The family of John2 Boyle and Bridget2 Harte

 

In addition to children listed on the headstone, there was John3 whose age at death in 1896 was registered as 38, and we know of another son, Peter3, who was 48 when he died in 1909. It is possible that there were other children who moved away from Corglass, but  no evidence has come to light for any others. For instance, if some of their children had emigrated to the US, it would be expected that when their nephews (the sons of John3) later went there, they would contact them.  There are no indications that this happened, or that the sons of John3 had any uncles, aunts or first cousins in the US.  Unfortunately, it is now too late to discover whether they made contact with, or even knew of their extensive network of second cousins, the descendants of Ellen2 Boyle Brady.

 

Using the headstone and Civil Register details to calculate the birth years of the children gives the following estimates:

 

Headstone                 Register

 

Catherine3       1853                           1846

Terence3           1854                           1848

Patrick3             1855                            1857

John3                                                         1858

Peter3                                                       1861   

 

The dates in the official register leave a nine-year gap between Terence3 and Patrick3, which would have been unusual. (In those days, children arrived frequently, and with almost predictable regularity!)  This raises the possibility that there were other children born in this period who were either still alive when the headstone was erected an/or who were buried elsewhere.  However, I have not found evidence of any other children.

 

Furthermore, in the administration of Terence2’s estate in 1886, only Patrick3, Peter3 and John3 are mentioned as the children of John2. Catherine3 and Terence3 had already died by this time, and as they had no children, there was no need to mention them. If there were any other siblings alive, or who had died leaving children, they would have been mentioned in the administration documents.

 

However, the birth years calculated from the headstone give a more typical pattern, with no large gaps This raises the possibility that while the dates of death recorded in the Civil Register are the more accurate, the ages stated are not!

 

But if the eldest child was born in 1853, then the likely date of marriage would have been 1851 or 1852, when John2 was already in his mid-40s, and Brigid2 was in her 30s. Although late marriage, especially for the man, became very common in post-famine Ireland, it was not the case earlier in the 19th century, and the reason for it (to avoid splitting the family farm, the inheriting son would wait until the others were settles, emigrated or otherwise out of the picture) this did not apply in John2’s case, as he was assured of taking over the farm since 1832 when Terence2 went to the USA.