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McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs
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McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs
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This page is a collection of notes on the McGoughs and McGeoughs in county Armagh. In contrast to county Monaghan, where, before the twentieth century, the spelling of the anglicised surname was usually McGough, in county Armagh the spelling of the name was more commonly McGeough. In the 1659 census of county Armagh, four McGeough families are listed, and no McGoughs. In contrast, the census of county Monaghan in the same year lists ten McGough families, and no McGeoughs. For more on spelling of the surname, see: Spelling of McGough. McGough, McGeough and McGeogh were originally anglicized versions of the same Irish surname, MacEochaidh. The different spellings were sometimes used interchangeably by the same person or within the same family.
In the first part of this page, the McGough, McGeoughs and McGeoghs in county Armagh are listed by parish and townland, which are first divided into South, North, and Middle Armagh. I have tried to preserve the spelling of the surname as it appears in the records I have used as sources.
County Armagh is immediately east of county Monaghan, and runs far enough north so that it also abuts on county Tyrone to the west. Here is a description of county Armagh in 1826:
"Armagh, a county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, 32 m. long and 19 broad; bounded E by Down, W by Tyrone and Monaghan, N by Lough Neagh, and S by Louth. It contains 5 baronies, 20 parishes, about 291,000 acres, 37,714 houses, and 196,577 inhabitants, and sends two members to parliament. The soil is in general rich and productive, but a hilly tract called the Fews is barren. Some good marble is found in this county; and the linen manufacture flourishes in all its branches. The only river of consequence is the Blackwater, which separates it from Tyrone." [From The New London Gazetteer (1826)]
A map of county Armagh and links to the major towns will be found at County Armagh—Towns and Map—on the county Armagh home page. A general map of the county and some history will be found at County Armagh, Northern IrelandGenWeb. A more detailed map is in the Report of the Boundary Commissioners for Ireland. 1885. A large scale JPG version of the map of Armagh is available on the Free Maps of Ulster page of Ulster Ancestry.
The Ulster Historical Foundation has published a map of The Civil Parishes of County Armagh. Free Maps of Ulster, published by Ulster Ancestry, includes maps of Armagh, Down, and Tyrone, among other counties of Ulster. The site also publishes Townlands of Ulster by County. PRONI has published a list of the townlands in county Armagh. Other local maps will be found at the Newry, Donaghmore, Loughbrickland & Banbridge Web Site—Maps.
PRONI also publishes an alphabetical list of the parishes of Northern Ireland with links to each parish. The links to parishes in county Armagh usually contain a sketch of the parishes of the county with the location of the particular parish in red. The site also lists all the townlands in the parish. PRONI also publishes an alphabetical list of townlands, and lists of townlands by county and parish.
See also: County Armagh—Towns and Map on the website County Armagh Northern Ireland.
A map of the Catholic parishes of Armagh is published on the website of the Archdiocese of Armagh.
Two of the 1:50,000 maps in the Discovery Series published by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland are especially helpful in interpreting the locations mentioned on this web page: sheet 19, Armagh; and sheet 28, Monaghan. These maps are divided into one kilometer squares on which the Irish Grid Reference System is based. To facilitate the use of these maps, I give distances on this page in kilometers. To convert kilometers to miles, multiply the number of kilometers by 0.62. Two other maps of the Discovery Series are necessary to cover the eastern edge of county Armagh: sheet 20, Craigavon; and sheet 29, The Mournes.
Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary is a guide to the towns and villages of Ireland that was published in London in 1837. What Lewis has to say about the city of Armagh before the famine will be found on this website. This is part of a city of Armagh website that contains much other interesting information. For his comments on the county of Armagh, see NIR-ARMAGH-L Archives. See also Lewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland, 1837 with descriptions of the parishes of Acton, Creggan, Derrynoose, and Grange. For more references to Lewis, see Research Material Index on Armagh Links. County Armagh by Charles D. Trimble gives a short history of the county and a description of many of the towns. There is a short history of county Armagh in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
For many links to county Armagh research sites, go to Research Material Index on Armagh Links. See also Dave Jassie's Armagh Index. For a list of texts to check, see Armagh Census Returns & Substitutes on Irish Ancestors.
This section covers the baronies of Fews Upper and Orior Upper. In these sections, the number before a name is a reference to my table in McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland.
Here is a map of south Armagh.
The parishes of Creggan, Forkill (popularly known as Forkhill), and Killevy lie on the southern border of county Armagh and the northern border of county Louth. Creggan lies partly in county Louth and forms the southwest corner of Louth, and Creggan's western border is part of the eastern border of county Monaghan.
For a description of several towns and villages in south Armagh, see Newry-Mourne Tourism—An A-Z of the surrounding towns and villages. On the same website is a map of the Newry and Mourne region.
An Associated Press article, printed in my home town newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, of March 13, 2003 (page A5), under the headline "Man killed in Northern Ireland's 'bandit country'," reported a murder in the village of Culloville in South Armagh on the border with county Monaghan, and said: "The border region is nicknamed 'bandit country' because of its IRA sympathies." See: FAIR—Speaking out for the Victims of Terrorism—Stories of South Armagh. Journalist Toby Harnden has written a book: 'Bandit Country'—The IRA and South Armagh (Coronet Books 1999) that tells the story of the last 30 years of operations of the Provisional IRA in South Armagh, and includes many interviews and materials obtained from the occupying British military forces. Harnden says, at page 14, that "no other part of the world has been as dangerous for someone wearing the uniform of the British army." A good counterpoint to Harnden's book is The Chosen Fews—Exploding Myths in South Armagh by Darach McDonald (Mercier Press 2000), which tells a story—with fewer gory details and more grace notes—of a native Irish population trying to stave off envelopment by an unwanted British military presence. See also A History of Ulster by Jonathan Bardon (Bath Press 1992), beginning at page 727. Subsequent events have supported the recommendation of the Boundary Commission in 1925 that this area be included in the Irish Free State. See my page McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in the Civil Parish of Muckno.
Here is an entry from a list of attacks around Crossmaglen from 1970 through 1987 published to show that people from Crossmaglen "know how to deal with you racist Brit bastards."
"1972—January: A two and one half hour battle took place south of Forkhill between Shean, Co. Armagh and Dungooley, Co. Louth. The British Army admits to having fired over 2,500 rounds of ammunition into the South and claim that the IRA fired about 500 rounds into the North. There were no injuries on either side. ... 1977—23 January: A mortar attack was launched against the British fortress in Forkhill. After the attack, 2 RUC attempted to drive the vehicle which had launched the mortars away, when it exploded seriously wounding them. ... 1978—17 August: A member of the Royal Marines was fatally wounded by a radio controlled landmine in Main St, Forkhill. ... 1980—9 August: A member of the Parachute Regiment was fatally wounded by a radio controlled bomb at Shean Rd, Forkhill. ... 1993—17 March: A member of the Royal Scots was fatally wounded by rifle fire in Church Rd, Forkhill. (17 March 1993: A British soldier was shot and killed by the IRA's South Armagh Sniper while on duty in Forkhill, Armagh. The unit were in pursuit of a man who had been acting suspiciously when a single high velocity shot was fired by a sniper who is believed to have been in a nearby vehicle. The bullet hit the soldier in the side and he died a short time later. Another British soldier returned fire at the vehicle but did not hit it." Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions in Wikipedia.)
To this list can be added: 17 July 1975—The IRA killed four British soldiers in a remote controlled bomb attack near Forkhill, County Armagh ... 21 November 1975— A British soldier was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb when he picked up a rifle which was left in an abandoned car in Forkhill, County Armagh. ... 15 April 1976—IRA volunteer Peter Cleary (25) was shot dead by the British Army shortly after having being arrested near Forkhill, County Armagh. ... 23 January 1978—A number of British soldiers were wounded and had to be airlifted to hospital following an IRA mortar attack on Forkhill British Army/RUC base in south Armagh. A booby-trapped lorrybomb also exploded nearby. ... 16 December 1979—A landmine bomb killed four British soldiers near Dungannon, County Tyrone. Another soldier was killed by a booby-trap bomb at Forkhill, County Armagh. A former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), James Fowler, was shot and killed by the IRA in Omagh, County Tyrone. ... 5 March 1982—Seamus Morgan, an alleged inofrmant, was shot dead by the IRA in Forkhill, Armagh. ... 31 January 1984—Two RUC officers were killed in an IRA land mine attack on their armoured patrol car, near Forkhill, County Armagh. ... 29 March 1997—A British soldier was seriously wounded when he was shot by an IRA sniper outside Forkhill security base in south Armagh. Kellena Timeline of Provisional Irish Republican Army Actions (Irish Republican Army | Facebook); Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions in Wikipedia.)
September 09 2009—Real IRA the chief suspects as border bomb carnage averted by Tom Brady, Security Editor, Independent.ie
Police on both sides of the border were on red alert last night after the biggest bomb planted by dissident terrorists for several years was defused.
Anti-terrorist officers believe the massive 600-pound bomb, which had been planted in concealed drums on the northern side of the Louth-Armagh border with the detonation unit hidden in the Republic, was intended to blow up a PSNI patrol.
Officers believe dissident republicans are behind the planned ambush and that it was most likely the Real IRA.
The homemade bomb, composed mainly of ammonium nitrate and sugar, was defused by British army ordnance officers at Carrive Road, outside the village of Forkhill, in south Armagh.
(See: Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), prepared by the University of Ulster. See especially A Chronology of the Conflict - 1968 to the Present.)
See also: The Troubles in Forkhill from Wikipedia.
Here is a map of the townlands of Creggan.
Ten townlands in the southern part of the civil parish of Creggan lie in county Louth. The main town in the parish of Creggan is Crossmaglen. Until he moved to dee sometime before 2010, the Very Rev Thomas (Tommy) McGeough, PP, VF, was the pastor at the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, Shelagh, Parochial House, 9 Newry Rd, Crossmaglen, Newry, Co Down. He is now (2010) in Ardee, County Louth. See the website of the Archdiocese of Armagh and the Creggan History Society. (For a 1999 visit to South Armagh in which Father McGeough played a part, see Michael Reed's posting of July 12, 1999, on RootsWeb. NIR-ARMAGH-L Archives. The armed patrols of the Armagh/Louth border are described.)
John McGeough and Mary Pyen (or Pegen) are listed by the IGI as parents of Rose McGeough born on March 3, 1866, in Crossmaglen, Armagh, Ireland.
The townland of Annaghdad is one townland north of the southwest corner of the parish of Creggan. The Tithe Applotment books of 1828 show a Peter McGeough in this townland (although the name is recorded as Anaghmar) and Griffith's Valuation shows a Peter McGeough there in 1864.
The townland of Annaghmore is about a mile north of Carrickmacross. It is bounded on the north by Kiltybane, on the east by Sheetrim, on the south by Creenkill and Corliss, and on the west by Teer and Drumlogher. The 1837 townland evaluation recorded only one house in the townland of Annaghmore worth more than £5 a year. That house was occupied by George McGeogh. See Annaghmare on the website of the Creggan History Society. A list of households (on the same website) in Annaghmare in 1841 lists Peter McGeough. The death of James McGeough in 1837 in "Annamaragh," which probably should be Annaghmare, is recorded in Pre-1958 Wills and Admons published by PRONI. The same site lists the death in 1838 of Peter McGeough, a farmer, of Annamar
Several McGoughs and McGeoughs are shown in the townland of Sheetrim. Sheetrim is 7 kilometers west of Castleblayney and 4 1/2 kilometers north of Crossmaglen. Sheetrim Lough is at grid reference H908 194. Sheetrim House is about 2 kilometers to the south.
32 Patrick McGough Sr. G 1864. [Patrick McGeough and Bridget McConville are listed by the IGI as parents of James McGeough born in Ireland on April 6, 1872.]
33 Peter McGough G 1864 [Peter McGeough of Sheetrim is listed as a farmer and resident of the area of the Sub Post Office of Carnagh in County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide and Directory 1888, by George Henry Bassett.] [Peter McGeough and Bridget McConvill (sic) are listed by the IGI as parents of Bridget McGeough born in Ireland on September 4, 1869. Peter McGough is listed as a "40 shillings" freeholder of a house and land in Sytrim (or Seytrim) who registered on August 14, 1813, as a tenant of Mr. Ball of Seyburn (Thomas P. Ball of England), as a holder of 40 shillings in house and land in the barony of Upper Fews in the Freeholders' Records of County Armagh, 1812–1818 who had registered on August 14, 1813 (PRONI reference D/1928/F/21A). On another document recording the same registration, he is listed as Peter McGeogh. (D/1928/F/20A). Their name also appears as Peter McGough in the Freeholders' Records of County Armagh, circa 1820 (PRONI reference D/1928/F/101). The August 14, 1813, registration is also recorded under the name Peter McGeough in the Freeholders' List for barony of Upper Fews, County Armagh, 1813–1820 (ARM/5/2/2). He registered under the name Peter McGeough at Newtownhamilton on July 31, 1824 (Freeholders' List for County Armagh 1824, ARM/5/2/12) and at Ballybot (£10) on January 18, 1831 (ARM/5/2/16) and November 30, 1832 (ARM/5/2/17).
CD Laurence McGeough (Sytrim or Seytrim) T 1828. Lawrence McGough of Seytrim is listed as a tenant of Mr. Ball of Seyburn, as a holder of 40 shillings in house and land in the barony of Upper Fews in the Freeholders' Records of County Armagh, 1812–1818 who had registered on August 14, 1813 (PRONI reference D/1928/F/20A). (For the same listing see the Freeholders' Listing for the barony of Upper Fews, County Armagh 1813–1820, ARM/5/2/2). He registered another house and land in the same place, with Mr. Ball as landlord, on August 19, 1917 (PRONI reference D/1928/F/21A). and on August 31, 1924 (D/1928/F/87). Lawrence McGeough also shows up in the PRONI records (D/1928/F/37) on a page called Seytrim township property of Thomas Ball, Esq., as a 40 shilling freeholder in Freeholders' Register, Upper Fews 1824–1827, as having registered on July 31, 1824, at Newtownhamilton. Here is the inscription on an old grave at St. Patrick's Graveyard, Crossmaglen, County Armagh (thanks to Michelle McGoff on her IrishMcGoff.com website):
Erected by Laur. McGeough
of Syrim in memory
of his beloved wife
Eleanor McGeough
who dept this life
June 24th, 1847
Aged 59 years.CD Owen McGeough (Sytrim) T 1828
CD Peter McGeough (Sytrim) T 1828
In the townland of Cornahove in the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 for the parish of Creggan is:
CD Peter McGeough T 1828
Cornahove is on the Armagh-Monaghan border about 3 kilometers west of Crossmaglen—just south of Lough Ross. Cornahove Lough is about 1 1/2 kilometers northwest of Cullaville.
Silver Bridge House, at the north end of the townland of Legmoylin, is about 5 kilometers east of Sheetrim House. The town of Silver Bridge is about 1/2 a kilometer south of Silver Bridge House, at H 953 180. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows 31 Walter McGeough-Bond as possessing land in the townland of Carnally.
The townland of Carnally (H960 168) is in county Armagh, about 3 1/2 kilometers north of the Armagh/Louth border, one kilometer south of Silverbridge, and 5 kilometers east by northeast of Crossmaglen. Griffith's mistakenly shows the townland in county Louth, so I list the entry both here and on my Louth page: McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in County Louth.
109 Walter McGough Bond Carnally Creggan Louth G 1854 Dundalk, Upper Drogheda. Rented 2 acres of land from James Jeffers at £1.8.0.
