Our earliest known Houlihan ancestors in Ireland are Patrick Houlihan and his wife, Mary Catherine Leahy, from County Kerry. (1) (This map shows where they lived.)
Patrick was born about 1806, probably in Ballytrasna townland in County Kerry; we do not know who his parents were. (2) He married Mary Catherine Leahy (also born about 1806, also parents unknown) on 15 February 1831 in the parish of Firies in County Kerry, about halfway between the towns of Tralee and Killarney. (3) The ceremony was witnessed by Thomas Houlihan and Daniel Leahy, obviously family members but we don’t yet know how they were related.
Patrick and Catherine had seven children that we know of: Thomas, Ellen, Catherine, Johanna (who died in infancy), a second Johanna, Bartholomew, and Honora.
The family was living in Ballytrasna when Thomas was born and baptized at Firies parish. (4) The next four children were all baptized after the family had moved to Ballynoe, about 35 miles to the north of Ballytrasna. (5) By the time their youngest child, Honora, was baptized in 1847, the family had moved again, this time to Ardywanig, a townland not far from Ballytrasna. (6) Bartholomew, child #6 (and our family’s ancestor) was born in 1845 and could have been born either in Ballynoe or Ardywanig, depending on when the family moved. (7) We haven’t yet found a baptismal record for him but are looking.
Patrick Houlihan is listed in Griffith’s Valuation, a massive set of Irish land records that were surveyed in the mid-19th century. In 1853, these records show that Patrick and his family were living in Ardywanig townland on two plots of land that he rented jointly with Maurice Casey: a 47-acre plot (map plot #11A) and a 16-acre plot nearby (map plot #11B). (8) We have no idea at this point what the connection was between Patrick and Maurice, only that they rented these plots together.
On Google maps of Ardywanig (satellite view), these same plots are clearly visible, complete with nearly the same hedgerows and fields as those marked on the 1853 map:
The lane that runs through the larger plot (11A) where the farm buildings were marked on the 1853 map isn’t numbered or named, so it isn’t clear what the address is. However, this is what that lane and buildings look like, thanks to Google street view:
Patrick and Mary Catherine’s first daughter named Johanna apparently died in infancy sometime around 1842/1843. It was not uncommon in that era for parents to name a child for another who had just died.
Two other daughters, Ellen and Honora, don’t seem to appear in further church or civil records after their baptisms; we assume they may have died in childhood.
The four children who grew to adulthood — Thomas, Catherine, Johanna (II), and Bartholomew — were all married at what was then the Roman Catholic chapel in the village of Firies. (9) This is now St. Gertrude’s Catholic Church, whose cornerstone was laid in 1864 and so may be the actual church where these four were married.
Son Thomas married Helen (Ellen) Sullivan in 1868; they had five known children. By 1871, they were living up in Ballynoe, where their third child, Ellen, was baptized. (10) Thomas apparently died before 1901, when Ellen was back in the Ardywanig townland and enumerated in the 1901 Irish census as a widow. (11)
Daughter Catherine married Patrick Quirke in 1873 in Ballynoe. They had two sons, Thade (Thadeus?) and Patrick. Catherine died in 1876, six months after giving birth to Patrick who outlived her only by another six months. (12)
Daughter Johanna (II) married Patrick Jones in 1867 in Firies. We have no further information on her. (13)
Son Bartholomew emigrated to America about 1875, living in Worcester, Massachusetts for a year or so before returning to Ireland to bring his wife and young son back to the United States with him permanently. (14)
Mary Catherine (Leahy) Houlihan died on 18 July 1874 at her home in County Kerry; son Thomas was present and reported the death to Irish civil authorities. (15)
Patrick died two years later, on 3 November 1876; his son-in-law Patrick Quirk was present and reported the death to officials. (16)
Patrick Houlihan (b. ca. 1806, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. 3 Nov 1876, Ballinoe, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland)
m. 15 Feb 1831, Firies, Co. Kerry
Mary Catherine Leahy (b. ca. 1806, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. 18 Jul 1874, Ballinoe, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland)
Children:
i. Thomas Houlihan (bapt. 22 Mar 1832, Ballytrasna, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. aft. 1874, place unknown); m. Helen Sullivan, m. 23 Feb 1868, Co. Kerry)
ii. Ellen Houlihan (bapt. 29 Dec 1836, Ballynoe, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. unknown, place unknown); no marriage info
iii. Catherine Houlihan (bapt. 25 Mar 1839, Ballynoe, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. aft 1873, place unknown); m. Patrick Quirk, 25 Feb 1873, Ballinoe, Co. Kerry
iv. Johanna Houlihan (1) (bapt. 21 Dec 1841, Ballynoe, Firies, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. by 1843, Co. Kerry, Ireland)
v. Johanna Houlihan (II) (bapt. 30 Jul 1843, Ballynoe, Firies, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. aft 1868, place unknown); m. Patrick Jones, 25 Feb 1867, Firies, Co. Kerry, Ireland
vi. Bartholomew Houlihan (b. 27 Nov 1845, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. 3 Dec 1896, Worcester, MA); m. Johanna McCarthy
vii. Honora Houlihan (bapt. 1 Apr 1847, Ardivanig, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. unknown, place unknown)
Sources:
- Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 (1896), file #1792, Bartholomew Houlihan entry, Ancestry digital images; record identifies parents as Patrick Houlihan, Mary Leahy, no informant listed.
