' to find the distance between the 2 areas.
This distance is 92KM so about 52 miles SW of Castlecomer.
I have been working with a guy last few weeks who has researched his ancestry back to Martin Rainsford,
a Gunsmith from Butterhill in Wicklow.
Butterhill is right across the lake from Blessington about a 10 minute walk.
That Martin Rainsford goes back to 1733. Gordan my friend is a Direct Descendant.
So between us we concluded that my Line may well have traveled from Dublin to Wicklow to Castlecomer.
Castlecomer is about 30 miles SW of Butterhill and also Portarlington.
Portarlington is significant because many Rainsford's lived there also.
So the DISTANCE is less for these areas than it is for Tipperary.
This gives me the impression that my line of Rainsford's move from Dublin = Kildare = Wicklow = Castlecomer.
The reason I believe this is because back in the late 1700s, coaches and horses were the means of Transport and getting around would have been restricted. Therefore the 30 miles distance between
Castlecomer to Portarlington or 30 miles from Portarlington to Butterhill or Kildare seems more plausible.
Then again I could be very wrong !!
2 - Regards the 3 acres of land . I did not know how big the land was. So thank you for that.
It looks like George and Elizabeth lived in Glemagoo for a long time. From 1814 - 1860 at least.
It looks like it was just George and Elizabeth and of course all the children. I know 2 - William and younger brother James. However there could have been on older brother George a first born.
I i'm thinking this firstborn George was married in Ballylennon Carlow. I'm not certain though. Just hunches.
as I found a marriage record for George Rainsford marrying Anne Thornton in 1850.
On that marriage it had George Rainsford as the father also.
However that was in Ballylennon Carlow. approx 18 miles from Castlecomer.
I think this could well have been my GG GF George's first born son.
See here
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/493a1d0024942His next son William was my Great Grandfather and he married in 1866 in Castlecomer to Bridget Keefe.
I did know about Isaac Bradley being the landlord, so they did not own the land.
However I still await a search on Elizabeth Rainsford which I hope I will get next week sometime.
Maybe this will shed light on if she got land, or even if George had acquired land, from someone who will provide a link for me.
3 - I have seen those Deeds. I found a George Rainsford but he was in Fermanagh. I add attachment here.
That was in the year 1772 .
Throughout all those documents that was all that I found was ONE relating to Rainsford or variant spellings i.e Ransford etc.
However even though its the right year, it would mean this George Rainsford would have to have a son also called George. Then he would have to move perhaps to Castlecomer
Confusing.
4 - So where will I look now ??
Well The good lead I have right now is in relation to the birth of a George Rainsford in Dublin in St Nicholas Church RC in Dublin 8 area.
See earlier Post on this there is a LINK to that page !
I will search this parish to find if they have any other information. For instance I know already that this George Rainsford's parents were Robert and Bridget in 1773.
IMPORTANT NOTE - Most Rainsford's in Ireland switched from Protestant to Catholic in late 1700's.
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Also remember that most the Rainsfords were Protestant up til about 1760s- 1790's where most if not all had converted to Catholicism.
The late 1700's in Ireland saw lots of Catholic societies grow leading up to the 1798 Rebellion.
All the years preceding this, were fired by the 1770s Revolution in the USA and the 1789 French Revolution.
Ireland was next to follow suit. So Political change especially Religious change from Protestant to Catholics were happening. Ireland was 70% Catholic in 1700, and 85% by 1829 and in Daniel O'Connell time.
The Point being that my GG Grandfather George could well have been born Protestant and converted to Catholic when he married Elizabeth Price.
That is why I do research in Church of Ireland and the RCB in Churchtown D18.
My friend Gordan told me that although the RC Church Records do not exist before 1814 in some of these areas, it is still possible to find them in Church of Ireland Records. Namely given our Switch in Religion close to the time Catholic Records were begining to be kept again.
Again thank you so much for your effort on this. It is totally unexpected !!
Kind Regards
Martin Rainsford.