The townlands of Ummeracom (Ball), North, and Ummeracam (Ball), South, are on the eastern edge of the parish of Creggan, immediately north of the townland of Legmoylin, where Silverbridge is located, and immediately east of the townland of Dorsy. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows Walter McGeough Bond as holding land in each of these townlands:
CD Walter M. G. Bond Ummeracam (Ball) North Creggan Armagh G. 1864
CD Walter M. G. Bond Ummeracam (Ball) South Creggan Armagh G. 1864
McConville Baptisms Creggan Parish list several McGeoughs as sponsors:
March 3, 1846. James Donnelly and Mary McGeough were sponsors at the baptism of Felix McConville. The parents were Michael McConville and Mary Rice of the townland of Tullydonnell. [The townland of Tullydonnell is on the eastern edge of the parish of Creggan. At this time, there were McGeoughs in the townlands of Carrive and Cashell, which are in the parish of Forkill and adjoin Tullydonnell on the east. See below.]
February 24, 1860. Michael McGeough and Mary Hanratty were sponsors at the baptism of Catherine McConville. The parents were Hugh McConville and Betty Watters of the townland of Teer. [Teer is on the Armagh-Monaghan border, 6 kilometers east and 1 kilometer south of Castleblayney, and 3 1/2 kilometers north and 2 kilometers west of Crossmaglen. Map coordinates: H890 185.]
May 3, 1861. John McGeough and Catherine Caherty were sponsors at the baptism of Mary McConville. The parents were Michael McConville and Mary Rice of the townland of Tullydonnell.
July 18, 1876. Peter McGeogh (sic), and Catherine McCreesh were sponsors at the baptism of Peter McConville. His parents were James McConville and Susan McCreesh of Teer. Also listed as a sponsor was J. Rafferty.
February 15, 1903. John McGeough and Bridget McGeough were sponsors at the baptism of Patrick McConville. His parents were Michael McConville and Annie Kelly of Loughhcross. Also listed as sponsors were P. J. McArdle and Elizabeth Murphy of Crossmaglen.
On a list of the native Irish Speakers of Creggan parish at the time of the 1901 Census of Ireland was Bridget Hughes of the townland of Ummeracam (Ball) South, servant to Robert John McGeough. "General servant RW 18 Not Married Born: Armagh." The Census of Ireland 1901 for county Armagh, parish of Creggan, townland of Dorsy, which is adjacent to Ummeracam (Ball) South, showed R. J. McGeough as the holder of a corn mill and an uninhabited house, and as renting a 7–9 room house to Joe Malone. Land Owners in Ireland, 1876, Province of Ulster, County Armagh, page 209, lists Robert John M'Geough as the owner of 7213+ acres of land, with a valuation of £4079, in Silverbridge, Newtownhamilton. "Mr. Robt. John MacGeough" was a chief mourner at the funeral of Anne McGeough Bond on January 30, 1892. See Obituaries of Anne Smyth McGeough Bond (1805–1887), below. "Robert John MacGeough, Esquire" of Silverbridge House, Silverbridge, Ireland, held a coat of arms with the same crest as that of Walter MacGeough-Bond of Drumsill, "a naked arm embowed, the hand holding a scimitar" with the motto."Nemo me impune lacessit." Great Britain & Ireland Crests, volume I, part I, Index to Crests, M-N, page 362 (available by subscription on Genealogy.com).
Here is an article from the Reno Nevada Reno Evening Gazette of Mach. 2, 1881, from the McGeough In The News page on Sheryl Bansfield's website: McGeough of Lynn:
"A wholesale eviction of disaffected tenants has begun in Ireland. In recent evictions at Newton and Hamilton, County Armagh, on the property of Rev. Mr. McGeough, the women stoned the bailiff and invoked curses on the landlord, while the aged and sick people were carried out and laid on the roadside. The discontent in Ireland is likely to greatly increase."
Robert John McGeough has a niche in Irish history. In the "Crossmaglen Conspiracy" of 1882, allies of the Armagh/Monaghan Land League, identified as the "Patriotic Brotherhood," were charged with plotting to murder two south Armagh landlords: "Robert John 'Bond' McGeough" of Silverbridge and Henry Gustavus Brooke, as part of broader charges of conspiring to overthrow the Queen's government. One hundred fifty three men were implicated in a forged document known as the "Crossmaglen Book of the Patriotic Brotherhood." Sixty-five more men were named as co-conspirators in the forged "Mullabawn Book." In 1883, 12 men from the Crossmaglen area were convicted in Belfast, by what Darach McDonald describes as a jury "composed entirely of Orangemen from the Docks area (page 12), " of felonious treason and conspiracy to murder. Darach McDonald, at pages 8 and 9 of The Chosen Fews (above) says:
"The case of the Crossmaglen Conspiracy was more than a hiccup in the course of British justice. An exhaustive study of the evidence and the events suggests that it was a carefully orchestrated (if somewhat botched) attempt to identify Crossmaglen as a nest of malcontents who would stop at nothing to strike at the heart of the empire and bludgeon and blunderbuss their way to do so. It involved contrived 'atrocities', perjured testimony to the highest levels, paid informers, elaborate forgery of evidence, media manipulation by resident magistrates and the British authorities in Ireland, and jury-rigging after an initial mistrial (in Armagh)."
All but two of the convicted men were sentenced to ten years of servitude. The last of the prisoners was not released until 1889. Toby Harnden, in 'Bandit Country', at pages 119 and 120, adds this:
"Delivering sentence, Mr. Justice Lawson ridiculed the (Patriotic Brotherhood): 'Who are the people who have banded themselves together to overthrow the British, blow up Dublin Castle, murder landlords, drive tyrants out of the country?' he asked. 'A few small farmers, tailors, labourers and National schoolmasters. These are the men by which the country is to be regenerated by a process of murder and assassination.' The case became a nationalist cause celebre; in 1915, the Irish Volunteer newspaper described it as a 'campaign of calumny' in which 'the landlord and capitalist moulders of public opinion contrived to keep up the notion that Crossmaglen was the centre of bloodshed and murder.'"
There is a McGeough buried in the Creggan graveyard. Inscriptions in Creggan Graveyard. "Erected by Peter McGeough of Annaghmar in memory of his wife Annie Mc(?) Geough who died Deer 25th 1827 aged 55 years."
Peter and Patrick McGeough emigrated to Albany, New York, from county Armagh—probably the Crossmaglen area—and will be both found with additional family history under Albany (8th ward), Albany county, New York, where they are listed as Peter McGaough and Patrick McGowgh. See my page: McGoughs and McGues in the 1880 Census of the United States.
Michael and Patrick McGough emigrated from Crossmaglen to Elmira city (Chemung county), New York, in 1900. See: McGoughs and McGues in the 1900 Census of the United States.
James M'Geough, a grocer and hardware merchant, is listed in Crossmaglen, county Armagh, in the Belfast and Ulster Towns Directory for 1910.
The civil parish of Forkill, and the village of Forkill that lies in the townland of Shean, are popularly known as Forkhill. In emails of November 13 and 14, 2003, Eoin Murphy says that those who live in the town and parish spell the name with an h—Forkhill. When I answered that the IreAtlas Townland Data Base, Placename Search—Irish Ancestors, The Civil Parishes of County Armagh, Griffiths Valuation, and several other sources on the Web, use Forkill, he replied: "I don't so much have sources other than the fact that I live there." At his suggestion, I checked the 1:50 000 maps in the Discovery series of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland (number 36) and the Discoverer series of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (sheet 29) (Irish grid reference H014 157). Both maps spell the name Forkill—without an h. Frommer's Road Atlas Ireland (1st edition 2004) spells the name Forkill. The Newry Journal, however, and most of the popular press, consistently use the name Forkhill. See: Forkhill Village by John McCullagh ( Sunday, 09 January 2005). Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 uses the h, spelling the post-town and parish Forkhill.
See: The Troubles in Forkhill from Wikipedia.
Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Armagh 1835–8, volume 1, edited by Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams, published by The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, in association with The Royal Irish Academy of Dublin, at page 45, uses the h. Here is an excerpt:
Parish of Forkhill, County Armagh
Notes by George Scott and Another, 1837
Modern Topography
Village of Forkhill
The village of Forkhill [is] situated in the townland of Sean, about 7 miles from Newry in a south westerly direction. It contains about 10 1-storey houses, of which 4 are slated; 15 2-storey houses, 11 of which are slated. The only public buildings are a Methodist meeting house, market house and mill. The village is in a wild district of country and not very likely to improve. A short distance to the north of the town on the Belleek road there is a church and a range of buildings consisting of their schoolhouse.
In an interesting article, The place-name 'Forkhill', by Rory Kieran, the author spells the name with an h and says that the correct Irish name of Forkhill is "FOIRCEAL na CLEIRE." (He also describes the location and history of the townland of Shean in which the village of Forkhill is located.) Despite the apparently unanimous use of Forkhill by natives of Forkill, I have reluctantly gone along with with academicians and cartographers and use Forkill, with an occasional notation: (popularly known as Forkhill).
"The correct Irish name of Forkhill is 'FOIRCEAL na CLEIRE'. Clearly the present-day English version derives from the FIRST PART ONLY of the original Irish. This is most unfortunate from two aspects. Firstly, the 'FOIRCEAL' portion of the Irish name has always been the subject of debate as to its meaning, Secondly, the 'na CLEIRE' portion has disappeared entirely but it is, historically, the more important portion of the two parts. 'na CLEIRE' means.... 'of the PRIESTS' or 'of the CLERGY' and is a direct reference to the crucial historic fact that the FRANCISCAN PRIESTS founded a LOCUS REFUGII in this immediate area during PENAL TIMES."
See also: Forkhill origins by Rory Kieran, Thursday, 09 March 2006.
Wikipedia has this to say:
"The name Forkhill or Forkill derives from the Middle Irish oircél, probably meaning trough or valley. Cited as follows in translation: "we were in Forkill [in orcél], Slieve Fuad to the west of us, Slieve Gullion to the east". Attempts at explaining the origin of the name are invariably based on later occurrences of the name in Irish documents and are wrong."
To my eye, Forkill is a better translation of oircél or foirceal than is Forkhill. Here is a link to an "Interactive Map of Forkhill" (on IrelandsDirectory) where the map itself spells the name of the village Forkill. A well-received book uses the h in its title: Forkhill Protestants and Forkhill Catholics, 1787–1858, by Kyla Madden. McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion. Montreal, Quebec and Kingston, Ontario, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. 240 pp. $70.00 Cdn (cloth). The website of Ireland Genealogical Projects, County Armagh, uses Forkill Civil Parish in the title of a page, but uses Forkhill in the text.
The 1821 census of Forkill parish in Armagh lists both McGeough and McGough as householders.
John McGeough and Mary Holliwood are listed by the IGI as parents of Mary McGeough born on August 15, 1866, at Forkill, Armagh, Ireland; Betty Mc Geough born on August 22, 1873, at Forkill, Armagh, Ireland; and Bridget McGeough born on May 13, 1875, in Armagh, Ireland.
The Catholic parish of Mullaghbawn includes the civil parish of Forkill.
The townland of Cashel (H978 176) is in the parish of Forkill on its western edge, and on the eastern boundary of the parish of Creggan. The Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 and Griffith's Valuation of 1864 showed these McGeoughs possessing land in the townland of Cashel:
37 Anne McGeough G 1864
CD Arthur McGeough T 1828
CD Edward McGeough Armagh T 1828
38 Felix McGeough G 1864
CD Francis McGeough T 1828
CD James McGeough T 1828
39 James McGeough G 1864
CD John McGeough T 1828
CD Michael McGeough T 1828
40 Owen McGeough G 1864
41 Patrick McGeough G 1864
CD Patt. McGeough T 1828
42 Thomas McGeough G 1864
CD W. Bond McGeough (sic) T 1828. See McGeough Bonds in County Armagh, below. Keith Hanna sent me this article from the Anglo-Celt, published in county Cavan on October 2, 1851:
"ATTACK ON A PROCESS SERVER—On Wednesday last John M'CLERNAN, a process server, whilst engaged serving civil bills for rent due Walter M'Geogh BOND, Esq., at Cashell, near Forkhill, in this county, was attacked by a party of men dressed in woman's clothes, who took from him all the civil bills in his possession, and the original of several which had been served, beat and abused him most unmercifully, fractured his left (arm?), and left him in a very dangerous state. M'Clernan is a well conducted, inoffensive man.—Armagh Guardian."
Super Index of Irish Wills, 1270–1860, a compilation of Irish will indexes by Gloria Bangerter, lists a will of Bryan McGeough in Cashel, county Armagh, diocese of Armagh, filed in 1797.
The townland of Carrive (H982 170) is to the immediate south of Cashel and also forms part of the Forkill-Creggan boundary.
35 Brian McGeough (Cariff) T 1828
For a scholarly article, see: Ten Troubled Years: Settlement, Conflict and Rebellion in Forkhill, County Armagh, 1788–1798, by Kyla Margaret Madden (1999). This document is available on the web in PDF form on the Canadian Genealogy Centre. [For an abstract of the article and a reference to a hard copy, go to Library and Archives Canada and enter Forkhill in the Search All box.]. Here is a quote from page 90:
"The fears of the generals were well-founded, for in late March and early April 1797 an insurrection in Armagh was an actual possibility, and far more possible than it would be four months later when the rest of the country eventually did rise in rebellion. The number of United Irishmen in Ulster doubled between January and April 1797 and engaged in several aggressive displays of strength in south Armagh, in particular. In February an informant in Armagh [Bryan McGeough] testified that the United Irishmen intended to join the French on their landing and overthrow the government. In early April, Knox reported that the country around Armagh had grown progressively worse and a rising seemed imminent: '[t]here is but one Report thro' the Country which is that whether the French come or not (and they are soon expected) the United Irishmen are to rise as soon as the ploughing season is over.'" (citing in footnote 50):
"Information of Bryan McGeough, 28 February 1797, ISPO 620/29/26; Knox to Pelham, 4 April 1797, ISPO 620/29/177."
Kyla Madden is an assistant professor of Irish history at Queen's University. In 2005, she published an award-winning book: Forkhill Protestants and Forkhill Catholics, 1787–1858.
CD Patt. McGeough (Cariff) T 1828
CD Peter McGeough (Cariff) T 1828
36 Patrick McGeough G 1864 [Ann McGeough, in a posting on genforum on October 3, 2000, says in part: "My father is a Gerry McGeough born 1913 youngest child of Patrick & Mary McGeough from Carrive " Here is a gravestone entry from the Urney Old Graveyard published on the website of the Faughart Historical Society:
Mc GOUGH—Erected in memory of Patrick Mc Gough of Carriff who departed this life August 12th 1865 aged 74 years also his daughter Mary who departed this life July 30th 1850 aged 21 years also his son Patrick who departed this life August 2nd 1861 aged 26 years (19).
The Urney graveyard is also known as Unrai, and is in the townland of Dungooley, county Louth.
Here is part of an email of January 21, 2007, from Paddy and Jane Murphy:
"There is a book out titled 'Kick any Stone' that has in it the 1821 census of Forkhill Parish County Armagh. There are many McGeough’s listed in it—the majority of these people being in the townlands of Cashel and Carrive (Carriff)! There are still descendants of Patrick McGough living in Carrive! [The book is: "Kick Any Stone: Townlands, People and Stories from Forkhill Parish" assembled by the Mullaghbane (or Mullaghbawn) Community Association, compiled and edited by Una Walsh and Kevin Murphy.]
"Patrick’s headstone is in the Urni Graveyard, in the townland of Dungooley! The tombstone reads: Erected in memory of Patrick McGough of Carriff who departed this life August 12th 1865 aged 74 years also his daughter Mary who departed this life July 30 1850 aged 21 years also his son Patrick who departed this life August 2nd 1861 aged 26 years. We have a photo of this tombstone!"
