Re: Teehans in Co. kilkenny
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In reply to:
Re: Teehans in Co. kilkenny
James Lally 7/22/09
Michelle, I am sorry that it has taken me so long to reply. Strangely I also received an email today from Aoife Teehan and I am attaching my reply to him which I hope will satisfy your enquiries also.
My reply was as follows
Aoife,
Thank you for your note. I don't know whether I can help you but the following is a short summary of
THE HISTORY OF THE TEHAN FAMILY IN AUSTRALIA
The following are my wife’s ancestors who migrated from Ireland to Australia.
Michael (born Co. Kilkenny, Ireland 1803) married in 1835 to Mary Loughlin daughter of John and Annie (nee Whelan) Mary was born Co. Kilkenny in 1812
Michael’s mother was Margaret McCarthy but we are not sure what his father’s Christian name was.
Michael died in 1881 in the Rochester district of Victoria Australia aged 78 years whilst Mary died in 1904 at Rochester aged 92 years . Both are buried at the Rochester Cemetery. It is relevant to note that in some of the earlier documents here in Australia the family surname was also spelt TEEHAN
The following were their 10 children all born in Co. Kilkenny.
James
1834-1901
arrival in Australia
1850
Patrick
1838-1898
arrival in Australia
1862
John
1840-1897
arrival in Australia
1863
Mary
1843-1918
arrival in Australia
1861
(with herfather Michael)
Margaret
1845-1927
arrival in Australia
1863
Anne
1849-1931
arrival in Australia
1863
William
1851-1914
arri val in Australia
1864
(with mother Mary)
Bridget
1854-1924
arrival in Australia
1864
(with mother Mary)
Jeremiah
1855-1907
arrival in Australia
1864
(with mother Mary)
Michael
1857-1909
arrival in Australia
1864
(with mother Mary)
In March 1965 "The Tehan Family in Australia 1859-1965" was published by one of Michael's descendants, Mrs Tess Rogers after 3 years of research. It comprised the Tree (as it was then) and a short history. This was followed by the wonderfully attended re-union at St. Patricks Cathedral with 11 a.m. Mass and then a basket lunch in the Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne.
Since 1966 many of the "Tehan Family" including my wife and I have visited Ireland. Some of us have obtained information from Co. Kilkenny Tehans.
Because of the reports in various papers of the Tehan Re-union in Melbourne, a copy of one report was sent to Kitty Bennett nee Tehan of Co. Kilkenny from Bennett relatives in Portland, Victoria, and so began correspondence between the Kilkenny Tehans and the Victorian Tehans. Although we have no definite proof it is felt that the families are somehow related.
In the 1659 Census in Ireland, Tehan or Teehan is recorded as one of the principal Irish names in 2 baronies of Queens County (Leix} Maryborough and Ossory. It seems likely it is synonomous with Tegan or Tagan, O'Taghgain, which occurs in same census document in barony of Ikeathy. Co. Kildare as a principal name. Tehan also occurs in birth registers in returns for 1864-66 especially in Mount Mellick area where their town land is Bally Tegan.
This information was given by Frank Hogan's daughter Bernadette of Canberra and she obtained it from the Redemptopist Fathers in Ireland. Frank is a descendant of Michael Tehan, Avondale, Timmering.
Molly Foley, nee Teehan, of Clifden, Co. Kilkenny told Tess and her husband when they e visited Ireland many years ago that she believed the Tehan's came to Ireland with the Danes, settling in Kerry with then some going to Kilkenny and Limerick. Another story was that they were farmers in Roscommon area.
The parish priest of Kilkenny showed Tes and her husband the parish register but it didn't go back far enough to be of any value to us. Many of the early records were destroyed in Ireland when churches were pillaged and burnt.
