The frustrations of genealogy as a hobby...
Where are my family?
Wow, my Irish Rice relatives have been tricky buggers to track down.
Years ago now, I found my great great grandfather, Patrick Rice aged 36 in the 1911 census living on the edge of Carlow with his wife, Elizabeth (26) and three children, Patrick (3), Elizabeth (2) and Mary (2 months).
I have long been satisfied that this is the right one. Partly, because I knew already he worked in a coal yard (dying from a lung complaint in his early 50s) – which is supported by the census which gives his profession as ‘Manager in a coal yard’. Furthermore, his wife’s name fits (my granny said her name was Eliza or Elizabeth Nolan) and the children’s names and ages fit. Patrick was my granny’s uncle, Elizabeth is clearly Aunt Josie, whilst Mary is Maisie my granny’s mother who was born in 1911.
After this I got a bit stuck. Where on earth was Patrick in the 1901 census? I looked all over Carlow, and neither of the three Patrick Rice’s within have details that quite fit.
However, I always forget that Carlow is dead on the border with several other counties including Kildare and Laois. What if he was born just over the county border, but mistakenly considered himself to be born in County Carlow?
Years ago now, I found my great great grandfather, Patrick Rice aged 36 in the 1911 census living on the edge of Carlow with his wife, Elizabeth (26) and three children, Patrick (3), Elizabeth (2) and Mary (2 months).
I have long been satisfied that this is the right one. Partly, because I knew already he worked in a coal yard (dying from a lung complaint in his early 50s) – which is supported by the census which gives his profession as ‘Manager in a coal yard’. Furthermore, his wife’s name fits (my granny said her name was Eliza or Elizabeth Nolan) and the children’s names and ages fit. Patrick was my granny’s uncle, Elizabeth is clearly Aunt Josie, whilst Mary is Maisie my granny’s mother who was born in 1911.
After this I got a bit stuck. Where on earth was Patrick in the 1901 census? I looked all over Carlow, and neither of the three Patrick Rice’s within have details that quite fit.
However, I always forget that Carlow is dead on the border with several other counties including Kildare and Laois. What if he was born just over the county border, but mistakenly considered himself to be born in County Carlow?
Graiguecullen Bridge, Carlow - less than a kilometre from the border with County Laois
A new theory?
I
hunted through tens of baptismal records for Patrick Rices born within a
year of the DOB given for my Patrick on the 1911 census and only one
serious candidate stood out. There was a Patrick Rice baptised in
Killeshin, Co. Laois, just 3 miles from Carlow who fitted his birth date
perfectly. Though baptised in Killeshin, the place where the family
were living was somewhere called Ardeteggle, which a quick google search
revealed to be the home of a colliery on the Carlow Road somewhere
between Killeshin and Clogrennane. This was interesting, as my Patrick
spent his career in a coal yard. Further things slotted into place when I
saw his father was called Martin, when I know that this was a name used
by my Granny’s family until her generation.
Killeshin Church where this Rice Family were baptised between 1867 and 1880
If this was the right one (and I have a gut feeling I am right) it is clear that Martin Rice and his wife Mary (nee Hefferman/Heffernan/Heffernian) had a large family whilst living out in Ardeteggle. Four boys and Four girls were born to the pair between 1869 and 1880: James (1867); Annie (1869); Michael (1870); John (1872); Brigid (1875); Patrick (1876); Mary (1878) and Julia (1880).
Out of curiosity I tried tracking this particular Rice family a bit further through the censuses of 1901 and 1911.
James, Annie, Brigid and Mary were all missing from these. I suspect James is the James Rice who died in 1898 aged 34 with his death registered in Carlow. Annie and Brigid – there are no clear records for (neither death nor marriage), and Mary, I think is the Mary Rice whose death was registered in 1879.
As for the others, I think I have pinned them down to the following individuals:
Michael Rice stayed in Ardeteggle from the looks of it. He was a farmer there, married to Alice a couple of years his junior with seven children by 1901 - Martin (14); John (13); Mary (9); Julia (7); Annie (5); Kathleen (3) and Brigid (1). The form is fairly confidently filled in though he describes himself as ‘Hedd of the Family’ with some crossing out and his wife and daughter’s names are spelt Allice and Kathaleen, respectively.