See: Forkill Civil Parish, County Armagh, Tithe Applotments.
Here is a posting on Genforum:
"Rose McGeough c.1770s Carrive, Co. Armagh. Posted by: Michael Byron Date: April 09, 2000. George Coburn married Rose McGeough who was from, I think, Carrive, Co. Armagh. They had a son Cornelius in c.1798 and a daughter named Bridget (4) and another called Ann (b.1811). Ann died 11/8/1833 and is buried in Castletown graveyard, Dundalk. Can anyone confirm this?"
See Michael Byron's Family Tree. George Coburn(A). For more on this family, see my page McGoughs, McGeoughs and McGeoghs in County Louth under Barony of Upper Dundalk—Civil Parish of Barronstown. George Coburn and Rose McGeough, had a son, Cornelius Coburn. Cornelius married Catherine Murphy, and they and a daughter, Margaret Coburn, who married Owen McGeough, whose first child was born at Barronstown, county Louth.
Here is an email of March 11, 2011, to me from Maurice Carroll of Carrive:
Dear Hugh,
I have just looked at your web page McGeoughs in Co. Armagh. I can shed light on a number of issues regarding McGeoughs of Carrive. I am living in Carrive (as mentioned by Paddy and Jane Murphy as "descendants of Patrick McGeough still living in Carrive" under your "miscellany").
My great Grandfather was Michael McGeough married to Annie Murphy. I am related to Ann McGeough [genforum 3rd Oct. 2000]. Also Mary O'keeffe dublin. Her grandmother was a sister of my grandmother, both McGeoughs of Carrive. We have never met but I am well aware of the Cassidys from Rathfriland.
I could go on forever. Let me know if you receive this e-mail.
Regards
Maurice Carroll
The townland of Shean is near the village of Forkhill. "Shean townland lies around the southern and eastern foot of Slieve Brac which mountain lies to the west of Forkhill, and faces - across the valley - the beautiful, magical, mysterious, and legendary Slieve Gullion." It is near the spot sheet 29, The Mournes, of the 1:50,000 Discoverer Series of maps (published by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland) marked Rath Carrickinaffrin (grid reference J0040 1523). Pre-1910 Coroner's Inquests, available at PRONI, lists the death of Mary McGeough in Shean on April 22, 1890, and an inquest on the same day. Arm/6/1/1/2/96.
There were several McGeoughs and McGoughs in the townland of Killeen, at the southwestern corner of the parish of Killevy, in the Tithe Applotment Books of 1835 (where the townland is called Killian), and in Griffith's Valuation of 1864. To the immediate east of Killeen is part of the parish of Newry. Killeen is about 6 kilometers south of the town of Newry, at J085 205 on sheet 29, The Mournes, of the Discoverer Series of 1 50,000 maps of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
45 Art. McGeough (Killian) T 1835
CD James McGeough (Killian) T 1835
CD Larry McGeough (Killian) T 1835
CD Michael McGeough (Killian) T 1835
CD Thomas McGeough (Killian) T 1835
47 Patrick McGough G 1864
48 Peter McGough G 1864
49 Philip McGough, Sr. G 1864
The Tithe Applotment Books shows a number of Hanlon, McGlade and McGeough families in and around the townland of Killeen in the parish of Killevy in county Armagh, Ireland, in 1835. Members of these families may have emigrated together from Ireland to Perth, Ontario, and then to Barron County, Wisconsin. See Owen McGough and Bridget Kennedy of Barron County, Wisconsin.
Owen McGough was probably born in the townland of Killeen in about 1816. Owen's sister, Bridget McGeough, was married there. The civil parish of Killevy is divided into two Catholic parishes: Killeavy Upper to the south and Killeavy Lower to the north. The marriage was in the parish church of Killeavy Lower.
Owen's parents were Michael McGeough, who died sometime before November 1, 1842, and Bridget Murphy, both of whom were born in county Armagh, Ireland. Owen's father was probably the Michael McGeough listed above in Tithe Applotment Books in the townland of Killevy in 1835. Owen’s sister, Bridget McGeough, was married to James McGlade on February 20, 1840 "in the parish church of Lower Killeavy, county Armagh." An Owen McGeough was a witness to Bridget McGeough’s marriage in county Armagh in 1840. In 1835. This was her brother, the same Owen McGeough who migrated to Perth, Ontario, Canada, shortly after the marriage, and who married Bridget Kennedy in Perth, Ontario, on November 1, 1842. The Tithe Applotment Books show a James McGlade in the townland of Bellard in the civil parish of Killevy. Bellard (Ballard on the map) is about 6 kilometers west by northwest of the townland of Killeen, on the north slopes of Slieve Gullion. James McGlade and his wife, Bridget McGeough McGlade, also emigrated to Perth, Ontario, probably with Owen McGough. For the subsequent history of these families, see my page Owen McGough and Bridget Kennedy of Barron County, Wisconsin.
Patrick McGeogh and Rose Daly are listed by the IGI as parents of Mary McGeogh born on May 13, 1879, in Killeen, Armagh, Ireland. [Bernard McGough and Rose Daly are listed by the IGI as parents of Ellen McGough born on February 15, 1869, in Monaghan, Ireland.]
The civil parish of Newry is on the eastern edge of county Armagh, and on the western edge of county Down. Most of the townlands of the civil parish of Newry are in county Down, but those west of the Newry river are in county Armagh. For a map, go to Townlands in Newry Parish. [The townlands of Grange Lower and Grange Upper, which are part of the Lordship of Newry, are detached and located in county Armagh, 30+ kilometers to the north by northwest of the town of Newry. See the parish of Kilmore under Middle Armagh, below.] Griffith's Valuation showed one McGeough in the part of the parish Newry that was in county Armagh in 1864—in the town of Newry:
59 Arthur McGeough Town of Newry G 1864
Griffith's Valuation of 1864 showed two other McGoughs possessing land in the part of the parish of Newry that lies in county Down. They were in adjoining townlands of Cloghanramer and Damolly , about two kilometers north of the town of Newry, adjoining but on the east side of the Armagh-Down boundary (the Newry river). See the map at Townlands in Newry Parish in Co. Down & Co. Armagh.
80 Patrick McGough Cloghanramer Newry Down G 1864
81 James McGeogh Damolly Newry Down G 1864
The civil parish of Newtownhamilton is immediately north of the civil parish of Creggan, and lies on the western boundary of county Armagh and eastern boundary of county Monaghan. Walter McGeough Bond owned property in the townland of Altnamacken there at the time of Griffith';s Valuation in 1864:
CD Walter M. G. Bond Altnamacken Newtownhamilton Armagh
There were also holdings by Walter McGeough Bond in the parish of Newtownhamilton in the townlands of Cortamlet, Tullygalaghan, Tullyvallen (Hamilton) East, Tullyvallen (Tipping) East, Tullyvallen (Tipping) West. Tullyvallen (Macullagh), and Ummerinvore.
I include the baronies of Oneilland West and Oneilland East, the northwestern part of county Armagh, under this heading of North Armagh.
The civil parish of Kilmore (H942 512) is about 8 kilometers northeast of the city of Armagh (H875 455). On the western part of the northern boundary of Kilmore are the adjoining townlands of Ballytrue to the west (H948 532) and Lurgancot to the immediate east, where there were several McGoughs in 1864. Ballytrue is only a kilometer south of the Diamond, the scene of the Battle of the Diamond on September 21, 1795. Immediately following this battle, the Orange Order was founded at Loughgall, and a pogrom begun to force the Irish Catholics to abandon their homes in the area. Several hundred Irish Catholics migrated from northeast Armagh to county Mayo at this time. See: McGoughs in County Mayo under Exiles from Ulster? See also The Diamond story on the Website of the Portadown District Orange lodge No. 1. There was also a significant exodus of Catholics from county Tyrone at this time. See my page McGoughs, McGeoughs and McGoughs in County Tyrone under the subheading Omagh West—The Civil Parish of Dromore.
The Diamond is in the townland of Grange Lower, which is to the immediate north of the townland of Kilmore. The townlands of Grange Lower and Grange Upper are detached parts of the civil parish of Newry within county Armagh. The town of Newry is 30+ kilometers to the south by southwest. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland—Parishes of County Armagh 1835–8 (volume I, page 70) describe the townlands of Grange Upper and Grange Lower:
"Grange Upper and Lower, so pronounced. They both belong to the Lordship of Newry, although in the county Armagh and barony of O'Neiland West. Lower Grange is bounded on the north by Tartraghan parish, east by Drumcree parish, south by Drumard Primate, Lurgancot, Ballytrew and Tullymore and west by Tullymore and Derryloughan townlands. Upper Grange [is bounded on the] northeast by Tullymore, south by Annahugh and west by Castleraw. Proprietor Mrs. Cope, agent Mr. Hardy. Lower Grange contains 903 acres 3 roods 19 perches, Upper Grange 64 acres 2 roods 14 perches, farms from 5 to 40, rent 15s to 30s. Of the former about 100 acres are flooded in winter, and is on[ly?] 62 feet above the sea. The Diamond Cross is remarkable for being the seat of the first Orange lodge in Ireland, also for a battle between the Protestants and Catholics in the year 1795 in which some on each side were killed. These 2 townlands are tithe free, but the cess is from 5s to 6s per acre. Lower Grange contains a good school, see Schools. Armagh chief market, 7 miles distant, but they frequent Portadown, 3 and a half miles distant."
Drummard Primate, Lurgancot, Ballytrue, and Tullymore, which are identified as the southern boundary of the townland of Lower Grange, are adjoining townlands that run from east to west, are in the parish of Kilmore, and form part of the northern boundary of Kilmore. (Grange Upper is a small 46 acre townland to the southwest and is surrounded by townlands of the parish of Kilmore.)
An introduction to The Diamond, a web page on The Birthplace of Orangeism, describes the location of The Diamond:
"'The Diamond' is a hamlet in the townland of Grange Lower, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland. It rests neither in the Parish of Loughgall or Kilmore but in 1835 was recorded as actually being part of Newry within the barony of O'Neilland. The Cope Family of Loughgall Manor built a school, now closed, a schoolmaster's dwelling, which served as a post office and an adjoining Church hall. Church services were held in the Church hall until 1926 when the present Diamond Grange Church was built. Francis Cope in 1874 bequeathed three thousand pounds to build a Church at the Diamond, by 1926 the amount was four thousand."
Maps of the townland of Newry often show Grange Lower and Grange Upper as detached islands at the upper left hand corner of the map—similar to the way the state of Alaska is often placed on a map of the contiguous continental forty-eight states. For example, see Townlands in Newry Parish in Co. Down & Co. Armagh. The sketch map of part of the parish of Newry located in county Armagh on the PRONI website show the detached islands of Grange Upper and Grange Lower in their proper relationship to county Armagh. The web page Place Names of Co. Down: G... correctly describes the townland of Grange Lower as follows: "detached townland 30 km N of Newry town; 903 acres: in Co Armagh in 1999."
The Place-Names of Northern Ireland (Volume One, County Down I, Newry and South-West Down) (Queen's University of Belfast 1992), at page 27, describes the townlands of Grange Lower and Grange Upper:
"This detached portion of the Lordship of Newry, situated in the barony of Onewilland in Co. Armagh is occasionally called Grange Oneilland et var. in our early sources to distinguish it from other places of the same name. It was formerly a large tract of land variously styled as 'precenct', 'territory' and 'parcell of land' in the early sources where it is subdivided into smaller units or half-towns (CPR Jas. I 103a, 246b, Inq. Ult. (Armagh) §2 Jas. I. "
The town of Richhill (H946 481) (named after the Richardson family and formerly known as Legacorry) is at the south edge of the civil parish of Kilmore in the townland of Ballynahinch (Ballinahinch), is 3 kilometers south of the Kilmore parish Catholic church (H 943 512), and is often used in the IGI as the place of birth of McGoughs in the parish. Richhill is about 8 kilometers east by northeast of the town of Armagh:
James McGeough and Ann Cunningham are listed by the IGI as parents of James McGeough born on June 1, 1864, at Rich Hill, Armagh, Ireland; and James McGough and Ann Cunningham are listed by the IGI as parents of Sarah McGough born on June 26, 1866, at Rich Hill, Armagh, Ireland. The townland of Ballytrue (H948 532) is 5 kilometers north of Richhill and this is probably the James McGeogh listed by Griffith's Valuation as holding land in Ballytrue in 1864.
Patrick McGeough and Mary Anne Campbell are listed by the IGI as parents of Anne McGeough born on December 9, 1872, at Rich Hill, Armagh, Ireland. Lurgancott is a kilometer of so east of Ballytrue, and is also 5 kilometers north of Richhill. The is probably the Patrick McGeough shown by Griffith's Valuation as holding land in Lurgancott in 1864.
Peter McGeough and Ann O'Neill are listed by the IGI as parents of Peter McGeough born on July 26, 1865, at Rich Hill, Armagh, Ireland; and Ellen McGeough born on September 20. 1868, at Armagh, Ireland. Peter McGeough and Anne Neill are listed by the IGI as parents of Sarah Anne McGeough born on August 25, 1871, Armagh, Ireland.
In any event, McGeoghs were in both Ballytrue and Lurgancot when the Tithe Applotment Books were prepared in 1833 and Griffith's Valuation was prepared in 1864:
52 James McGeogh Ballytrue G 1864. (See the note under Richhill, above.)
53 John McGeogh Ballytrue G 1864 [County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide and Directory 1888, by George Henry Bassett, lists John McGeough of Ballytrue as a resident and farmer in the Sub Post Office of Kilmore in the Armagh District.]
55 Anne McGeogh Lurgancot G 1864
56 Patrick McGeogh Lurgancot G 1864. (See the note under Richhill, above.)
CD Peter McGeough Lurgancot T 1833
The townland of Annahugh (H935 524) is one townland removed from Ballytrue, to the southwest, and is about 2 kilometers east of the village of Loughgall (H 945 542):
51 John McGeogh Annahugh G 1864
The townland of Kilmore (H942 512) is one townland removed to the south of Annahugh, about 2 kilometers to the southeast:
CD James McGeough Kilmore T 1833
54 John McGeogh Kilmore G 1864
The townland of Mulladry (H974 497) is roughly in the center of Kilmore parish, two townlands or 3 kilometers to the southeast, of the townland of Kilmore:
57 William John McGeough Mulladry G 1864
John McGohey Crenagh Kilmore Armagh
The civil parish of Loughgall is almost immediately north of the city of Armagh, and borders the parish of Kilmore to the west. The parish of Grange lies between the city of Armagh and the parish of Loughgall. The parish of Killyman is immediately north of Loughgall, and borders on county Tyrone, about 2 kilometer northeast of The Argory. Two families with names similar to McGough residing in these parish in the 1820s are worth noting:
CD Hy. McGoagh Drummesple Killyman T 1825. {In modern lists, I have found no townland in Killyman or anywhere in Ulster with a name similar to Drummesple. The MacGeough Bond Papers at PRONI contains leases by the MacGeough Bond family of part of Killyman among leases dated in 1793 and 1819–1886.]
CD Bridget McGoughy Ardress West Loughgall T 1828
County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide and Directory 1888, by George Henry Bassett, lists as a member of the committee of Loughgall:
Robert J. McGeough, J.P. [Robert John McGeough, J. P., of The Argory, Moy, is also listed as Justice of the Peace for the Sub Post Office of Keady in the Armagh District.]
The parish of Tartaraghan adjoins the parish of Killyman to the east, and is on the southwest shore of Lough Neagh. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows Walter McGeough Bond holding land in the townland of Derrycor in Tartaraghan.
