Irish naming patterns and our mob

Apparently in the nineteenth century and perhaps earlier, there was a set tradition for the naming of children born to Irish families.  The usual patterns were:

• the first son was named after the father’s father
• the second son was named after the mother’s father
• the third son was named after the father
• the first daughter was named after the mother’s mother
• the second daughter was named after the father’s mother
• the third daughter was named after the mother.

Having exhausted these possibilities, for the 7th child and beyond (and in these times there usually were 7+ children)  parents may have applied the following patterns:

• the fourth son was named after the father’s eldest brother
• the fifth son was named after the mother’s eldest brother
• the fourth daughter was named after the mother’s eldest sister
• the fifth daughter was named after the father’s eldest sister.

Presumably after the 10th child, you could be creative. Often the name of a child who died in infancy or early childhood would be applied to the next child born of the same gender.

Families with a number of siblings all following these naming patterns would consequently end up having cousins within a single generation with a number of common first names, making the job of a family history researcher trying to distinguish between them, rather difficult!

How do the Irish families of our ancestors stack up against these ‘rules’?

Looking at the Molloys first …

Patrick Molloy and Ellen Fearon families

Patrick and Ellen Molloy’s  male children were named as:

1. John Augustus Molloy
2. Patrick Molloy
3. James Thomas Molloy
4. Daniel Peter Edward Molloy.

Girls were named as:

1. Mary Margaret Molloy
2. Ellen Teresa Molloy
3. Sarah Elizabeth Molloy.

So the Molloys have re-jigged these patterns slightly to push the parent’s names up the list, and in the case of James Thomas, the parents may have been remembering an as yet unknown Molloy, or either of Ellen Fearon’s grandfathers, who were both named James.

What about the Egans?

Patrick Egan and Mary Coyne families

I’m a bit stymied here as the names of Patrick’s  and Mary’s parents are not fully known.  Mary’s father may have been John Coyne (yet to be confirmed).  The naming of the children went as follows:

1. John Patrick Egan
2. Thomas Egan
3. James Vincent Egan
4. Joseph Francis Egan.

The girls were:

1. Mary Lucy Egan
2. Margaret Egan
3. Ellen Josephine Egan
4. Agnes Veronica Egan.

The origins for the first two male names may be for the grandfathers, although not in the order expected, and the patterns for the girl’s names are not clear, apart from Mary being named for her mother.  If only they had stuck rigidly to the rules, I would have been able to hypothesize backwards to predict the names of the unknown grandparents!

The Buchanans do appear to have played by the rules  … almost.

Charles Todd Buchanan and Arabella Hardinge Going families

Their children’s names were:

1. George Charles Buchanan
2. William Alexander Going Buchanan
3. Thomas Hardinge  Buchanan

and for the girls:

1. Matilda Emily Hannah Buchanan
2. Anna Buchanan
3. Arabella Caroline Going Buchanan.

Dr George Charles Buchanan’s name combines both the paternal grandfather’s and father’s name in one.  The name Thomas doesn’t occur in the Buchanan family, so Thomas Hardinge may be named for Arabella’s brother closest in age to her, Thomas Hardinge Going.

These naming patterns illustrate the continuation of the surnames from the mother’s family as part of the child’s name, which also happens in the Scottish branches of the family.

Arabella Caroline Going Buchanan: her name carries on her mother’s surname

 

 

 

 

The ages of Mary Coyne: Granny Egan

My great grandmother was Mary or Maria Coyne.  She may have been born in 1858 … or 1864 …  or sometime between 1853 and 1867.  What is known is that she died, Mrs Mary Egan of Herberton St, Mareeba, North Queensland on 22 August 1942, and is buried in the Mareeba Pioneer Cemetery in Costin St, Mareeba.

Her death certificate gives an age of 84 for her, making the year of her birth about 1858.  The informant was my grandmother, Mrs Margaret Molloy (“Nanna”).  Mary was married in 1883 in Philadelphia to Patrick Egan.  Family lore says she was “sent for from Ireland as a bride” and was married at the age of 19 – that would make her year of birth about 1864.  When she arrived in Australia in Townsville in February 1900, her age on the passenger list was given as 30.  This was most likely incorrect, as it would have made her year of birth about 1870, clearly a very young child bride in 1883!