My late father-in-law Tom Tehan and wife Nance had a few days in Kilkenny in May 1979 and as they were held up there for 4 days due to a petrol strike, they were able to visit a number of Tehan relatives in the area. Richard Tehan, Friesian dairy farmer of Bullock Hill, Ballyfoyle, was very helpful with use of his car. The following information is from Tom's diary of those few days and of a letter he wrote at the time.
"Booked in at New Park Hotel-Motel. Kilkenny and made contact with Richard Tehan and Josephine Tehan. The latter's daughter, Brenda, picked Nance and I up and took us to their home and later in day, Richard then took us to Molly Foley's (nee Teehan) at Clifden, Co. Kilkenny where we met members of the family, Molly, 80 years, husband, Patrick, 87 years, son Tom, who runs the farm, his wife Frances and 2 daughters Sheila and Bridget, and another son Eamon, a priest from a Parish 10 miles away.
We were entertained to the traditional whiskey and tea. Richard then took us to Kitty Bennett's (Molly's sister) nearby, where we met her family and then to Richard's own place at Bullock Hill, Ballyfoyle, 320 acres of beautiful dairy country with a 2 story home. Next day we were taken to another farm owned by Richard's brother Tom and wife Nell and family. From there we visited Tullaroan church and cemetery where we saw 2 old Tehan graves, one of which was Richard Tehan died 1890 aged 70 (Richard's grandfather) who may well have been a brother of our great grandfather Michael. We also looked at church and cemetery at Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary (which adjoins Co. Kilkenny) and saw more Tehan graves - Richard Teehan died 1891 aged 72, Edward Teehan (father of Molly Foley) died 1910 aged 78. The church there was built in 1828. From there we visited Josie Campion (nee Teehan) aged 70 years and the last of her family. The Campions originated from Belgium. A Father Teehan who died in Sydney in the 1960's was a brother of Molly Foley's. Molly also had a brother Paddy who was a retired Senator from the Irish Parliament. When Richard took us to the Tullaroan Church, we drove through the district of Gortnagap and I remember Richard stopping the car on a rise, getting out and showing us with a sweep of his hand, the whole of the Tehan estates as they were before they were dispossessed in the early 1900's”.
Josephine Tehan had confirmed that prior to her husband's death, he sold his land in the Gortnagap area. Co. Kilkenny".
Tess also reported that she believed that Helena Tehan, daughter of Nicholas and Anastasia Tehan of Kilkenny was writing a Tehan history and that her research leads back to a Baron Tehan of Roscommon and that the crest walls of our Tehan Crest are baronial.
I understand from stories which have been handed down that Michael had a farm in Co. Kilkenny, dairying and potato growing and that he felt it was too small to support his large family of sons and daughters. As there were good reports of land in Australia from Irish migrants who had gone there, he sent his oldest son James, 22 years in 1858 on the ship "James Browne" which sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne to seek settlement. As the passages of the family members were not assisted, but paid for by Michael, we presume they owned their land in Ireland.
James obtained a grant of land at Heathcote, Victoria on low long term repayments on condition that the land was cleared, cultivated and improved and a promise of eventual payment. He set off from Melbourne with horse, dray and provisions and reached his bushland on the upper stretches of the Goulburn River near Heathcote, where he was able to obtain aboriginal labor for tucker and tobacco. They started out in tents set up near some fine old elm trees and so the holding was called Elmdale.
Evidently James reported that the venture was worthwhile, because on August 30th 1861, his father Michael and oldest sister Mary arrived in Melbourne on the ship "Lightning" and joined James at Elmdale.
On the 26th July, 1862, Patrick, 2nd son, arrived Melbourne on the "City of Melbourne" and joined the family.
Bendigo was a thriving city at that time and so their cattle, horses and pigs would come from the market there, as well as all other supplies including timber. The next to arrive were 3rd son John and sisters Margaret and Anne on the "Southern Ocean" which reached Melbourne in August 1863. We are told that the girls brought materials, hand sewing machine, crockery, glassware, cured meats, packets of vegetable and flower seeds and there was a joyful re-union. The house at Elmdale was evidently built by this stage as when summer came, the girls demanded their brother to build a verandah right around it to give protection from the fierce Australian sun. Also about this time, land was acquired at Corop near Rochester and it was decided Patrick would have the Corop land and James "Elmdale".