CD Walter M. G. Bond Derrycor Tartaraghan Armagh G 1864
The civil parish of Seagoe is near the northeastern corner of county Armagh, and includes the eastern part of the town of Portadown (which lies principally in the civil parish of Drumcree). The southeastern boundary of Seagoe is part of the western boundary of county Down. Shankill, in which is located the town of Lurgan (sheet 20, Craigavon J080 580), adjoins Seagoe to the northeast, forms the northeastern corner of county Armagh, and one of its townlands in county Down, Kilmore, a strip of land connecting county Down with Lough Neagh.
60 Ellen McGeough Turmoyra Seagoe G 1864 [Turmoyra (J060 600) is about 3 kilometers northwest of the center of the town of Lurgan.
61 Bernard McGeough Town of Lurgan (J080 580) Shankill G 1864 [See the first entry under Cook County under "Other McGoughs in Illinois from 1850 to 1900" on my page: John and Peter McGough—Two Brothers in Jo Daviess County, Illinois.]
The town of Portadown is located in the civil parish of Drumcree. Drumcree shares a border with Seagoe, and is to the west. Both the townland of Rough and the townland of Artabrackagh are on the eastern edge of Drumcree. Artabrackagh (H995 507) adjoins the civil parish of Kilmore to the east, and is about six kilometers to the east of the town of Kilmore. Roughan (H958 562) is about 8 kilometers north by northwest of Artabrackagh and on the western boundary of the civil parish of Tartaraghan, and less than 3 kilometers e north by northeast of the site of the Battle of the Diamond.
34 Luke McGeough Artabrackagh T 1828 [Luke McGeough registered on October 4, 1919 (Freeholders' List for Barony of O'Neiland West, County Armagh, 1813–1820 ARM/5/2/5), and at Portadown on December 13, 1828, as a 40 shilling freeholder in Artabracca in the barony of O'Neiland West. The landlord's name was Sir F. W. McNaghten (spelled McNatten in 1919) (Freeholders' List of Armagh 1828, PRONI Reference ARM/5/2/14).
CD James McGeough Roughan T 1827
This section of this page covers the baronies of Armagh, in which the city of Armagh is located, Tirrany to the west, and Fews Lower and Orior Lower to the east.
The civil parish of Armagh includes the city of Armagh.
John McGeogh the elder and John McGeogh the younger are listed in the city of Armagh by the Hearth Money Rolls of 1663. See Hearth Money Rolls for County Armagh, 1663–1665, below.
A copy of the will of Eliza McGeough who died in Armagh in 1765 is available at PRONI. Pre-1858 Wills and Admons,T/524/20.
Patrick McGeough is listed in the parish of Armagh by the Flax Seed Lists of 1796.
20 Eliza McGeogh City of Armagh G 1864
21 John McGeough City of Armagh G 1864
22 Thomas McGeough City of Armagh G 1864
Patrick McGeough, Baker, Thomas Street, is listed by Bradshaw's 1819 Directory for Armagh City. Patrick McGough, a baker of the town of Armagh, is listed in PRONI's Pre-1958 Wills and Admons, Armagh Diocesan Administration Bonds, with a date of 1830 and a note that no further information is available.
Super Index of Irish Wills, 1270–1860, a compilation of Irish will indexes by Gloria Bangerter, lists a probate proceeding of Patrick McGough in 1830 in the parish of Armagh.
James McGeough is listed as a shoe maker in Pigot's 1824 Directory of Armagh.
Mary McGough is listed as a baker in Pigot's 1824 Directory of Armagh.
Catherine McGeough was born 1853 in Armagh City according to a posting Maureen O'Connor of: January 30, 2001, on . RootsWeb. Her parents William McGeough and Margaret Sterling, who were married in 1848 in Banbridge, county Down. William's father was David McGeough, a farmer, and Margaret's father was Henry Sterling, a cabinet maker. A later posting of July 22, 2002, says that Catherine McGeough married Samuel Smyth in Belfast in 1875. "As far as I know the McGeoughs were Catholics."
Francis McGeough and Mary Smith are listed by the IGI as parents of Francis McGeough born October 25, 1880, at Armagh, Armagh, Ireland.
The townland of Ballynahomemore is located to the immediate southeast of the townland of Armagh, and seems to form the southeast section of the city.
23 Anne McGeogh Ballynahonemore G 1864
24 Patrick McGeogh Ballynahonemore G 1864
Patrick McGeough and Mary Quin are listed by the IGI as parents of Patrick McGeough, born on March 8, 1864, in Armagh, Armagh, Ireland; and Anne McGeough born on August 21, 1865, in Armagh, Armagh, Ireland.
The parish of Clonfeacle straddles the boundary between county Armagh and county Tyrone. About 3/4s of the parish is in the county of Tyrone. The extensions into county Armagh are in two parts, divided from each other by the Armagh parish of Loughgall. In the north part of the Armagh section of Clonfeacle is the townland of Derrycaw. This townland is the site of The Argory. Derrycaw is on the east bank of the Blackwater river, which forms the boundary between county Armagh to the east and county Tyrone to the west. The civil parish of Clonfeacle is on both sides of the river at this point. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 lists the Argory in the possession of Walter McGeough Bond.
CD Walter M'g Bond Derrycaw (The Argory) Clonfeacle Armagh G 1864
Derryscollop is a townland in the northern part of the portion of Clonfeacle that lies in county Armagh. Derryscollop is two townlands to the south of Derrycaw. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows that Walter McGeough owned land there:
CD Walter Bond Derryscollop Clonfeacle Armagh G 1864
Blackwatertown and Tullykeevan are adjoining townlands on the Armagh-Tyrone border, in the southern part of the part of the parish of Clonfeacle that lies in county Armagh. The Tithe Applotment Books list a Hugh McGough and Hugh McGeough in the townlands—probably the same person.
26 Hugh McGough Blackwatertown Clonfeacle Armagh T 1833
28 Hugh McGeough Tullykeevan Clonfeacle Armagh T 1833
Drumcullen is one townland removed from Blackwatertown to the southeast.
27 Thomas McGeogh Drumcullen Clonfeacle Armagh T 1833
Catherine Falls, age 70, daughter of James Curran and Bridget McGeough, of the townlands of Moy and Charlemont, parish of Clonfeacle and Long ..., Barony of Mid Dungannon, Counties of Tyrone and Armagh, applied for an old age pension in 1851. The application notes: "Family not found—father died when claimant was born & family will probably be found in mother's household—Bridget Curran." Old Age Pension Claims in the Barony of Dungannon. Griffith's Valuation of the parish of Clonfeacle in county Tyrone in 1860 shows a Bridget McGeough in the townland of Drumnashaloge. The townland of Moy is on the eastern boundary of county Tyrone, while the townland of Drumnashaloge is a considerable distance to the west and lies on the western edge of the parish of Clonfeacle.
Griffith's Valuation lists a Thomas McGeough (#495) in the townland of Carrycastle in county Tyrone in 1860. The townland of Carrycastle is actually in the part of the parish of Clonfeacle that lies in county Tyrone, so the compilers of the CD disk on the Tithe Applotment Books apparently made a mistake.
CD Thomas McGough Carricastle Clonfeacle Armagh [should be Tyrone] T 1833
The Hearth Money rolls of 1663 list William McGeogh in Drumsill, which is now in the civil parish of Grange. See below: Hearth Money Rolls for County Armagh, 1663–1665.
The parish of Grange adjoins the parish of Clonfeacle to the southeast. Walter McGeough Bond is shown holding property there in 1832 by the Tithe Applotment Books and in 1864 by Griffith's Valuation" Drumsill was listed as the principal residence of Walter McGeough on March 30, 1818, when he registered as a £50 landholder in the barony of O'Neiland West. Walter McGeough Bond is listed as the landlord (Freeholders' Register, County Armagh, 1804–1830, PRONI Reference D/1928/F/103).
CD Walter Bond Drumsill Grange Armagh T 1832
CD Bond Walter M. G. Drumsill Grange Armagh G. 1864
CD Bond Walter M. G. Tirgarve Grange Armagh G. 1864
Elizabeth McGough, of Drumsill, Armagh, Ireland, is shown by the IGI as marrying William Houston of Drumsill, Armagh, Ireland, on August 9, 1732. Another entry in the IGI says that Elizabeth McGough was born about 1716 in Orangefield, Down, Ireland, and married William Houston there in 1737.
Super Index of Irish Wills, 1270–1860, a compilation of Irish will indexes by Gloria Bangerter, lists Mary Ann McGeogh for the townland of Drumsill, parish of Grange, county Armagh, in 1857. (Mary Anne McGeough died on March 28, 1857, at Drumsill House, later known as The Argory. See below.) The same book lists wills for Gildernew McGeough in 1718 and Isabelle McGeough in 1774 in what my notes show to be the townland of Knocknaroy, Armagh. The only townland in county Armagh (or diocese of Armagh) that now has a similar name is Knockaconey. Almost certainly, the reference in the index of Irish wills is to the townland of Knockaroy in the parish of Aghaloo, barony of Dungannon Lower, county Tyrone. See the information under those headings in my page: McGoughs, McGeoughs and McGoughs in County Tyrone.
Pre-1858 Wills and Admons at PRONI contains this entry: McGeough, Mary Anne, Drumsill, spinster, 1857.
Pre-1858 Wills and Admons at PRONI contains these entries for Joshua McGeough: 1755, copy of will, MIC/76; will and 3 codicils, 1814, D/288/157; Prerog will & grant, T/810/424, 1817. See McGeough Bonds in County Armagh, below.
The civil parish of Eglish is on the western boundary of county Armagh, adjoins the parish of Clonfeacle to the southwest. and the parish of Grange to the west.
John McGeogh, Ballyaghy, barony of Ardmagh, is listed in the Hearth Money Rolls for the barony of Armagh. This is probably the townland of Ballaghy in the civil parish of Eglish. See: Hearth Money Rolls for County Armagh, 1663–1665, below.
Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows that Walter McGeough Bond owned land in the civil parish of Eglish:
CD Walter M'g Bond Tartaghan Eglish Armagh [In the same townland is Walter M. G. Bond which is probably the same name indexed in a different way.]
The civil parish of Tynan is also on the western border of county Armagh. The north part of Tynan borders on county Tyrone; the south part borders on county Monaghan.
62 Walter McGeough Bond Killylea Bog Tynan Armagh T 1827
Samuel R. McGeough, of Breaghy, Killyleagh (Mid Armagh) (parish of Tynan) signed the Ulster Covenant of September 28, 1912, opposing home rule, at the Orange Hall.
The civil parish of Keady is on the Armagh-Monaghan border, and adjoins the parish of Newtownhamilton to the north.
43 John McGeough Crossdened Keady Armagh G 1864
The Armagh Landowners List—1876 includes:
John M'Geough, address Crossdened, Keady, owned 11 acres. 17.
Here is a message posted on June 28, 2003, on Irish Family Research:
"McGeough: Armagh, by james mcgeough (mickyos4@aol.com, 28.06.2003)
My Grandfather was born in Keady, his name was Lawrence McGeough, fathers name John McGeough. He had a brother, Patrick & sister, Ann. If anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated...Thank You"
Mary Ann McGeogh is listed by the IGI as born in Keady, county Armagh, Ireland, in about 1870. She married James Nugent in Keady in about 1885.
County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide and Directory 1888, by George Henry Bassett, lists as a Justice of the Peace for the Sub Post Office of Keady in the Armagh District:
Robert John McGeough, J. P. The Argory, Moy. [Listed as a member of the committee of Loughgall is Robert J. McGeough, J.P.]
The Armagh Landowners List—1876 includes:
Robt. John M'Geough, address Silverbridge, Newtownhamilton, owned 7,213 acres.
The Hearth Money rolls for 1663 list a Donnell McGeogh in the townland of Luggan, barony of Armagh. This may be a reference to the townland of Lagan in the civil parish of Keady, barony of Armagh. See: Hearth Money Rolls for County Armagh, 1663–1665, below.
The civil parish of Lisnadill is immediately east of Keady:
CD Sarah McGeough Ballyheridan (spelled Ballyharridan on the disk) T 1832. The MacGeough Bond Papers at PRONI contains leases by the MacGeough Bond family of part of Ballyheridan in 1759, 1817, 1824 and 1862–1875. Under Leases from the see of Armagh are "18 leases of Ballyheridan, etc, to Joshua MacGeough, 1771–95 (no. '130')."
CD Walter M. G. Bond is shown by Griffith's Valuation of 1864 as owning land in three townlands of Lisnadill: Corran, Farranamucklagh and Lislea.
Super Index of Irish Wills, 1270–1860, a compilation of Irish will indexes by Gloria Bangerter, lists a will of John McGeough in 1758 in Ballyheridan, parish of Lisnadill; and other probate proceedings for John McGeough there in 1762; and a will of John McGeogh there in 1759. Here is an entry from Pre-1858 Wills and Admons at PRONI: McGeough, John, Ballyherridon (sic), gentleman, 1862.
In the civil parish of Derrynoose, which is immediately north and west of Keady and east of Tynan, the Tithe Applotment Books recorded in 1825 an Alexander Geough and a Richard Geough in the townland of Lisagally.
The parish of Ballymore is on the eastern edge of county Armagh, and the eastern edge of Ballymore forms part of the western border of county Down.
25 William McGeough Corlust Ballymore Armagh T 1830
The MacGeough Bond Papers are summarized on the web pages of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Other than the name, I have found no connection with the MacGeough Bond family and my Irish ancestors.
Joshua McGeough died in 1755 at about age 73. According to the Goff Family History, he was born about 1683. A late 18th century document among the family papers describes him as "an Old Gentlemen of the county of Armagh [who] had by laudable industry, acquired a small Real Estate, and a considerable personal fortune worth in the whole about £100,000." Joshua was the founder of a McGeough family fortune. The major family estates were in Drumsill, a townland about a mile north of Armagh city; The Argory, near Moy, on the boundary between county Armagh and county Tyrone; and Derrycaw in county Armagh. (There is townland of Derrycaw in the parish of Drumcree, but the townland of Derrycaw of which we are speaking is located in the parish of Clonfeacle, barony of Oneilland West.)
Joshua McGeough married Anne Graham. Joshua’s elder son, William McGeough, the first of six children, inherited Joshua’s principal residence at Drumsill when Joshua died in 1755. Joshua’s younger son, Samuel, inherited Derrycaw, the site of The Argory. William McGeough married Elizabeth Bond, the daughter and heiress of Walter Bond of Bondville, county Armagh.
William’s second son was also Joshua. He sometimes used MacGeough rather than McGeough. This Joshua was born in December 1747 in county Armagh, died September 3, 1817, in Dublin, and is buried at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh. Sometime before 1769, he married Susan Pierce and fathered a son, John Goffe. John was born on June 7, 1769. According to one source, John Goffe was born out of wedlock, although another source says that there had been a divorce. The summary of the MacGeough Bond Papers on the PRONI website mentions papers in the file relating to "the settlements made on the two marriages of Joshua MacGeough of Drumsill, in 1781 and 1785."
Here is an entry from Later Scots-Irish Links, 1725–1785, page 68, on Ancestry.com:
McGeogh, Joshua, eldest son of William McGeogh, a merchant in Armagh City, matriculated at Glasgow University in 1765, graduated MA in 1767. [RGG#371] (roll of the Graduates of Glasgow University, 1727–1897. W. I. Addison, Glasgow, 1897. Source: Original data: Dobson, David. Later Scots-Irish Links, 1725–1825. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003.