Her only child born in Australia (of eight children in total) was Agnes.  When Agnes was born in April 1902, Mary’s age on the birth certificate was given as 37, making her year of birth about 1865.  The informant was husband Patrick who gave his age as 49 – implying approximately a ten year age difference between them.  This squares with his reported age of 76 years at his death in 1929, or a year of birth of 1853.

Various documents state that she came from Multyfarnham, or Mullingar, in County Westmeath.

On the Irish Family History Foundation website (http://www.rootsireland.ie/index.php?id=home) of Catholic baptismal records , there are a number of Mary Coynes born in Westmeath, the county she originated from, in the years 1850 to 1867.  Which one is our Mary?  She had (I believe) a sister, Anne [Anna or Anney May], who was also living in Philadelphia in the 1880s, married to Thomas J. Cavanaugh.

Looking for births of Anne Coyne and Mary Coyne in Co. Westmeath to the same parents, there is one match:  Ann Coyne born 31 March 1850 and Mary Coyne born 21 April 1853, to parents John Coyne and Eliza or Elizabeth Kelly.  But this early date of 1853 would mean that Mary was 30 when married and 88 when she died which doesn’t fit well with the other known facts.  On the other hand, the family bible recorded the death of a John Coyne on 23 March 1898.  It is possible that Mary’s father was a John Coyne (or if not, then this was a close relative) but this needs to be confirmed.

There are nine other possibilites for Mary Coyne, ranging from births in 1855 to 1867.  There is only one Mary Elizabeth Coyne, her full name, born on 27 September 1863, to father Patrick Coyne and mother Elizabeth Gowran.  Maybe this is her?  There is no record for a Mary Coyne for Multyfarnham parish or Mullingar parish, although there is one for Ann Coyne for Mullingar, born 1855 with parents Patrick Coyne and mother Bridget Slavin.

Without definitive names for Mary’s parents, it will be difficult to identify exactly what her date of birth is.  More research to do!

Mary Egan nee Coyne with her daughters, from left, Mary Lucy, Margaret, Agnes

Mareeba memoirs – the Egans & two lost sons

The Historical Society of Mareeba publishes a quarterly newsletter on their website (at http://www.mbahistsoc.org.au/index.html) highlighting memorable events and people of the town in times past.  The No. 62 May 2014 Newsletter carried the following item, reproducing a news article from the Cairns Post published on 28 August 1942.  This is extracted below courtesy of the Trove website.

A Tribute

Two worthy citizens who had known Mareeba over a long period of years passed away recently within a few hours of each other. They were Mrs. Mary Egan, at Mareeba, on Saturday August 22, and Mrs. Minnie Wallace, at Coogee, Sydney, on August 23. By a coincidence the paths of each had much in common. Both were possessed of those sterling traits that are features of exemplary character.  Into the life of each had long ago come a great sorrow brought about by the loss of a loved husband. Mrs. Egan’s son, Jim, soldiered through the horror of 1914-18 until peace came. Returning to Australia, he met with an accident at the Granite Sawmills, Mareeba, and from its effects he died an hour or two later. Jim Wallace, also of the First A.I.F., was killed in action at Mont St Quentin in September, 1918. His battalion was the 26th. Jim Egan and Jim Wallace had been mates in Mareeba. 

Mrs. Egan was born in Ireland 84 years ago. With her husband she went across to the United States, living there for a while. But as Australia seemed to offer better opportunities the Egan family came to Queensland, where Patrick Egan took up railway work and made his home on the Barron at Mareeba.

Mrs. Wallace was bom near Glasgow 79 years back, and, in time, sailed to Queensland, residing in various centres. About 1905 the Wallace family went to live in Mareeba, which town Mr. Charlie Wallace, an inspector serving the old Chillagoe Railway Company, made his headquarters.

Mrs. Egan’s loss is mourned by three daughters, Mary, Agnes and Mrs. Molloy, and three sons, Jack, Tom and Joe. All members are well-known in the district and made frequent visits to the home in Mareeba. Their father has been dead many years.

The death of Charlie Wallace in 1916 broke up the Mareeba home of the Wallaces, as Mrs. Wallace decided to live in Sydney, taking up residence near her daughter, Mrs. M. Gaughan, at Coogee. There were six sons left, some of whom took up railway work. Bob is at present in Gladstone high up in the service. Charlie is a guard on the Cairns district railways. He is also Councillor Wallace, of the Wookathata Shire Council. Tom Wallace, in the Postal Department, lived in Sydney with his mother until his death in recent years. William is somewhere in the West, Jack is at Mackay, and Watty is an energetic personality in industrial matters in Cairns.

