I'm posting this on behalf of Wayne Devlin the grandson of Joseph Devlin. I am assisting Wayne find info on his grandad.
I’m trying to trace information about a farm in Toberlyon (also spelled Toberlion), County Cavan, that was run by a man named John Bannon in the 1920s. My grandfather, Joseph Devlin, was sent there at age 16 in 1926 after leaving St Patrick’s Industrial School in Belfast.
Joseph was born in Newry Workhouse in 1910 and committed to St Patrick’s as a child. In 1926, he was released and sent across the border to County Cavan to work on this Bannon farm. I’m hoping someone might help me:
Identify the exact farm or location of the Bannon property in or near Toberlyon/Toberlion Share any records or family information relating to the Bannon family in that area Help me understand the process by which boys from Northern institutions were sent to work in the South, especially during the delicate post-Civil War period (1926) — was this common?
I have census information confirming a Catholic John Bannon (b. ~1843) living in Toberlyon in 1911, married to Margaret, with children including Patrick, Bridget, Mary E, Joseph, and Alice.
If anyone has any leads, local knowledge, old maps, or advice on how I might uncover more about Joseph’s time there, I would be deeply grateful.
Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions you can offer.
Warm regards,
Wayne Devlin
(Manchester-based grandson of Joseph Devlin)