Joshua McGeough recognized John Goffe as his son by leaving him £1000 that he had deposited for his son in a bank in Ireland. (See the obituary below.) Joshua did not, however, mention his son John in his will. Willard Carroll of Vancouver, Washington, was kind enough to send me a copy of the receipt signed by John Goffe for the £1000 from the records at PRONI:
"Received fromWalter McGeough Esq acting Executor of the last Will and Testament of his Father Joshua McGeough Esq deceased the sum of one thousand and twenty five pounds nine shillings and six pence sterling being the amount of the said Joshua McGeough's Bond & Warrant of Attorney for one thousand pounds principal money payable to John Goffe and all Interest due thereon and in full of all Demands whatsoever and I have this day delivered up the said Bond and Warrant to be cancelled. Dated in Dublin this 18th day of June 1819.
/s/ John Goffe
L1125, 9, 6
Present
Dan Brown"
Willard Carroll, who sent me this receipt, was born Willard Goff. His parents separated when he was three years old, so he took his stepfather's name. He was 81 years old in 2009 and lived in Vancouver, Washington. He is descended from the McGeough family. In an email of May 24, 2008, he says: "My ggggrandfather was John Goffe who was the only child of Joshua McGeough's marriage to Susan Pierce." Willard also passed along a note of his to Sean Barden of county Armagh in which he says: "The money was apparently never in the will but only as a supplement to the will as it appears that John had to sue in court."
Joshua McGeough later married Anne (Elizabeth) Johnstone, a daughter of Joseph Johnstone, on August 28, 1781, in Dublin. Their children were: William (who, in his father's "curious will," was left "only" £400 a year), who was born on June 15, 1782; Mary Anne, who was born on January 6, 1786; Isabella, who was born on June 30, 1787; Walter (who later added Bond to his surname), who was born on February 4, 1790; and Elizabeth, who was born on June 6, 1791. See Goff Family Descendants' Chart. [The IGI lists a marriage in 1756 of Anne McGeough, a daughter of Joshua McGeough, born in 1735 in Drumsill, Armagh, Ireland, to Joseph Johnston, who died on September 13, 1778. Elsewhere, the IGI lists the birth of Anne McGeough, daughter of Joshua McGeough, as occurring in about 1722 in Armagh.]
Irish Records Extraction Database on Ancestry.com lists the marriage of Joshua McGeough, Esquire, and Elizabeth Johnston at St. Anne, Dublin, Dublin, on August 28, 1781.
Mary Anne McGeough died on March 28, 1857, at Drumsill House, later known as The Argory. Isabella McGeough died on November 8, 1857, in London. See the obituaries below.
Samuel McGeough, uncle of Joshua McGeough, shows up in the records of Newry on March 26, 1756, as one of several subscribers to a turnpike road from Newry to Banbridge and Dundalk. See The Belfast Newsletter Index, 1737–1800, part 1, in the Banbridge section of Raymond's County Down website. On 27 February–1 March 1776, the Lord Lieutenant appointed Samuel McGeough High Sheriff of Armagh and Derrycaw. See Newry, Donaghmore, Loughbrickland & Banbridge Web Site—Scarva Belfast Newsletter Search. He was succeeded in 1778 by Arthur Noble. See the Series of High Sheriff's for the County Since the Year 1714. Samuel McGeough is on the Freeholders' List, County Armagh, 1753 (PRONI Reference D/1928/F/1B). His residence is listed as Newry, Lisdromquillian.
Joshua bought the site of The Argory in the townland of Derrycaw in the parish of Clonfeacle in county Armagh, in 1779 from his uncle, Samuel McGeough—who appears to have gone into bankruptcy in 1778. See the entry below for 11–15 May 1781. The Newry, Donaghmore, Loughbrickland & Banbridge Web Site, Newry Belfast Newsletter Search (adland only) contains these abstracts:
7 Aug. 1778 sold auction bidder assignees =McGeough, Samuel bankrupt 7 +Derrycaw +Charlemount meadows land grass 8 Nov. lots purchasers +Newry 1.
10–13 Nov. 1778 sold auction assignees =McGeough, Samuel bankrupt Four Courts Coffee-house +Skinner!Row +Dublin 3 Dec. estate +Derrycaw. Co. +Armagh +Blackwater +Charlemount oak rent annuity life =McGeough,Arabella map survey =Hanna,William +Newry +Blackwater!Town +Rich!Hill +Dungannon +Loughgall 12.
22–26 Jan. 1779 sold auction assignees =McGeough, Samuel bankrupt Royal-Exchange Coffee-House +Dublin 4 Feb. estate +Derrycaw Co. +Armagh +Blackwater oak wood. quit rent annuity life =McGeough, Isabella maps surveys=Hanna,William +Newry. +Blackwater!Town +Richhill +Dungannon +Loughgall +Charlemont 21.
11–15 May 1781 wood sold +Derrycaw!Wood +Charlemont banks navigable +River!Blackwater sale 1 June oak ash alder birch ship building mill house carriage. hazel shoot hoops water +Newry +Antrim +Belfast +Colerain lands let 1 Nov. farms lives pasture limed meadow turf bog mansion house demesne =McGeough, Joshua +Armagh.
10–14 May 1782 Co. +Armagh lands +Derrycaw let 1 Nov. farms lives years renewable pasture limed meadow turf-bog. market towns +Richill +Charlemont +Dungannon mansion-house demesne gentleman =McGeough, Joshua. +Castle!Dillon wood sale timber oak hazel shoots hoops water +Newry +Belfast +Antrim +Coleraine 11.
A daughter of Samuel McGeough of Newry emigrated to New Zealand, and married Owen O'Malley in July of 1777. Irish Marriages, an index to the marriages in Walker's Hibernian Magazine, 1771–1812, by Henry Farrar; London, England, lists:
O'Malley, Owen, Melcomb, c. Mayo=McGeough, Ann, d. of Sam., Newry July 1777 page 512
According to the summary of the MacGeough Bond Papers on the PRONI website, the earliest document linking The Argory lands, then known as Derrycaw, with the MacGeough family dates from the 1740s, when Joshua's grandfather, also Joshua McGeough, foreclosed the mortgage on the property from a family named Nicholson, who stayed on as tenants.
A history of Armagh politics in 1790–1800 mentions Joshua McGeough of Drumsill in connection with a meeting of the nobility, gentry, clergy and freeholders in Armagh on April 19, 1797. The meeting was requested by Lord Francis William Caulfield to discuss a perceived threat to security from United Irish encroachment and from a French invasion (and robbery and terror following the Battle of the Diamond in 1795), and to prepare an address to the king. In calling for the meeting, Caulfield:
"had the support of Patriot county members of Parliament Brownlow and Richardson and family friend Joshua McGeough of Drumsill."
Lord Arthur Gosford and Armagh Politics, 1790–1800, by C. P. McGleeson, which is chapter 19 of Armagh History & Society, edited by A. J. Hughes and William Nolan (Geography Publications 2001) (page 624). The same article, at page 625, describes one of the three groups at the meeting as:
"a liberal reformist group, supporters of Charlemont, led by Lord Caulfied and Richard M. Jephson, M.P.s for the borough of Charlemont and Joshua McGeough."
Although the more conservative "loyal address" of Lord Caulfied was not rejected by the meeting (which adopted a radical statement), Lord Caulfied and Mr. McGeough were given the honor of presenting that document to the government. See Dean Warburton's Reports on the United Irishmen in County Armagh by Reamonn O Muiri, which is chapter 20 of Armagh History and Society, supra (pages 659–660). This article, at page 642, says:
"Lord Caulfied, like the young Joshua McGeough of Drumsill, was an ardent parliamentary reformer."
McGleeson's article, at page 619, includes a map of county Armagh from around 1790 "with residences of the gentry." At Drumsill, about a mile north of Armagh city, is shown the McGeough residence.
John Goffe, the son of Joshua MacGeough and Susan Pierce, married Jane Gregston in about 1796. Their first son, William Goff, was born in Ireland on November 9, 1797. Two daughters were also born in Ireland, Mercy and Mary Ann. Mary Ann died in Ireland before 1801. On June 1, 1801, Susan Pierce left Ireland for America with her son, John Goffe, her daughter-in-law Jane, and two grandchildren, William and Mercy, and other relatives. A posting by Willard Carroll on Genealogy.com says that they traveled aboard the ship Albicore. Mercy died on the voyage and was interred at sea. The remaining members of the family landed near Boston, Massachusetts, on July 28, 1801. John Goffe bought a farm on the west bank of the Penobscot River, near Frankfort, Hancock County, Maine [now on alt US 1 about 12 miles south of Bangor]. (Frankfort is now in Waldo County. All of Hancock County lying west of Penobscot River and Bay was set off to form part of the new county of Waldo on July 3, 1827.) The family of John Goffe lived in Frankfort for sixteen years after settling there in 1801. John and Jane's remaining children were all born there. They are: Frances Goff, born 23 July 1802; John Eustace Goff, born March 29,1804; Joshua Gregston , born April 7, 1806; Alexander Lucius Goff, born January 8, 1809; Kinney Herbert Goff, born February 16, 1811; and Philo Goff, born June 9, 1813. We do not know when and where Susan Pierce Goff died. John Goffe and his family left Maine on October 1, 1817. They traveled by wagon, and arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 December 1817, a trip of 65 days. They eventually settled in Sewickly, northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. See Goff Family History and, for details of the genealogy of this family, see Goff Family Descendants Chart and Joshua McGeough (59); and Susan Pierce (60) and Anne Johnstone (889) on the Evans Family History Site. Many of the Goffs are buried, under the name Goff, in Sewickly Cemetery, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Another source indicates that John Goffe used the name McGoff, but later dropped the Mc. Here is an excerpt from the obituary of Chancellor M. B. Goff, of the Western University of Pennsylvania from the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph of November 8, 1890:
"Milton Browning Goff was born in Pittsburgh December 17, 1831. His parents were Philo and Prudence Brown Goff. In 1801 his grandfather, John McGoff, set sail for America, from Ireland, and dropping the Mc from his name, located six miles north of Portland, Me., at a place now called Goffstown. In 1820 he removed with his six sons to Allegheny County. He located at Sewickley and died in 1837. His son, Philo, a carpenter by trade, married a sister of the Rev. Benj. N. Brown, of the Baltimore Conference M. E. Church, and was accidentally killed in 1852."
Joshua McGeough's second son by Anne Johnstone MacGeough Bond, Walter, inherited or acquired much of the family property and added to the holdings. Walter was born on February 14, 1790, and died on March 17, 1866. (See his obituaries below.) Walter McGeough became a barrister after graduating from Trinity College in 1811. He was High Sheriff of county Armagh in 1819. In 1824 Walter McGeough assumed the additional name and arms of Bond out of "affectionate regard to the family of his deceased grandmother." Thus this family of landed gentry became MacGeough Bond. The Walter McGeough coat of arms was quartered with that of a member of the Bond family, according to information published by Edward McGough, who displays on his website the coat of arms that was granted in 1824 to Walter McGeough of Drumsill, county Armagh. Here is an entry from The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, BAA-Bywater, page 98, by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms (2d ed with supplement, 1884), reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company in 1967 (available by subscription on Genealogy.com):
"Bond (McGEOUGH BOND, Drumsill co. Armagh, exemplified to WALTER McGEOUGH, Esq., on his taking the additional name and arms of Bond, by Royal License 2nd Dec. 1824) Quarterly 1st and 4th, or, on a chev gu. three annulets ar. for BOND: 2nd and 3rd per bend ar. and or, three leopards' faces. two and one, counterchanged, for McGEOUGH. Crests—1st : A lion sejant ar. charged on the shoulder with an annulet sa.; 2nd: a dexter embowed arm, the hand grasping a scymater in the act of striking, all ppr. Motto—Nemo me impune lacessit."
Here is an explanation of the abbreviations: gu.=gules, or red; ar.=argent, or silver, or white; ppr.=proper. Quarterly means that the filed is divided into four equal parts by two lines, one perpendicular, the other horizontal. An annulet is a ring. Counterchanged means that the field is of two tinctures, one of color and one of metal (metal is never placed on metal, nor color on color). Sejant means "sitting." Per bend means that the field is divided into two equal parts by a diagonal from the dexter (left) chief to the sinister (left) base. See McGough Coat of Arms.
The name Walter recurs frequently in subsequent generations of the family. See lines 31 and 109 in the table in McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland. For more on coats of arms, see McGough Coat of Arms.
Miscellaneous letters and receipts to Walter MacGeough Bond, 1819-1862, available on PRONI under the subheading Correspondence, 1747-1862, includes an 1821 letter about the Presbyterian clergy's address to George IV which describes the MacGeough Bonds as "one of the most respectable Dissenting families." From this, I conclude that at least part of this family was Presbyterian. Some of the information in the obituaries below permits an inference that, in later years—after 1821—some of this family may have joined the Church of Ireland.
Before 1821, Walter McGeough Bond also acquired substantial lands in southern Armagh, southeast of Newtownhamilton and northeast of Crossmaglen. See the next section, McGeough Maps in County Armagh. At the time of Griffith's Valuation of 1864, "Walter McGough Bond" owned most of the land in the 342 acre townland of Legmoylin in the civil parish of Creggan, barony Fews Upper, in southwestern county Armagh. See Terence and ???? Boyle Family Tree. Adjoining Legmoylin to its east is the townland of Carnally where Griffith's Valuation lists Walter McGeough-Bond. Line #31 in my table in McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland. The townland of Legmoylin about three miles east of Crossmaglen, on the eastern edge of the parish of Creggan, and immediately east of the townland of Carnally. The village of Silverbridge is at the northern tip of Legmoylin. It is bounded on the north and northeast by Carrive (in the parish of Forkill), on the southeast by Tullydonnell O'Callaghan, on the south by Glassdrumman and on the west by Carnally. A map of the townlands of the civil parish of Creggan has been published on the website of The Devlin Family On-Line.
The addition of "Bond" to the McGeough name means that indexes must also be searched under B. For example, in the Tithe Applotment Books for Armagh (or at least in the CD-ROM version), a person whom I assume to be Walter McGeough Bond, is listed in the townland of Drumsill, parish of Grange, in 1832, as "Walter Bond." His primary surname, McGeough, appears nowhere. Since Drumsill was the family seat of the McGeough Bonds, I have assumed for the purposes of my table that Walter Bond is actually Walter McGeough Bond. If this assumption is correct, the same person is listed under "McGeough, W. Bond" in 1828 in the same Tithe Applotment Book in the townland of Cashell, townland of Forkill. See the two entries marked "CD" after line #42 in my table: McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland.
My assumption may be wrong. There was a Walter Bond of Bondville in the earlier history of the McGeough Bonds. This Walter probably died well before 1800, since he must have been at least fifty years old when Joshua McGeough died in 1756. This Walter Bond was the father of Elizabeth Bond McGeough who was married to William McGeough when William's father, Joshua McGeough died in 1756. Joshua's house at Drumsill passed to William. One source says that a son, Joshua MacGeough, was born to William McGeough and Elizabeth Bond in December, 1747. Other sources say that William fathered a son, Joshua, by a second wife. William died in 1791. See Goff Family History. A will of William M'Gough, 1791, county Armagh, is listed at page 304 of the Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland, published on Genealogy.com.
Bondville is in the townland of Bondville, also known as Tullybrick Etra, in the parish of Tynan, county Armagh. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland—Parishes of County Armagh 1835–8 (volume I, pages 127–8), under the parish of Tynan, Gentlemen's Seats, notes:
"On the west side of the road leading from Tynan to Middletown is Bondville, the residence of H. C. Bond Esquire ..."
