Patrick McCANN and Elizabeth BRIEN
County Wicklow, Ireland to Gloucester Township
February 26, 2008:
Hi Al,
I had an email from a man in NS who saw the McCann family listed in our chart on
B or B, and one of his ancestors seems to be the Ann in the attached family.
I was astonished to find that I had the Clonmore parish, County Wicklow, baptisms of
3 of the McCann children. Here they are:
CATHERINE of PATRICK McCANN and ELIZABETH BRIEN
bapt. 22nd OCT. 1826
sp: MICHAEL DOYLE and BETTY DOYLE
PATRICK of PATRICK McCANN and ELIZABETH BRIEN
bapt. 20th MAY 1832
sp: HUGH DOYLE and MARY BYRNE
JOHN of PATRICK McCANN and ELIZABETH BRIEN
bapt. 11th OCT. 1823
sp: PATRICK DOYLE and MARY WHELAN
I suspect those Doyles would be relatives. (The son, John, maybe stayed in ireland.)
... Anne
_____________________________
Fitzwilliam Tenants from County Wicklow - Family Group
ID: 742 Parish Aghowle
Year Listed: 1851
Surname McCann
Reference No. 72
Group Members:
Eliza 54, Bryan 29, Catherine 24, Pat 19, Ann 17, George 15.
Voyage Townland
Ship Pilgrim As spelt in the Emigration
Departure New Ross. May 1st Aghold
Arrival Quebec Official Aghowle
Other Information Holding
Chest/Graves in side column.
__________________________
Hi Al,
I've been corresponding with a Gary Long, descendant of Ann McCann and Richard Brady,
and from what he gave me, plus what you have on B or B, I've put this material
together on the FW McCanns in Ottawa. I asked Gary Long to send you a family tree
for Ann McCann and descendants, and he said he could do that.
George McCann, b c1837 Co. Wicklow, s/o Patrick McCann and Elizabeth Brien,
married Mary Bambrick, d/o Michael Bambrick and Mary Long (ND Cathedral)
- known children: Patrick (b c1868); Michael (b c1870)
Patrick McCann, b 20-5-1832, Aghowle, Co. Wicklow, s/o Patrick McCann and Elizabeth
Brien, m. Margaret Hogg
- known child: Margaret, b c1865, m. Victor Auger b c1861, s/o Joseph Auger and Martha
Isabella Leslie
Ann McCann, b c1833 Co. Wicklow, s/o Patrick McCann and Elizabeth Brien, m. Richard Brady
- known child, Margaret, b c1864, m. John Allen Long, b c1849, s/o John Long and
Mary Allen, on 21-11-1883. (Mr. Long was previously married (14-5-1874) to Elizabeth
Kill, s/o John Kill and Isabella Henry.)
Al, do you suppose John Long was related to the Mary Long who m. Michael Bambrick
at Notre Dame Cathedral: 26 June 1835, whose daughter Mary m. George McCann, above??
Bryan McCann, b c1822 Co. Wicklow, was in Gloucester in 1851 (census page attached),
listed next to Robert Sharp, also from Aghowle (mentioned in the letter from Thomas
Dowling on the Wicklow emigrants' page on B or B).
Bryan McCann was on the same 1851 census page as Moses Doyle, who kept us so
busy last week!
I've found nothing on Catherine McCann.
... Anne
___________________________
don't know how I missed this yesterday, Al: the marriage of the parents of that
FW McCann family:
Clonmore RC parish, Co. Wicklow:
PATRICK McCANN of KILLINURE married ELIZABETH BRIEN of UPPER MUNNY alias
MONEY 4th DEC. 1817 wit : JOHN DONOHOE and KITTY DOYLE.
This couple must have moved into AGHOLD after their marriage,
... Anne
____________________________
Here's a possible tangent or red herring, not my first:
Anne:
Look at this list of labourers from the 1851 census.