John was next to obtain a grant of land at Nanneella near Rochester, which was a new developing area about eighty miles north of Heathcote,and as it adjoined a quarry he called the holding "Quarry Park".
The brothers were so taken with this land and as Mary, their mother and younger children were waiting to come out and join them, it was decided to apply for another smaller grant in this new district, and this became "Park Plains". In the meantime 3 more rooms were added to the 4 roomed house at "Elmdale" in preparation for the arrival of Mary and children after they had sold the Kilkenny land. The day came at last when Mary aged 48 and the 4 remaining children, Bridget 13, William 11, Jeremiah 9, and Michael 7 years, arrived in February 1874 on the ship "Blanche Moore". The following story of the joyful re-union was told many, many times by Mary and handed down to the descendants. Mary could always recapture the excitement and atmosphere when re-telling the tale.
"There was myself and himself and the wee ones and the others all laughing and crying together and the older boys tossing the little ones up in their arms, so delighted to see them after so long and Glory be to God, everyone so thankful we were all together again after the long years of waiting and praying to the Lord, and his mother and the good St. Patrick, sure twas St. Patrick's Day in Auld Ireland all over again and so it was, I'm telling ye".
The whole family lived at "Elmdale", Heathcote for a few months until the sons and their father completed the building of the family home at "Park Plains", Nanneella, and then with the exception of the three eldest sons, James, Patrick and John the family moved in. The three sons lived on at "Elmdale" and at end of the same year James married Anne Ryan. Patrick and John lived on with them till a home was built on the Corop land and they both then lived there. Mary was the next to marry and she married Richard Bourke whose land adjoined Johns "Quarry Park" land. Shortly afterwards, Margaret married Patrick Kerlin who was on land at Corop.
In 1870, Anne, the third daughter marriedJohn Murphy at St. Killians in Bendigo.
She was just 21 years and they lived on land at Corop also. Patrick now 34 years, married Bridget Kavanagh and they lived on his Corop land whilst John moved to "Park Plains" to help his father with the farm there and to start building a new home on his own land.
In the 1874 there were 2 weddings in the family. Bridget the fourth daughter and now 19 years of age married Edward Kerlin, a brother of Patrick Kerlin already married to Margaret and they lived on land at Timmering - a district which adjoined Nanneella and was about 10 miles from Rochester.
John now 36, also married Catherine Slattery, aged 23 years in early 1874 at St. Killians, Bendigo.The ceremony was performed by Dr. Backhaus. In 1880 Jeremiah, the fifth son, aged 33 married Maryanne Bourke of Kyabram and they made their home there, where Jerry, or more correctly Jeremiah, a little earlier had built the first hotel in Kyabram which was called the Hotel Kyabram.
In 1880 the father Michael bought further land at Timmering for his youngest son Michael and this holding was called "Avondale". In the same year Michael Snr. made over the "Park Plains" land to his fourth son William.
The following year 1881, Michael died at the age of 78 years. His widow, Mary, went to live with third son, John at "Quarry Park" and continued to live there for the next 16 years until John's death in 1897. Following his death she then went to live with her eldest daughter Mary Bourke on the adjoining farm at "Boxwood" and lived there until her death in 1904 aged 92 years.
Michael at the age of 29 married Anne Devine and they lived at "Avondale".
William at the age of 29 married Bridget McCormack. They lived firstly at "Park Plains" before buying at auction "Riversdale", Rochester which had previously been owned by Bridget's parents. They made their home there.
Aoife, I hope this is of some help to you
James Lally
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Re: Teehans in Co. kilkenny
Margaret Teehan 9/04/11