Re: James J. Friel, Donegal, Ireland
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In reply to:
Re: James J. Friel, Donegal, Ireland
Kathy Faulk 7/25/02
Kathy, Bernadette,
Some comments on both your messages.
Pre 1900, movement from one farm to another was not common, but was possible. Farms were normally handed down from father to eldest son, but this was not always the case. Sometimes, for reasons of emigration, marriage, death etc farms became free and were taken by another family. There are contemporary records of a local parish priest, Canon O'Boyle, arranging for farms to be taken over by one family from another - presumably with the permission of the local landlord (The farms were generally held on a tenancy basis).
I really don't know why -other than for reasons of convenience -people would choose Fanavolty over Massmount. In fact, both chapels are quite close to each other - about 2 miles apart. In the case of Francis Friel he would have walked about 4 or 5miles to get to Fanavolty, which was the nearest chapel to him.
It occurs to me that there may be some confusion re Tamney as a birth place. The local method of giving postal addresses usually gives the name of the townland (eg Gortnatraw) followed by the name of the nearest local Post Office ( eg Tamney - if Tamney Post Office is the nearest to Gortnatraw)), followed by the name of the nearest main postal sorting office (eg Letterkenny). I don't know when this method was introduced, but it quite posibly existed pre 1900. People might therefore give Tamney as part of an address in registering a birth but in reality they might live several miles away in another townland. Also note that Massmount is just beside Tamney village.
On the matter of names, there was a limited number of common surnames in Fanad at that time, and as people generally married locally, it resulted in a large number of marriages between similarly named people. The names that Bernadette mentioned eg Whoriskey, are all locally common. Note the Whoriskey in Ballywhoriskey -(Gaelic for Whoriskey's home or town) -a small townland in north Fanad.
Finally as for 1872, I am not sure why there was a surge of emigration. It may have related to a threat of another famine, as it was only 20 or 25 years after the Great Famine, and people may have feared a repeat episode.
As ever, please note that the above is my personal speculation -I am not an academic historian.
Donal Friel