Campbells Gortnaskehy1

Note: Roman Catholic parish records for those parishes that belong to the Diocese of Cashel and Emly are not available to the public

KILLOSCULLY a parish, in the barony of OWNEY and ARRA, county of Tipperary, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (E.N.E.) from Newport, on the road from Dudley to Limerick city ; containing 2993 inhabitants.

It comprises 7340 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act; the surface is very mountainous, including the Keeper Mountain, the loftiest of the range, the base and sides of which afford tolerably good pasturage, and within the last few years the lower part has been planted. To the south-east of it rises the river Newport, which passes northward through the vale of Glencolloo to Kilvolane, in its course giving motion to several mills. There are other mountains also in the parish, affording tolerable pasturage. The lands have been lately much improved by draining ; and a large drain has been constructed by Lord Bloomfield, in order to get access to a fine bed of marl, which affords a valuable manure. There are several bogs, in which has been found timber of large growth, lying horizontally at a depth of from 10 to 20 feet below the surface. On Lord Bloomfield's property is an extensive quarry, from which the stone for building several houses on the estate has been raised; a vein of copper ore has also been discovered, but has not yet been worked; and slates of good quality for roofing have been quarried, but not to any great extent.

The only seat at present is Green Hall, the residence of H. White, Esq.; but Lord Bloomfield is building a handsome lodge, in the Elizabethan style, which commands many fine views, and has laid out an extensive nursery, from which considerable plantations have been made on the surrounding mountains.

The parish is in the diocese of Cashel, and is a rectory and vicarage, forming part of the union of Kilnareth, or St. John's Newport: the tithes amount to £323 1s. 6d. The church, a neat edifice, for the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits gave £900, and to which Lord Bloomfield also contributed, was built in 1829, near the Keeper mountain.

In the Roman Catholic divisions it forms part of the union or district of Ballinahihinch and has a neat chapel with a school-house adjoining.

A school-house, in which 20 children are taught, has been lately built on the townland of Drumban, by Lord Bloomfield, and is supported by his lordship: and there are two private schools, in which are about 140 children.

In the marl-pits have been found the fossil remains of the elk, or moose deer, of very large dimensions, some of which have been preserved entire, and are to be seen at Laughton House.

	Killoscully Parish, County Tipperary We can now trace the Campbell family one more generation - something we have been able to do with the Smith side for some time. Interestingly, the birth years we started with, in many cases, were not correct. The Tipperary Genealogical Society indicated that this is commonplace - people were less concerned with their age years ago, and is something they deal with everyday. We first noticed this while reviewing census information, as many children seemed to be "the same age." We also saw this in family documents - Anne Campbell claimed she was 90 years old when she signed her will & last testament, AND the newspapers said she "was 90 when she died" in 1902. In fact, we now know that she was 86 when she died. We were hoping to find records that showed Bartholomew Campbell was a brother to Anne, but none in Tipperary church records. However, we were able to reach out to Bartholomew Campbell's descendents in Allamakee, and they provided us their family tree which showed that Batt Campbell's parents were also Nancy Ann Campbell's parents (see Campbells of Allamakee). We were able to find Anne's baptismal record and two of her siblings. It should be noted that the Tipperary Genealogical Society noted that sponsors were generally relatives, so we always knew we were related. It also may explain how the family moved to Iowa - Bartholomew had moved there in the early 1850s - some 10 years earlier than our family. 2. Anne Campbell Ryan was baptized in 1816. 3. The records also gives us the names of Anne Campbell's parents and a few of her siblings. There is an interesting family page on the Humphrys, who were marriage sponsors for the James and Mary Campbell. http://www.humphrysfamilytree.com/Humphrys/ In 2010 we hope to provide more information about this family and how they link into our own.
James and Mary Campbell Marriage Record	Anne (Nancy) Campbell Ryan's parents marriage record in Killoscully parish, County Tipperary.
The Campbell Children Baptismal Records	Anne Campbell's baptismal record, along with her sister Mary and brother John's records.
*Link to Original School Hill Information*	This is a link to "Finding School Hill", which was published several months ago. Below is Allamakee Census Record for B. Campbell family.