John Rice I suspect is the one living on the Staplestown Road with his wife Mary, 10 years his senior. Both were labourers. The 1901 census reveals some interesting spelling errors including ‘reed and write’ and oddly, have written ‘broken inglish’ in the Irish language column (though nothing is written in the final column suggesting any kind of special needs). It makes you wonder why they have written this in, unless to indicate that their writing skills were limited. The 1911 census reveals they were still married, but in the ten years they’d been together, they’d had no children.
Out of curiosity I tried tracking this particular Rice family a bit further through the censuses of 1901 and 1911.
James, Annie, Brigid and Mary were all missing from these. I suspect James is the James Rice who died in 1898 aged 34 with his death registered in Carlow. Annie and Brigid – there are no clear records for (neither death nor marriage), and Mary, I think is the Mary Rice whose death was registered in 1879.
As for the others, I think I have pinned them down to the following individuals:
Michael Rice stayed in Ardeteggle from the looks of it. He was a farmer there, married to Alice a couple of years his junior with seven children by 1901 - Martin (14); John (13); Mary (9); Julia (7); Annie (5); Kathleen (3) and Brigid (1). The form is fairly confidently filled in though he describes himself as ‘Hedd of the Family’ with some crossing out and his wife and daughter’s names are spelt Allice and Kathaleen, respectively.
John Rice I suspect is the one living on the Staplestown Road with his wife Mary, 10 years his senior. Both were labourers. The 1901 census reveals some interesting spelling errors including ‘reed and write’ and oddly, have written ‘broken inglish’ in the Irish language column (though nothing is written in the final column suggesting any kind of special needs). It makes you wonder why they have written this in, unless to indicate that their writing skills were limited. The 1911 census reveals they were still married, but in the ten years they’d been together, they’d had no children.
Mill Lane, Carlow some fifty years later but showing the old houses on the Lane
Julia Rice
is no where to be found on the death records after 1880, so I suspected
she was married. I believe she’s the Julia Rice who married Joseph Finn
in Carlow in 1900. In 1901 census – he is 21, she is 19. Again the
return is littered with spelling errors: ‘read and rite’ and ‘roman
catholick’. He’s a labourer – she is a housekeeper.
A decade later they were living at 19 Mill Lane, Carlow. By this stage they’d had five children together - three living: Mary (10); Lilley (7) and Thomas (2) with the older two attending school. Again the parents have put down ‘Read and rite’ for literacy but more astonishingly they claim to speak Irish as well as English on their forms. They don’t do that in the 1901 census, and their children in the 1911 are put down as only speaking English. One wonders, if they were attendees of the Irish languages classes which had been set up in Carlow by the Gaelic League from 1899. These ran Monday and Thursday nights from 7-9. Even if they weren’t able to attend such classes, the fact they’ve put Irish down on their forms suggests that they’d clearly developed an interest in the nationalist movement growing in Ireland at this time.
A decade later they were living at 19 Mill Lane, Carlow. By this stage they’d had five children together - three living: Mary (10); Lilley (7) and Thomas (2) with the older two attending school. Again the parents have put down ‘Read and rite’ for literacy but more astonishingly they claim to speak Irish as well as English on their forms. They don’t do that in the 1901 census, and their children in the 1911 are put down as only speaking English. One wonders, if they were attendees of the Irish languages classes which had been set up in Carlow by the Gaelic League from 1899. These ran Monday and Thursday nights from 7-9. Even if they weren’t able to attend such classes, the fact they’ve put Irish down on their forms suggests that they’d clearly developed an interest in the nationalist movement growing in Ireland at this time.
An
Claidheamh Soluis - literally, 'the sword of light' the nationalist
irish language newspaper of Conradh na Gaeilge in this period
Conclusions?
As for my great great grandfather, Patrick Rice
– where he is in the 1901 census still remains a bit of a mystery. Was
he in America or England? Quite possible. Did he just bunk the census?
Again, one cannot discount this as a possibility. Was he the Patrick
Rice who was born in Ardeteggle in 1876 to Martin and Mary Rice? Though I
have a gut feeling he was, until I uncover more concrete evidence to
support this, it will have to remain a logical hunch.
What is clear, is that I’ve a new insight into Carlow in this period – filled with the fleeting phantoms of people, with some education (but poor literacy skills), holding down unskilled jobs and with some interest in the revival of the Irish language. And for now, that will have to be good enough for me.
What is clear, is that I’ve a new insight into Carlow in this period – filled with the fleeting phantoms of people, with some education (but poor literacy skills), holding down unskilled jobs and with some interest in the revival of the Irish language. And for now, that will have to be good enough for me.
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