The Argory in county Armagh was built between 1819 and 1824 by Walter McGeough Bond who assumed the additional name of Bond upon completion of the house. The house was originally known as Derrycaw House. Walter's decision to build this house in Clonfeacle parish on the Blackwater river was influenced by his father's will. According to its terms only £400 a year was left to the eldest son William; the bulk of the fortune went to the younger son Walter and his three sisters. The will stipulated that once Walter married he was no longer allowed to live at Drumsill, the family seat outside Armagh, so long as two of his sisters remained unwed. Although one sister died early, Walter judged correctly that the others, Mary Anne and Isabella, would remain husbandless and therefore decided to build his own house on the lands he had acquired at Derrycaw overlooking the River Blackwater. A photo of Walter MacGeough Bond of the Argory has been published on the Goff Family History website, which also contains a Goff Family Descendants Chart.
Some of this information about The Argory comes from a site at irelandseye.com that gives a good description of the house and says:
"There is a touch of the Marie Celeste about the Argory, as if time had stood still a century ago and its occupants might at any moment return from their vanished world, bringing the place to life. The house is neither large nor grand by nineteenth-century standards. Its importance lies in the remarkable survival of its interior which, unique in Ireland, evokes the atmosphere and ambiance of late Victorian country house life."
The Argory is located 4 miles northeast of Moy on the Derrycaw Road. (Irish national grid reference H 870 581.) The house is on the east bank of the Blackwater River, a little over 200 meters upstream (south) from Bond Bridge, which was built in 1890.
Irish Country Houses by Terence Reeves Smyth (Appletree Press) tells us:
"The Argory and most of its contents were given to the National Trust by the late W. A. N. MacGeough Bond in April 1979. Two years later the house was opened to the public following a major restoration, which included work to the stable block, designed in 1820 and surmounted by a cupola with an eight-day striking clock and a handsome weather-vane. The 300 acre demesne park has many pleasant walks." See The Argory, County Armagh.
Two other entries in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs for county Armagh should be noted. Under the parish of Clonfeacle, northern part, by J. R. Ward in January, 1838:
"Schoolhouse
"Derrycaw schoolhouse, situated in the townland of Derrycaw, is [a] neat brick building, 60 feet long and 30 feet broad. It was built by John McGeogh Bond of Derrycaw House Esq. ... established September 1832; income [from] John McGeough Bond Esquire, 12 pounds, 5 pounds from pupils. ... Authorized Version [of scriptures] ... total number of pupils 21, all Protestants; mistress Anne Reading, Protestant." (pages 21–2)
"Gentleman's Residence
"Derrycaw House, a residence of John McGeogh Bond Esquire, is situated in the townland of Derrycaw." (page 21)
Under the parish of Clonfeacle, southern part, by Thomas McIlroy:
"Gentlemen's Seats
"Derrycaw, the residence of W. McGeogh Bond Esquire, situated on the banks of the Blackwater river, is a handsome modern house built with cut stone, with extensive office houses and large garden There are about 92 acres of wood and young plantation." (page 24). ...
"Rural Economy
"The chief proprietors are Lord Cremorne, Colonel Verner, Major Molesworth, and W. McGeogh Bond Esquire. The latter resides in the parish." (page 25).
Under the parish of Eglish, which is in county Armagh on its western boundary with county Tyrone, and which lies immediately west of the parish of Grange, the Memoirs describe three water-wheel-driven mills, apparently on the headwaters of the Blackwater river: "Tullymore estate, proprietor Bond McGeogh Esquire, tenant David McMullan." (page 44).
A description of the parish of Grange in Lewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland, 1837 says:
"Grange, a parish, partly in the barony of O'Neilland West, but chiefly in that of Armagh, county of Armagh, and province of Ulster, 2 miles (N) from Armagh on the road to Belfast; containing 4132 inhabitants. This parish which was formed out of the parish of Armagh in 1777, comprises, according to the Ordnance Survey 6795 1/4 statute acres, of which 2411 1/2 are in O'Neilland West and 4383 3/4 in Armagh ...
"Here also are Drumsill, the residence of the Misses McGeough; Alistragh of R. M'Bride Esq., the grange of M. Pringle, Esq.; and the Glebe House of the Rev. C. W. Lyne. ...
"The parochial school is situated near the church, and is aided by an annual donation from the incumbent; two schools for females are aided by the dean, the incumbent and Miss McGeough; and a national school is aided by an annual donation of £20 from Lord Charlemont, who also built the school-house; they afford instruction to about 270 children."
For a reminiscence of days at the Argory in the early 1900s, when it was the estate of Captain Ralph McGeough Bond Shelton; see Childhood days at the Argory 1903–1916—From Review – Journal of the Craigavon Historical Society volume 6 number 1 by Elizabeth Lutton. Luton's grandfather was manager of the estate for twenty-five years. The author's mother, Muriel Annie McGeough Mullen, wrote:
"When I was born my father's salary was raised by £20 per annum, and Captain Shelton said 'It's to be a present for the baby.' So my parents decided to include the name 'McGeough' with my other names and so it is to this day! ... "
"Captain Shelton had a sister who was the mother of Lord Louth of Ardee Hall, Co. Louth. I remember his visits to The Argory, When Captain Shelton died in 1916 his funeral took place to the Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh and he was buried in the family vault, He bequeathed The Argory to his nephew who was a high court Judge in Egypt, he later was knighted and became Sir Walter Bond (Walter being a family name in the Bond family). The last owner of the Argory was his son and only child Mr Neville Bond; he loved The Argory and is buried in the grounds. He bequeathed the property to the National Trust and I can recall him saying to me that he had great pleasure in leaving it to the Trust and that he felt happy in knowing people would find pleasure by walking in the woods and through the house and also knowing that the estate would in future days be maintained and cared for by such a body."
These obituaries were submitted to RootsWeb.com by Gerald D. Hobson.
From the
Belfast News Letter
Belfast, Ireland
September 9, 1817
At Drumsill house, near Armagh, on the 3rd inst. after a short illness, Joshua M'Geough, Esq in the 72d year of his age - By his death society has lost a valuable member, and the poor a benevolent friend.
(Ed. note: Mr. McGeough was born in December of 1747, per The Argory, Co Armagh, Ireland, The National Trust, 1984)
From the
Belfast News Letter
Belfast, Ireland
April 6, 1857
March 28, at Drumsill House, Mary Anne M'Geough, eldest daughter of the late Joshua M'Geough, Esq., of Drumsill, aged 71 yrs.
(Ed. note: Miss McGeough was born January 6, 1786, per Burke's Irish Family Records)
>From the
Belfast News Letter
Belfast, Ireland
November 18, 1857
In London on the 8th inst. after a lingering illness, Isabella M'Geough, second daughter of the late Joshua M'Geough of Drumsill, in the county of Armagh, Esq.
(Ed. note: Miss McGeough was born July 30, 1787, per Burke's Irish Family Records)
From
The Armagh Guardian
Armagh, Northern Ireland
Friday, March 23, 1866
DEATH OF W. M'G. BOND, ESQ.
In our obituary columns will be found an announcement of the demise of this gentleman, a member of one of our oldest county families. He had attained the ripe old age of 76 years, whose retrospect reflects honour on himself and family. He was a resident landlord; and during the last few years expended large sums of money in the republishing and gratuitous distribution of the works of celebrated divines. As a husband and parent, Mr. Bond bore a high character for the affection which distinguished those important relations of life. The remains will be interred tomorrow in the crypt of Armagh cathedral, at half-past twelve o'clock.
From
The Press
(location not known)
Saturday, March 24, 1866
BOND -- Died, on March 17, at 8, Ely Place, Dublin, Walter M'Geough Bond, Esq., of the Argory, Moy, County Armagh, in the seventy-seventh years of his age after a painful illness.
From
The Armagh Guardian
Armagh, Northern Ireland
Friday, March 30, 1866
FUNERAL OF W. M'G. BOND, ESQ.
On Saturday all that was mortal of this gentleman was interred in the crypt of Armagh Cathedral. The remains were removed from 8, Ely Place, Dublin at 7:30 that morning, the body being enclosed in a stuffed shell, covered with lead and oak coffins, with rich massive mounting. The plate bore the following inscription -
Walter M'Geough Bond of the Argory County Armagh,
Born, 14 February, 1790,
Died, 17 March, 1866.
On arriving at the railway terminus here, a large assemblage of the gentry of the county and city was present to pay the last tribute of respect to the departed, and the coffin being placed in the hearse, the mournful cortage moved in the following order:
TENANTRY
Pall bearers
Lord Lurgan
Sir Capal Molyneux
Captain Saville
Joseph Atkinson, Esq.
Sir James Stronge
Maxwell Close, Esq.
William Tisdall, Esq.CHIEF MOURNERS
J. W. McGeough Bond, Esq.
William Bond, Esq.
Robert Bond, Esq.
Edward Bond, Esq.
Robert Smith, Esq.
Robert Staples, Esq.
Robert Dames, Esq.DOMESTICS
Medical gentlemen
Clergy of Established Churches
Presbyterian
Independent
Weslyan
Roman Catholic
Members of the legal profession
The magistry, gentry, merchants, and people of the city and neighbourhood.
The assemblage of carriages was very large.
When the procession reached the Cathedral gate, the remains were met by Rev. J. Chomley Loughall, and Rev. J. W. M. Strangways, Vicar-Choral, and conducted to the nave of the church, and placed on a dias. The Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh, the Chancellor of the diocese, the Precentor, and Prebendary of Loughall, joined by the choir of the Cathedral, formed around the bier, and the Dean, assisted by Mr. Strangways, went through the funeral service in a most impressive manner. This done, the remains were borne from the church to their last resting place in the crypt of St. Patrick's, where interment is restricted to a few families.
From
The Irish Times
(City unknown)
Thursday, January 28, 1892
BOND - January 25, at the Argory, Moy, Co. Armagh, Anne MacGeough Bond, widow of the late Walter MacGeough Bond, of the Argory and Drumsill, in her 87th year. The funeral will leave for the Cathedral, Armagh, on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
>From the
Belfast News-Letter
Belfast, N. Ireland
Wednesday, February 2, 1892
FUNERAL OF MRS. ANNE MACGEOUGH BOND
ARMAGH, MONDAY. - The funeral of the late Mrs. Anne MacGeough Bond, of The Argory, Moy, County Armagh, took place on Saturday last. The deceased lady was the mother of Mr. Joshua Walter MacGeough Bond, D. L., formerly M.P for County Armagh, and was the grandmother of Lord Louth. For a period of over sixty-two years she had been a constant resident in the county, and during that time she was a constant friend to the poor.
The funeral left The Argory at half-past ten o'clock, and arrived at Armagh shortly before one o'clock. The cortege was one of the largest and most representative that has been seen in the county for a long time past. The remains were enclosed in a suit of coffins, the inside coffin being richly upholstered, and the outside coffin finished with massive mountings. The brass plate bore the inscription:
ANNE MACGEOUGH BOND
Born July 17, 1805
Died January 25, 1892
Wreaths were sent by the following - Mr. Wm. Nassau Dawson and family; Mr. W. B. Sloan, gardener, The Argory, servants; Captain Shelton, Mrs. Shelton, Mr. and Honorable Mrs. Farrel, Mr. II A. Johnston, Mr. and Mrs. MacGeough Bond, Mr. Justice MacGeough Bond, Captain MacGeough Bond, R. A., Madame Recorbet, Hector Recorbet, Madame Dyet; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. MacGeough Bond, Miss MacGeough Bond, Mr. R. J. MacGeough, Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell Blacker-Douglas, Miss Borchard, Mr. E. Bigger, Lord and Lady Louth, Honorable E. Plunket, Mr. H. Verner, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, and Miss Newton.
The chief mourners were; - Mr. J. W. MacGeough Bond, Captain R. MacGeough, B. Shelton, Mr. William MacGeough Bond, Mr. Robt. John MacGeough, Lord Louth, Captain R. MacGeough Bond, Royal Artillery; and Mr. Maxwell Blacker-Douglas.
In the cathedral there was a full choral service, Dr. T. Osborne Marks presiding at the organ. The lessons were read by Rev. J. M. Hobson, Moy, and the prayers were said by Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh (Dr. Chadwick). As the remains were being borne from the cathedral the "Dead March" from "Saul" was played. The interment took place in the crypt of the cathedral immediately beside the remains of the late husband of the deceased.
[Walter MacGeough Bond and Ann Smyth are listed by Family Search's Ancestral Files as parents of Anne Marie MacGeough who was born in 1844 at the Argory (misspelled Argosy), Armagh, Ireland, and died on October 27, 1886, in Dieppe, France. She married Randall Percy Otway Plunkett on October 4, 1867, in Dublin, Dublin, Ireland]
Note: Ralph MacGeough Bond Shelton was the son of Walter McGeough Bond and Anne Smyth. He adopted the name Shelton from a distant relative. Here is a quotation from The MacGeough Bond Papers (D/288) at PRONI:
"Walter McGeough Bond ... was High Sheriff [of Co. Armagh] in 1819. ... He married Mary Joy of Belfast in 1816 but she died in 1829. They had one daughter. The following year he married Anne Smyth of Gaybrook, Co. Westmeath, and by her had six children. ... Since his eldest son, Joshua Walter, had already inherited Drumsill from his spinster aunts, The Argory was left to the second, Ralph, who adopted the additional name of Shelton, after a distant relation who may have left him some money. Captain Shelton is memorably recorded in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland as having "survived the wreck of the troopship 'Birkenhead' by keeping his trousers on (the sharks having first attacked those without protection)", and the steam yacht which he kept on the river Blackwater was appropriately christened the 'Birkenhead' to commemorate this lucky escape. ... In ... [1873] he married Caroline Molesworth, and it was under his ownership that most of the alterations to the house were carried out in the late 19th century.
"When Captain Shelton died without issue in 1916, Walter Adrian MacGeough Bond, who had already inherited Drumsill in 1905, inherited The Argory. He moved much of the contents of Drumsill to The Argory and sold Drumsill in 1917. He was a lawyer, ending his career as Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in Cairo, and was knighted for his services. In 1901 he married Ada Marion, daughter of Charles Nichols of Dunedin, New Zealand, a founding partner of Dalgety, Nichols & Co. Their son, Walter Albert Nevill MacGeough Bond, was born in 1908 and attended Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He ... [was] one of the Deputy Lieutenants for Co. Armagh. Long a student and patron of the arts, his and his family's interest in music is reflected throughout the house. He ... formed a large personal art collection, including many works by Ulster artists.'"
From the
Belfast Evening Telegraph
Belfast, N. Ireland
Monday, March 13, 1916
LAST OF HEROIC BAND.
IMPRESSIVE OBSEQUIES.
In the crypt of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, were laid to rest to-day the earthly remains of Captain Ralph MacGeough Bond Shelton, D. L., the last survivor of the ill-fated Birkenhead, which was wrecked in Simon's Bay, on February 26, 1852. Full of years and honours, he died at his residence, The Argory, Moy, Co. Armagh, on Wednesday last, and those who have the least knowledge of his gallant and adventurous career will re-echo the pious hope that "after life's fitful fever, he sleeps well." As Cornet Bond of the 12th Lancers he played a brave man's part in that great catastrophe, when the Birkenhead, with its cargo of human souls, went down, and he was one of the fortunate 184 who survived from the 683 on board. Not only did he gallantly save women and children in the early hours of that February morning, sixty-four years ago, but at the last moment, regardless of his own life, he went down to the saloon to rescue a child, and afterwards swam a couple of miles through the shark-infested waters to the beach. Even when he had reached the neighbourhood of the shore, after that terrible buffeting in the tumbling seas, he became entangled in seaweed, and it was only by superhuman determination and strength that he managed to gain the land. In the Providence of God he was preserved to take part not only in the Kaffir war, but the Crimean campaign, the Indian Mutiny, and other conflicts, and everywhere he acquitted himself right gallantly. He spent the evening of his days in the quietude of The Argory, surrounded by hosts of friends, and his death was sincerely mourned though he had long passed the allotted span of years.