The writer of this has known the Egan and Wallace families for a long time and has herein endeavoured to pay a deserved tribute to the memory of two warm-hearted, loyal-natured citizens. For them the long day of toil is through. May they rest in peace. H.A.B.

Jim (James Vincent) Egan was my grand uncle, and Mrs Mary Egan, my great-grandmother. While the Egan family did live in the United States – Patrick Egan and Mary (Maria) Coyne were married in Philadelphia in 1883 – they also spent time in South America before returning to Ireland briefly and then migrating to North Queensland.

James Vincent Egan was one of the five children born in South America in the ten years between 1886 and 1896. He was born in Rojas, now a suburban area of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1892. He was one year older than my grandmother, Margaret (“Mrs Molloy”).  Other children were born in the USA, Ireland and Australia, bringing the total of children born to Patrick and Mary to eight (in addition to the children of the Cavanaugh cousins, Honoria and William, who they cared for after their parents Thomas and Anna Cavanaugh died in Philadelphia).

Children of Patrick Egan & Mary Coyne (click to view in another window)

Jim or James was 7 when the family arrived in Townsville, Queensland as remittance passengers on the ship Duke of Portland, which left London on December 15th, 1899, arriving on 5th February 1900.  Jim was working as a railway porter when he enlisted in the army in July 1916.

He embarked from Melbourne as part of the 10 Machine Gun Company on 25 October 1916, and after time in England was transferred to Camiers in France in April 1917.  He was wounded in France in September 1917, receiving gunshot wounds to head, shoulders and arms while his then company, 4th Machine Gun Co., participated in an attack at West Lock Ridge, near Ypres.  The unit war diary for the day he was wounded notes at 5.57 am: Artillery fire deafening.  One continuous thunder.  The day was September 26th, the first day of the battle of Polygon Wood.

James was evacuated to hospital in England, and recovered sufficiently to return to France in May 1918.  After the war ended, he was shipped back to Australia and discharged in September 1919.  Less than a year later he was killed in the sawmill accident in Mareeba, as detailed in the following news reports.

Cairns Post  (Qld) Thursday 22  July 1920

MAREEBA FATALITY. PINNED BY A LOG. A TERRIBLE DEATH.

A sad accident, with fatal consequences, occurred at the Jamieson Estate Sawmills, (wires our Mareeba correspondent) on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in the death of James Egan, a highly respectable member of a well-known Mareeba family. At the time the accident occurred Egan was unloading a truck-load of logs at the mill siding, and by some misadventure, one of the logs on the truck suddenly rolled and pinned the unfortunate man against a log that had previously been removed. Various mill employees were present at the time, and quick action was taken to remove the unfortunate young man from his serious position. Dr. Perkins was quickly in attendance, and the injured man was conveyed to the Mareeba district hospital, where every effort was made by the doctor and the nursing staff to alleviate his sufferings, but death took place within a short time of the disaster.

Deceased was an employee of Jamieson’s mill of long standing, and during the late European war served for a considerable time with the forces. He was wounded in action, and subsequently returned to his old employment where he met his untimely death.  The remains will, to-day, be accorded a military funeral by the Mareeba branch of the Returned Soldiers’ League.

The Brisbane Courier (Qld.) Friday 23 July 1920

KILLED BY A FALLING LOG. CAIRNS, July 22.

James Egan, a returned soldier, was killed whilst working at the sawmills at Mareeba owing to a log suddenly falling on him. He was well known throughout the district, and his funeral, which took place this afternoon, was one of the biggest military funerals witnessed in Mareeba.

Cairns Post (Qld.) 21 July 1924

EGAN.  – ln loving memory of  James Vincent, who was accidentally killed at Jamieson’s Estate Mill, Mareeba, July 21st, 1920.

I who love  you  sadly miss you as it dawns this fourth sad year.

In the lonely hours of thinking of you are ever near.

Never can my heart forget the sorrow and  grief.

The pain must always last

(Inserted by  his mother)

He is buried in the Mareeba cemetery, with a headstone commemorating his life.

As for his mate, Jim Wallace, who died in France in September 1918, he is buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery, Peronne, Picardie, France, a Commonwealth War Graves site, a long way from home.

More on Mary Coyne Egan in a later post …