There are several large farm families plus numerous "labourers", all Catholic,
INCLUDING our Robert Sharp. It's as if they were all working on a construction project
together. Maybe clearing land for one of the farmers, maybe building Our Lady of the
Visitation Church, maybe working at the locks at Long Island, or maybe working or
staying at the large RC operation (retreat / seminary / boarding place?) on the
Bowesville Road, not far from South Gloucester. I wish I knew more about that place --
maybe it was a boarding place for new immigrants from Ireland. Was Robert Sharp a
Catholic, or is the census record incorrect?
Note: Michael Daley has informed me that this property was the 200 acre Spratt farm.
It is now called "Wapoos Farm" and is owned by the Oblate Fathers. It was not owned
by the Oblates until the late 1950's.
I believe that some of these men belonged to farms in the area, Patrick Fox, the
Redmonds, etc. What were they doing all apparently working together and not working
their farms at the time of the 1851 census?
... Al
(names for search engine: Patrick Fox, John Redmond, Bryan McCann, Robert Sharp, William Chapman,
Owen O'Donnell?, Thomas Rourke / O'Rourke, Mary Redmond, Patrick Whelan and John Doyle).
___________________________
Hi Al:
I think that Catholic designation for Robert Sharp is an error, Al. I think, since
he could write, that he was a Methodist / Presbyterian like Barb Dowling's people.
Would these men have been stonecutters in Ireland? In last week's discussion about
Brian Doyle's Hill, Mary Quinn mentioned quarries in
the area. Clearing land for the farmers is a very likely occupation for them, too,
as you suggest.
Now the following is a bit off the wall.
When I asked John O to search for Brian Doyle, he had no success, and said Brian / Bryan
would be an unusual first name in Ireland then; it was more commonly a surname.
Here's the off-the-wall part: Could Brian Doyle's first name perhaps have come from
his mother's surname, Brien / Bryan? (Notice that Bryan McCann of Gloucester carries
his mother's surname as his first name, AND that in 1851 he was on the next page to
Brian Doyle, b. Wicklow.)
Lower Aghowle is about a mile (probably less) from the Carlow border.
... Anne
________________________
Anne: There are very few men using Brian as a first name among the Peter Robinson
Settlers of 1823, the 1818 military settlers in Goulbourn or mentioned on the
McCabe List.
However, here are a couple of real Irish names in early Bytown. These first names
are also likely last names. Here are the names -- poetry in a name:
Callahan Fitzgerald.
Farrell O'Finan.
... Al
February 27, 2008:
Thanks to Michael Daley for reminding us that the Bytown and Prescott Railway was
being built in this area in the early 1850's.
Hi Al & Anne ,
Your list of labourers, in the 1851 census, I stand to be corrected, may have been
labourers working on, the building of the Bytown and Prescott Railway which passes
by the farms of the REDMOND , the Fox, and the Doyle families, and the Rourks were
not too far away. the first train went through CHRISTMAS Day ,1854. in my day,there
were Fox, Nolan, and Redmond men, and others still working as section men, on
that route, I do have a book on the building of that railway , but I lent it out a
couple years ago. there may have been a work camp set up , and MARY REDMOND may have
been the cook.???.
hope this helps,
... Michael Daley
_______________________________
Thank you, Michael; that's fascinating that there was a train there so early. That
would be the one that Al said later ran into the By Ward market area--an earlier
version of the O Train??
It sounds like very rocky terrain in that area, so not pleasant work at all. In
transcribing the Fitzwilliam rental records, I see the occupation "stonecutter"
quite often.
... Anne
______________________________
And here's another possibility: this group of labourers may have been staying at
John Cunningham's Inn which was located at Gloucester Station. Many of the railroad
men spent time there. One of my Great Uncles, William (Willie) CHRISTOPHER, worked
for the railroad. He married Isabella Leslie from the Gloucester Station neighbourhood.
Anne: I think that you sent me something yesterday about an Isabella Leslie being
married to a man named "AUGER" in the 1860's. This could be the same lady.
... Al
E-mail Anne Burgess, Mary Quinn, Michael Daley and Al Lewis
Back to Bytown or Bust - History and Genealogy in the Ottawa, Canada area -- Gloucester Township