The Argory is a fine mansion, outwardly as well as inwardly - the embodiment of solid respectability, a true reflection of the unoffending elegance of him whose passing the country now mourns. Punctually at the fixed hour - 10:30 - the remains were borne from the house and placed in a four-horse hearse. The cortege moved slowly down the avenue, where there were already signs of the birth of foliage, from trees with which intermingled oak and yew, emblems of majesty and courage, sorrow and immortality. The labourers of the estate acted as bearers under the guidance of the land steward, Mr. Isaac Allen.
The chief mourners were - Major Lord Louth, Westminster Dragoons, nephew; Mr. M. V. Blacker Douglas, nephew-in-law; Mr. A. D. Orr, representing Judge Walter M'Gough Bond, of Cairo; Col. Ralph M'Geough Bond, Royal Field Artillery, and other members of the family.
Amongst those present were - Major Close, Mr. Henry Augustus Johnston, Mr. H. B. Armstrong, Captain Richardson, Rev. Mr. Campbell, and Corporal Rodgers, H. A. C., deceased's former attendant. On the way to Armagh, which from Argory is a journey of seven miles, Drumsill, another old seat of the family, adjoins the road, and this estate was passed at a walking pace.
The funeral cortege arrived at the Cathedral, Armagh, shortly after twelve o'clock, and was received at the west door by the Lord Primate, who preceded the coffin, borne by labourers from the estate, reciting the Burial Service for the Dead. Down the nave of the noble Cathedral, with its ancient sculptures, monumental tablets, brasses, with tattered banners of the many gallant regiments, including the flag taken from the French at the attempted landing in 1798 overhead, marched the solemn procession, the Cathedral bell tolling out meanwhile its measured note. The coffin was deposited at the foot of the chancel steps, and the Lord Primate took up his position on the Episcopal throne, and the sacred edifice was filled with a devout congregation, inclusive of representatives on many public bodies in the City and County of Armagh.
THE LORD PRIMATE'S ADDRESS
The hymn "Lead, kindly Light" having been sung, the Lord Primate read the appointed lesson, and then said: - Ordinarily, we entirely shrank from delivering a funeral address on such solemn occasions as that, and chiefly because any words of man seemed to him to utterly weaken the intensity and force of our wonderful burial service, and, above all, the glorious words of hope that he had just read from the pen of St. Paul. Besides, there was always the danger that in affectionate esteem for the dead friend too much praise might be bestowed, or that, in ignorance of his finer qualities, too little might be said. In the presence of the sad mystery of death one might well indulge in pessimistic thoughts. It was, indeed, a strange picture of the vanity of all human things, that the loving heart, the active brain, the keen eye, and the strong arm should no longer be of any avail. In the presence of such a mystery it was best to say, with the Psalmist, "I became dumb; I opened not my mouth." To think that the noblest part of God's creation, man, made in the image of God, should be thus cut off, and often when his powers were at their best and his presence most needed, would indeed make pessimists of every one of us, if death were the end of all things. But St. Paul was no pessimist, and in the presence of the last enemy that shall be destroyed he rose to the highest pitch of optimism, and wound up with a peroration of matchless beauty: - "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for-as-much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Surely no other words were needed before they committed the body to the grave, earth to earth, ashes to ashes; but to-day they might well make an exception for a few minutes from the general rule, for they were about to lay in its last resting-place the body of a man who has helped to lay the foundation stones of our Empire, for Captain Bond-Shelton was the last survivor of that most gallant band whose deeds had helped to make England great, and whose daring lay at the basis of our national character and conduct. Did he say national character? The present Provost of Trinity College, who knew Germany better than most men, told him a few days ago that for many long years the story of the wreck of the Birkenhead was read in Germany to the cadets of the army and navy before they left college.
The suite of coffins was encased in a solid oak casket, with raised panel lid, and sides with carved plinths and solid brass mountings, the breastplate bearing the engraved inscription: "Captain Ralph MacGeough Bond Shelton, born 24th November, 1832, died March 8th, 1916." The entire funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. R. R. Loudan, F. L. C. E., undertaker and embalmer, Armagh, and were highly satisfactory.
From the
Armagh Guardian
Armagh, N. Ireland
Friday, November 23, 1945
SIR WALTER MacGEOUGH BOND
The death took place on Wednesday of Sir Walter Adrian MacGeough Bond, the Argory, Co. Armagh. Sir Walter, who had been ill for some time and was aged 88, leaves a widow and one son, Mr. Walter Albert Neville Bond.
Son of the late Joshua M. Bond, Drumsill, M.P. for Armagh in the fifties, Sir Walter was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, Germany and Paris, where he was Licentiate of laws. He was called to the Inner Temple in 1884, afterwards practising as an advocate in Egypt, where he became Vice President of the Court of Appeal at Cairo.
On his retirement in 1916 Sir Walter lived part of the time in the South of France and partly at The Argory, until 1939, when after the outbreak of war he came to the Argory. He was always a generous subscriber to many charities, local and otherwise.
In 1943 Sir Walter made a magnificent gift to Queen's University to form a Studentship for the application of science to agriculture. The Studentship is tenable only to graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture at Queen's. Its value is approximately 300 pounds. At the July degree ceremony the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Sir Walter.
MacGEOUGH BOND - November 11, 1945, at the Argory, Dungannon, Sir Walter
MacGeough Bond, aged 88 years. Funeral private. No flowers.
>From the
Belfast News - Letter
Belfast, N. Ireland
Thursday, November 22, 1945
SIR WALTER BOND
The death took place yesterday of Sir Walter MacGeough Bond (88), The Argory, Dungannon.
Son of the late Joshua M. Bond, M.P., Drumsill, Co. Armagh, Sir Walter was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, Germany, and Paris, where he was a licentiate in law. Called to the Inner Temple in 1884, he practiced in Egypt, and became Vice-President of the Court of Appeal at Cairo. He retired in 1916.
In 1943 Sir Walter made a munificent gift to Queen's University to form a Studentship for the application of science to agriculture. The Studentship is tenable only to graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture at Queen's. Its value is approximately 300 pounds. At the July degree ceremony the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Sir Walter.
MacGEOUGH BOND - November 21, 1945 at the Argory, Dungannon, Sir Walter MacGeough Bond (aged 88 years). Funeral Private. No flowers.
>From the
Ulster Gazette
Ulster, N. Ireland
Thursday, November 22, 1945
Passing of Prominent Gentleman
Sir Walter A. MacGeough Bond
A most prominent gentleman of the "older School," Sir Walter Adrian MacGeough Bond, of the Argory, Moy, passed away at the age of 88 years, after an illness of considerable duration.
One of the county's leading gentlemen, he was the son of the late Joshua M. Bond, High Sheriff of Armagh in 1872, and M.P. for the county 1855-7, and again 1859-65. His mother was Albertine, daughter of the late Mr. Frederick Shanaghan, Barrister of King's Lynn, Dublin.
A brilliant student, Sir Walter was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and later in Germany. He had his B.A. degree, was a Bachelor es lettres and a licentiate in Law of Paris. He was called to the Inner Temple in 1884. He practised as an advocate in Egypt, and became first Judge and then Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in Cairo. Recognition there included a second class "Medjidie;" second class "Osmanieh," and second class "Star of the Nile."
Sir Walter retired in 1916, and divided his time between The Argory and the South of France, going to the former residence when the war broke out in 1939. He was a generous subscriber to many charities.
In 1943 Sir Walter made a munificent gift to Queen's University to form a Studentship for the application of science to agriculture. The Studentship is tenable only to graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture at Queen's. Its value is approximately 300 pounds. At the July degree ceremony the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Sir Walter.
In 1901 Sir Walter married Miss Ada Nichols, daughter of Charles Nichols, Dunedin, New Zealand, who survives him. The son, Walter Albert Neville MacGeough Bond, was born in 1905.
>From the
Ulster Courier
Ulster, N. Ireland
Wednesday, December 17, 1986
MR. McGEOUGH
BOND
Formerly of The Argory
A former owner of one of Northern Ireland's best known estates has died.
He was Mr. Walter Albert Neville McGeough Bond of the Argory near Moy.
Mr. Bond passed away yesterday at the Manor Court Private Nursing Home in Dungannon where he had been residing for some months.
Aged 79, he was a bachelor and a son of Sir Walter McGeough Bond, a well-known Judge.
The late Mr. Bond attended Eton and Kings College Cambridge. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for County Armagh, a student and patron of the Arts.
Mr. Bond and his family's interests in music is reflected throughout the neo/classical house on the Argory estate which was built in 1820.
Set in 295 acres the residence and most of the contents were donated by Mr. Bond to the National trust in 1979. Much of the original furniture still remains and the house is lit by its own acetylene gas plant, the only surviving example in the British Isles.
The estate has been in the family name since 1741.
Mr. Bond travelled extensively throughout the world and he formed a large personal art collection in the house, including many works by Ulster artists.
Mr. Bond was also a very talented musician.
The funeral will take place on Friday and interment will be in the Estate grounds.
From
Undated and unidentified newspaper
Clipping in the archives of
The Argory
Moy, N. Ireland
Mr. W. A. N. Mac Geough Bond
Mr. Walter Albert Neville MacGeough-Bond (78) of The Argory, Dungannon has died after a seven month illness.
Mr. Macgeough-Bond passed away at Manor Court private nursing home on Dungannon where he had been a patient since July. He had been in failing health since taking a stroke in May.
A bachelor, he was an only son of Sir Walter and Mrs. MacGeough-Bond of the Argory and a former student of Eton College.
The Argory was presented to the National Trust in 1979 and opened in 1981 to the public. Mr. MacGeough-Bond had been living back at the Argory since 1980 after a time living in Jamaica and in Portadown.
Known to his friends as "Tommy" he was well respected in the Moy and Dungannon area and an active member of Moy Parish Church. During his lifetime he had lived at the Argory during the Spring and Summer, and in Jamaica during the winter months. His main interest was music and he was an accomplished pianist and organist. He had also enjoyed collecting art and had one of the most interesting collections in the country. He was also a vintage car enthusiast and collected many types as a hobby.
Mr. Bond attended Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He was a deputy lieutenant for Co. Armagh, a student and patron of the arts.
Mr. MacGeough-Bond had his own private apartments at the Argory to which he was devoted.
The funeral service takes place on Friday (December 19th) at 2:00 p.m. in the Argory. Donations are in lieu of flowers for Dr. Barnardoes Appeal Office, 414 Antrim Road, Belfast 15.
Messrs Holmes, Dungannon have charge of the funeral arrangements.
As mentioned above, Walter McGeough became a barrister after graduating from Trinity College in 1811. He was High Sheriff of county Armagh in 1819. In 1824 he assumed the additional name and arms of Bond out of "affectionate regard to the family of his deceased grandmother." The McGeoughs were major landowners in county Armagh in the 18th and 19th centuries. See: The MacGeough Bond Papers in PRONI.
The name of Walter McGeough, Esq., appears several times on an 1821 map of crown lands in the parish of Newtownhamilton, barony of Fews Upper, county Armagh, published in Historical Maps of Ireland by Michael Swift (Chartwell Books 1999) at page 113. The map is entitled "Map of the Crown Lands, Dorcey Cavan - O'Hanlon and Drumaltnamuck, Parish of Newton Hamilton, Barony of Upper Fews, County of Armagh, Surveyed by Order of The Rt Hon'ble and Hon'ble Commissioners for enquiring into Crown Lands in Ireland. By William Armstrong 1821." (The title is in scrollwork, with a crown at the top, a stylized lion on the left, and a unicorn on the right—the symbols of the British royal family. I have inserted commas in the title in place of breaks in the scroll work.) The townland of Dorcey is now spelled Dorsy. Drumaltnamuck is the modern spelling of the townland in Newtownhamilton parish. The crown lands in the townland that is modernly called Dorsy (Cavan O'Hanlon) consists of 120 Irish acres; Drumaltnamuck, 39 Irish acres.
The map shows the distance from the north boundary of Drumaltnamuck to the village of "Newton-Hamilton" to be two miles. At the southeastern corner of Drumaltnamuck is a bridge near the confluence of a stream that forms the western boundary of the townland and a river that forms the eastern boundary. The River is the Tullyvallen. The bridge is located where modern maps show the Tullyvallen Bridge to cross the Tullyvallen River, at H 916 237 on sheet 28, Monaghan, of the 1:50 000 map of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland. This bridge is a little over a mile from the eastern border of county Monaghan. At the southeast corner of Dorcey Cavan—O'Hanlon, the 1821 map shows a bridge that I think is at the same location as Garvey's Bridge across the Ummeracam River at H 955 217 on sheet 28.
The lands shown on the 1821 map are part of the royal holdings of King George IV. Noted on the map are the names of holders of land surrounding the royal estates. Walter McGeough appears in Tullyvallen, to the west of Drumaltnamuck, in "Dorcey," to the southwest of Dorcey Cavan—O'Hanlon, and in "Eumrycam" (Ummeracam) to the southeast of Dorcey Cavan—O'Hanlon. The lands in "Eumrycam" held by Walter McGeough Bond in 1821 are southeast of the Dorcey Cavan—O'Hanlon crown lands, include the modern townland of Cashell in the parish of Forkill.
Newtownhamilton is #25 on the map of the parishes of county Armagh published by PRONI. The parish immediately below, #5, is Creggan. The parish that adjoins Newtownhamilton to its southeast, and that adjoins Creggan to the east, is Forkill. Along the western edge of Forkill lies the townland of Cashell, which is about 8 kilometers due west of Slieve Gullion. Griffith's Valuation of 1864 shows six McGeough families in Cashell. See my page McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland, lines 37 to 42. Cashell is less than 2 kilometers southeast of Garvey's Bridge, which is the southeast corner of the Dorcey Cavan—O'Hanlon crown lands. McGeough's Crossroads, which gained notoriety in connection with the Omagh bombing in 1998, is probably in this area. See the next section of this web page.
An internet inventory of Maps of County Armagh, Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh describes map holdings in one of the local Library boards in Northern Ireland. Several of the inventories of maps in county Armagh describe properties owned by other McGeoughs. The descriptions are set out below. Note that the name of Joshua McGeough is spelled as McGeough, McGraugh, McGeaugh, and McGeogh. (His name is also spelled Mageough in other Irish records. See document #93110, 20 - 24 Jan. 1775.)
Allistragh. A map of the townland of Allistragh, Drumsill, Turgarve, Ballymartrim and Breagh situate in the county of Armagh. Property of John McGeough. 1804. John Graham. 8. D288/150. 2 copies. 1804.
Drumsill. Map of that part of land in Drumsill ... whereon Jos. McGeough's new dwelling house is built. 1788. Daniel Graham. 8. D288/100. 1:720. 1788.
Drumsill. Map of part of the demesne of Drumsill in the estate of Joshua Mc Geough. 1800. Robert Bell. 8. D288/138. 20 perches to 1". 1788.
Drumsill. A map of part of the townlands of Alistragh, Drumsill, Tirgarve, Ballymartrim and Breagh. Situated in the county of Armagh. The property of Joshua McGraugh. 1804. John Graham. 8. D288/150 neg 1. 1804.
Grange. (Co Armagh). Map of part of the townlands of Allistragh, Drumsill, Turgarve, Ballymartrim and Breagh. The property of Joshua McGeaugh (Mc Geogh). 1804. John Graham. 8. D288/150. 1804-1805.