- County Kerry, Killarney District, Death Registry, p 1 (p 221, stamped), entry #269, Patrick Houlihan entry, Civil Records of Ireland online database, civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie.; lists age as 70, parents not named.
- County Kerry, Parish Marriage Register, p 9, Patrick Wholihan to Catherine Leahy entry, Church Records of Ireland online database, churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie, KY-RC-MA-43843, p 9. For death, County Kerry, Killarney District, Death Register, p 1, entry #37, Cathrine Houlihan entry, Civil Records of Ireland online database.
- County Kerry, Baptismal Register, Thomas Houlihan, Church Records of Ireland online database, KY-RC-BA-235160; entry lists parents as Patrick Houlihan and Catherine Leahy of Ballytrasna; sponsors, Jeremiah Leahy, Catherine Hourin (Houlihan?).
- County Kerry, Baptismal Register, Ellen Houlihan (1836), Church Records of Ireland online database; also Catherine Houlihan (1839), Johanna Houlahan (1841), Johanna Houlihan (1843); parents identified as Patrick Houlihan and Catherine Leahy of Ballynoe.
- County Kerry, Baptismal Register, Honora Houlihan (1847), Church Records of Ireland online database; identifies parents as Patrick Houlihan and Catherine Leahy of Ardywanig.
- For Bartholomew’s birthdate, handwritten family tree prepared by Thomas A. Hickey Jr, son of Mary Ellen Houlihan Hickey and grandson of Bartholomew Houlihan; photocopy in possession of Donna Gough. The tree does not identify his place of birth.
- County Kerry, Parish of Kilnanare, Ardywanig Townland, Griffith’s Valuation, p 133, Patrick Hoolihan entries (two), map #11A and 11B; Ask About Ireland online database, https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch, accessed 7 Sep 2023.
- County Kerry, Firies Parish, Civil Marriage Register, p 9 (401, stamped), Thomas Howlihan of Ardywanig and Ellen Sullivan of Rossmore entry; also Catherine Houlihan of Ballynoe and Patrick Quirk of (? can’t decipher), p 350 (stamped); Bartholomew Howlihan of Ballynoe and Johanna McCarthy of Ballytrasna, p 3 (345, stamped); Johana Houlihan of Ardywanig and Patrick Jones of Killorglen, p 6 (436, stamped); Civil Records of Ireland online database (civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie).
- County Kerry, Milltown District, Birth Register (1871), p 5 (347, stamped), Ellen Houlihan entry, Civil Records of Ireland online database.
- 1901 census of Ireland, County Kerry, Kilnanare District, Ardywanig Townland, Ellen Houlihan household, residence #9; Census of Ireland online database (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Kerry/Kilnanare/Ardywanig/1417703/).
- County Kerry, Milltown District, Death Register (1876), p 212 (stamped), Catherine Quirke entry, Civil Records of Ireland online database. Also County Kerry, Milltown District, Death Register (1877), p 1 (237, stamped), Patrick Quirke entry, Civil Records of Ireland online database.
- See FN 9.
- See Bartholomew Houlihan and Johanna McCarthy family page
- See FN 3.
- See FN 2.