Albertine MacGeough Bond married Joshua Walter MacGeough Bond of Drumsill in l856. Joshua Walter was the first son of Walter McGeough Bond. When Walter died on March 17, 1866, the main family home at Drumsill had passed from some spinster aunts to this oldest son. Walter left the Argory to his second son, Ralph Shelton McGeough Bond "who had for some reason reversed his name to Ralph McGeough Bond Shelton." Olwen Purdue, The MacGeough Bonds of the Argory—An Ulster gentry family, 1880–1950, Four Courts Press 2005, page 15. (Ralph's obituary says he added the name Shelton to his name when he inherited money from a distant relative.) Olwen Purdue's book is an interesting account of the Argory while in the hands in Ralph McGeough Bond Shelton and, after his death at age 85, on March 8, 1916, Ralph's elder nephew, Walter Adrian McGeough Bond, who had already (in 1905) inherited Drumsill house, and who agreed to live part of each year at the Argory. (Purdue, page 37). Two years before his death at age 88 on November 21, 1945, Sir Walter Adrian McGeough Bond had signed over the Argory to his only son, Walter Albert Neville McGeough Bond, who was generally known as Neville. Neville handed the Argory over to the National Trust in 1979, with a substantial sum of money for its maintenance. The Argory was opened to the public in 1981. Neville, who never married, continued to live at the Argory—in a small flat in the north wing—until his death in 1986 at age 78. (Purdue, page 50).
The Armagh Landowners List—1876 on the Newry, Donaghmore, Loughbrickland & Banbridge Web Site lists under B:
Edwd. S. M'Gough Bond, address the Argory, Moy, owned 525 acres.
J. W. M'Gough Bond, address Drumsill Ho., Armagh, owned 3,992 acres.
Mrs. Bond, address The Argory, Moy, owned 281 acres.
William M'G. Bond, same address, owned 1,421 acres.
The IGI lists the birth of Mary Hilda McGeough Bond to William McGeough Bond and Mary McGeough Bond Lees on December 5, 1876, in the town of Armagh.
In Landowners of Ireland, 1886, on Genealogy.com, is listed: county Down, "Bond, Walter M'Gough." Address: Armagh. Extent: acres, 610; roods, 3; perches, 35. Valuation: £ 686.0 s.
In 1865 Louth County Voters, listed under B is "Bond Walter McG., Armagh, - Ferrard [barony]"
The Waugh Deeds index lists the grantee of property in Armagh in 1842 as "Bond Walter MG + ant." The grantor was Mary A. Waugh and another.
In Burke's Irish Family Records on the Fermanagh Gold website, "MacGeough Bond" is only under B in the alphabetical list.
The Herefordshire Family History Society, in contrast, lists five MacGeough-Bond gravestones, all in the parish of Dixton, under "Surnames that begin with M." Dixton (or Dixton Newton) is a parish in England on the river Wye, on the road from Ross to Monmouth, and extending to the Gloucestershire border, 1 mile north-east from Monmouth railway station, in the Southern division of the county of Monmouthshire. Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire1901. One of the monuments is to Ralph Francis Xavier MacGough-Bond who died in 1946. This must be the person listed (under M) as "Ralph (LCol) Francis_Xavier MacGeough Bond (Aft 1857 - 4 Oct 1946)" in an Index of Persons in the McClintock section of the defunct Don Park's website.
There is a McGeough's Crossroads in the parish of Forkill in south Armagh. Two of three warnings of the Omagh bombing on August 15, 1998, were phoned from a British Telephone kiosk at this crossroads. The warnings may actually have increased the casualties because it caused police to move people away from the courthouse in Omagh and toward the parked car in which the bomb was planted.
"Three bomb warnings were made about the bomb, each of them inadequate and incorrect. Two were from a BT phone kiosk at McGeough's crossroads, Forkhill [sic], to UTV in Belfast and the Samaritans in Omagh. The third, which was also to UTV, was from another callbox at Loyes crossroads, Newtownhamilton. The two kiosks were cut out of the ground by police and removed to forensic laboratories for detailed examination. The only time this has been done before was in the Garda investigation into the bomb at Canary Wharf in London." Police Press Releases on the Omagh Bomb.
The Gardai said that the man who made the call's from McGeough's Crossroads was on the way from Omagh to Dundalk at the time. This information, combined with the information in the preceding two sections, supports my guess that the phone kiosk in question was the public telephone that was at Silver Bridge, about a kilometer northeast of highway A29, at Irish grid reference H 962 179, on sheet 28, the 1 50 000 map of Monaghan published by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland. Support for this conclusion is found in the fact that Walter McGeough Bond was sometimes referred to as being from Drumsill, Silver Bridge, Armagh. Ann McGeough Harney gives us this information under McGeough Bond in the "Miscellaneous" section of her web page McGeough's from Rhode Island and Monaghan, IE:
"Walter McGeough Bond of Drumsill, Silver Bridge*, Co. Armagh.
Barrister and High Sheriff of Armagh in 1819.
BA from Trinity College and assumed the name Bond by Royal License in 1824.
His gfather William, married Elizabeth Bond, only child of William Bond of Armagh City."*Drumsill is in Grange parish, near Armagh city in the north of county Armagh, several miles north of Silver Bridge in the south of county Armagh. The line must be read as saying Drumsill and Silver Bridge, therefore.
The phone kiosk described above is near the townland of Aughanduff in the civil parish of Forkill (although, on the basis of my sketchy townland maps, I would place it in the townland of Legmoylin, about 2 kilometers to the southwest of Aughanduff). Tony Harnden in his book 'Bandit Country'—The IRA and South Armagh (Coronet Books 1999), at page 437, says that there were two telephone warnings of the Omagh bomb from phone boxes in Lurgancullenboy and Aughanduff in South Armagh. The townland of Lurgancullenboy (H950 164) is in the civil parish of Creggan, 4 kilometers east by southeast of Crossmaglen, and a little more than 2 kilometers southwest of Silver Bridge.
Land Owners in Ireland, 1876, Province of Ulster, County Armagh, page 209, lists Robert John M'Geough as the owner of 7213+ acres of land, with a valuation of £4079, in Silverbridge, Newtownhamilton; and John M'Geough as the owner of 11+ acres of land at Crossdened, Keady.
County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide and Directory 1888, by George Henry Bassett, lists as a grocer in the small village of Silverbridge an "Ml. Geough." The village is described as follows:
"Silverbridge is a village of about 15 houses, on the Cully Water, between 7 and 8 miles, Irish, north, north-west of Dundalk, 3 miles, Irish, east by north from Crossmaglen, and 5 miles, Irish, north-east of Culloville, the nearest railway station. The land of the district is fair in the valley, but it soon rises to lofty heights and becomes poor. Potatoes and flax are the principal crops. Most of the farms are small."
This list of persons on the Hearth Money Roll for county Armagh in 1663 and 1665 is from Fáilte Romhat:
Owen McGeogh, MoymcCullen, barony of Orrier (page 122) (possibly the townland of Mavemacullen in the civil parishes of Ballymore or Loughkilly, barony of Lower Orior, Poor Law Union of Banbriade.)
John McGeogh, Ballyaghy, barony of Ardmagh (page 142) (probably the townland of Ballaghy in the civil parish of Eglish in the barony of Armagh.)
Donnell McGeogh, Luggan, barony of Ardmagh (page 138) (perhaps the townland of Lagan in the civil parish of Keady, barony of Armagh).
William McGeogh, Dromsill, barony of Ardmagh (page 146) (townland of Drumsill in the civil parish of Grange, barony of Armagh.)
John McGeogh, ye elder, Town of Armagh, barony of Ardmagh (page 152)
John McGeogh, ye yonger, Town of Armagh, barony of Ardmagh (page 152)
There was a Donaghy McGooghy in the townland of Carkiness, barony of Torhany. See: Hearth Money Roll for the Barony—Torhany.
In A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1887) by Samuel Lewis, volume II, page 439, under the heading Newton-Hamilton, barony of Upper Fews, Armagh, is this entry: "and a school built on his own estate is supported by W. McGeough Bond, Esq." Listed as subscribers to the large-paper edition of the book are Miss Eliza McGeough (#20), Drumsill House, Armagh, and Walter McGeough Bond, Esq. (#31), Argory, county Armagh. Walter and Elizabeth were brother and sister. See McGeough Bonds in County Armagh, above. Eliza McGeough is probably the Elizabeth M'Geough of Armagh who, in 1876, owned 15 acres in county Down. See County Down Land Deeds in 1876 on Raymond's County Down Web Site. In Griffith's Valuation, Eliza's name is spelled McGeogh. In my table, McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland, I have indexed McGeough Bond under M, although the rest of the world might index it under B. See lines 20 and 31.
In 1740, John McGough subscribed to the publication of A Letter of genteel and moral advice to a Young Lady. "To this are subjoined three poems, entitled I. The Month of May ... II. The Wish ... III. Rural felicity compar'd to public life, 1740, Wilkes, Wetenhall. Dublin Subject: prose Viewing records 175698–175698 of 1526399." This is from Biography Database 1680–1830, a collection of biographical records from the national, town, and trade directories of the UK and the US.
In 1736, William McGeough subscribed to The Life of William Bedell, DD, Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland (Second edition), 1736, Burnet, Gilbert. Dublin Subject: biography. Viewing records 133421–133421 of 1526399.
In the online catalogue of the Trinity College Library is The MacGeough Bond Collection : an exhibition of paintings and sculpture from the Collection of W. A. N. MacGeough Bond. Ulster Museum, Belfast 24 March - 16 April 1966.
Patrick McGough is listed by the IGI as the father of Mary McGough born in 1829 in Armagh, Ireland, and who died on on July 30, 1850.
Patrick McGough and Catherine McKenna are listed by the IGI as parents of Patrick McGough born on March 24, 1864, in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland; and Margaret McGough born on December 11, 1869, in Armagh. [Catherine McKenna and Peter McGeough are listed by the IGI as parents of Elizabeth McGeough born on March 1, 1872, in Ireland.]
Michael McGough opened account number 57318 at the New York Emigrant Savings Bank on January 31, 1867. He was born in 1830 in county Armagh. He arrived in New York in 1852 aboard the Crown of Liverpool. He was single, working as a flax dresser, and residing at 230 Bay Street. Sarah McGough, who was residing at the same address, and probably Michael's mother, opened account number 57348 at the New York Emigrant Savings Bank, on February 1, 1867. She was born in county Armagh in 1806, a housekeeper, who arrived in New York City aboard the London in 1855. She was the widow of Peter McGough, nee "McFarlan." She signed the account by her mark. Alice McGough, who was born county Armagh in 1826, and daughter of Peter McGough and Sarah McFarland, opened account number 90675 in the New York Emigrant Savings Bank, on June 20, 1872. She had arrived in New York in 1856 aboard the London. She was a housekeeper residing at 352 South 8th Street. She signed the account by her mark. I assume she was single, but the record does not say.
John McGough is listed by the PRONI Freeholders' Register of Armagh, 1820–39, as holding land in 1819 in the townland of Derrycughan (in the records as D'han, and Derrycughan is as close a townland as I could find) in the parish of Kilclooney in the barony of Lower Fews (near the town of Markethill). Most of the landholders on the page are in the townland of Ballylane, which is spelled in the old record as Ballylean (and Ballyleans). PRONI indexes John McGough under Ballylean, but I interpret the record (in cramped writing jammed into a small space) as Derrycughan (PRONI reference T/808/14934). (See Bygones and Byways—a local-history program about Markethill and District in Mid-Armagh, Northern Ireland.)
Here is a family that I include here because his mother's name was Margaret Mallon, which makes county Armagh the most likely place of the birth of Bernard McGeough:
The Ellis Island records show Bernard McGeough, a U.S. Citizen, returning from a visit to Ireland aboard the Mauretania on July 8, 1910. The Mauretania had sailed from Queenstown on July 3, 1910. The manifest of the Mauretania (second-cabin passengers, page 158, line 5) originally listed him as "Gough." Gough is written over by "McGeogh." Bernard was 67 years old, married, a farmer, a US citizen who could read and write, whose last permanent residence was Kilkenny, Minnesota, and whose final destination was Kilkenny Minnesota. (I had originally misinterpreted this manifest to indicate a birth place of Kilkenny county, Ireland, but there is no indication of the county of birth on the manifest.) In the column headed "Whether going to join a relative or friend; and if so, what relative or friend, and his name and complete address," is the phrase: "Fittzboyle Minn." In the Ellis Island index, his name appears as Bernard McG ... och. (Use "advanced search to find it.) This is the Bernard McGeough who is listed in the 1910, 1900, and 1880 censuses of Minnesota, Rice County, Shieldsville township. In the 1910 census, Bernard McGeough is listed as 66 years old, married once for 36 years, born in Ireland, who had emigrated in 1872 and who had been naturalized, a general farmer; with his wife, Mary McGeough, age 56, born in New York to Irish parents, mother of 10 children, 8 of whom were living; with 4 of their children, all of whom were born in Minnesota: Francis A., age 35; Patrick J., age 26; Mary, age 24; and Arthur, age 21. Mary was a teacher in the common school; and the three sons were all employed as a laborer on the home farm. Bernard McGeough is also listed in the 1900 census of Shieldsville, where he is erroneously shown as age 43, born in Ireland in March, 1857, a farmer who emigrated in 1872, and who had been married for 28 years to Mary A. McGough, who was born in New York to Irish parents. Living with Bernard and Mary in 1900 were 8 children, all born in Minnesota. The 1880 census of Shieldsville shows Bernard's correct age, 36. Shieldsville was an Irish colony in Rice County, Minnesota, named after General James Shields, the Irish hero of the Mexican War. See Immigrants on the Land: Irish Rural Settlement in Nineteenth Century Minnesota and New South Wales by Malcolm Campbell. See also Meet Shieldsville—The Story of St. Patrick's Parish, Shieldsville MN (Rice County), by Mary L. Hagerty (Frgn.IR.IM02).
Minnesota Cemetery Inscription Index, Select Counties Record, on Ancestry.com, says the Bernard McGeough was born on August 12, 1842, was a resident of the township of Kilkenny, Le Sueur county, Minnesota, who died on February 21, 1931; and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Le Sueur county, Minnesota. His wife was Mary Ann McGeough, and his parents were John and Margaret Mallon McGeough. (Irish Ancestors shows that, in Griffith's Valuation, the Mallons in Ireland were predominantly in county Armagh, with a significant number also in counties Tyrone and Antrim.) There is a Le Sueur county in Minnesota that adjoins Rice county to the west. There is a small township of Kilkenny in Le Sueur county. A Calvary Cemetery is located in Montgomery, Le Sueur county, Minnesota. Bernard's wife, Mary Ann McGeough, who was born in 1852, was a resident of Kilkenny (Minnesota) when she died, and is also buried in Calvary Cemetery, but no date of death is given.
Listed in Land Owners in Ireland, 1876—Armagh are:
Bond Arthur H. 204 Armagh
Bond Edwd. S. M'Gough 204 Armagh (address the Argory, Moy, owned 525 acres)
Bond J. W. M'Gough 204 Armagh (address Drumsill Ho., Armagh, owned 3,992 acres).
Bond unknown Mrs. 204 Armagh (address The Argory, Moy, owned 281 acres).
Bond William M'G. 204 Armagh (same address, owned 1,421 acres).
M'Geough John 209 Armagh (address Crossdened, Keady, owned 11 acres).
M'Geough Robt. John 209 Armagh (address Silverbridge, Newtownhamilton, owned 7,213 acres).
McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in County Armagh <http://www.magoo.com/hugh/armagh.html> |
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