Instructions

Hill Family from Newport Parish

When we began searching into our ancestor Edward Hill’s life, we only knew he was from County Tipperary, married in Ireland and moved his family to New Hampshire. We knew absolutely nothing about his parents or siblings.  From the 1766 Religious Survey of Newport (Ireland) we saw two Hill surnames listed as Papists - Edward Hill and Patrick Hill. Coined during the English Reformation, the term “Papist” refers to anyone who is Roman Catholic. Terry and I knew Patrick and Edward were in our family tree, but how were they related to us? 

Then we saw Edward Hill’s name listed in the 1848 Griffith Survey for Knockacappul Townland in Kilnarath Civil Parish. This is the same parish where our Ryan and Campbell ancestors lived. Since then we have found other Edward Hills living in Newport-Birdhill Parish, but we still believe our ancestors lived in Knockacupple before moving to America.  In the early 1840’s Edward and Margaret (nee McDonnell) Hill lived in Killoscully Townland, Killoscully Civil Parish, where Margaret Hill gave birth to her first child, Mary.  The map below shows Killoscully, and also shows Longstone Townland where Edward’s wife, Margaret, lived before her marriage.  In this part of Ireland the Hill family lived in either Killoscully or Garraunbeg Townlands.  Garraunbeg is located below Clonygaheen Townland as shown on the map below.

 

 

Between 1796 and 1803 four Hill families baptized children at St. John’s Church in Newport.  These families were headed by Edward, William, Thomas and Francis Hill.  According to the “Irish Naming Convention’ fathers would name their first born sons after their own fathers.  We know William Hill married his wife, Mary Sheedy, in 1798 and they named their first born son Patrick.  Edward Hill’s first born son was named Patrick.  It’s not so clear cut with Francis and Thomas Hill.  However, records kept at St. John’s Catholic Church in Newport show two baptisms recorded in 1813 and 1819 for two different Patrick Hill families.  Perhaps they are Francis and Thomas Hill’s sons. Regardless, the forename Patrick is commonly found in early Hill records.  It is possible all four Hill men were siblings, and their father was named Patrick Hill.  If so, then our earliest family tree may appear as shown below:

Pictured left to right:  Killoscully Townland, Garranbeg Townland

 

Hill families living in Garraunbeg Townland were assigned to St. John’s Church (Newport-Birdhill Catholic Parish).  Any Hill family member living in Killoscully Townland, which was up the road from Garraunbeg, attended church in Killoscully Townland. 

Irish Outrage Report - Edward Hill

Irish Outrage Reports were created by the Irish Royal Constabulary that detailed crimes and disturbances in Ireland from 1836 to 1840.  One report dated November 1836 reads as follows: “On the evening of 30th Ultimo, as Edward Hill was returning from his work, he was waylaid at Rossaguill, Parish of Killoscully , and struck on the Head with a Stone, which caused a slight fracture of the Skull, by Thomas Bradshaw, who has absconded.  They had a Combat some time before.”  This Edward Hill is our ancestor, but unclear if he is our second or third great grandparent.   The original document appears below:

DNA Results
Based on DNA results, Terry Smith found Hill fourth cousins living in Australia.  Two siblings, William Hill and Winefred Hill, moved to Australia with their families.  William and Winefred’s parents, according to their descendant’s family chart, were Edward Hill and Mary Sheedy.  Their names are highlighted below in red because no baptismal records exist for them.  St. John’s parish has no baptismal records recorded between 1804 to late 1812.  Our ancestor, Edward Hill, was born in 1812 and no baptismal record exists for him either.  Therefore we highlight his name in red too.  DNA results suggest our Edward, William and Winefred probably had the same parents.

Baptismal records show Edward Hill bore children with two women - Mary Shanahan and Mary Sheedy.  I suspect the first entry was written in error and the mother’s surname should be Sheedy for all recorded births.  Except for the items highlighted in red, all following baptismal records were found in St. John’s Catholic parish records, Newport, County Tipperary.

 

First Generation:

The following lists other baptismal records we found starting from 1813 forward for the Hill family.

Parents	Child	Baptismal Date
Patrick Hill and Catty Mulloughney	Thomas Hill	5/9/1813
Patrick Hill and Mary McGrath	Peter Hill	2/24/1816
Ditto
Edward Hill & Kitty Ryan	Mary Hill	3/30/1817
Ditto	Thomas Hill	5/2/1819
Ditto	Betty Hill	9/9/1821
Ditto	Patrick Hill	3/21/1824
Ditto	Elizabeth Hill	11/27/1827
Ditto	Timothy Hill	5/14/1830
Ditto	Nancy Hill	6/15/1833
Ditto	Bridget Hill	5/1/1836
Thomas Hill and Catherine Ryan	Thomas Hill	5/2/1819
Patrick Hill and Margaret Meehan	John Hill	7/28/1824
Ditto	Mary Hill	2/18/1826
Ditto	Edward Hill	10/20/1829
Ditto	Margaret Hill	5/17/1832
Ditto	Patrick Hill	7/8/1837
Michael Hill and Ann Ryan	Thomas Hill	1/7/1826
Patrick Hill and Mary Maher	Mary Hill	11/27/1827
John Hill and Biddy Dealy	Ellen Hill	12/10/1832
Ditto	Mary Hill	5/17/1835
Ditto	Michael Hill	9/23/1837  (Biddy Glenson)
Thomas Hill and Jude Ryan	Thomas Hill	6/9/1833
Ditto	Ellen Hill	7/29/1838
Michael Hill and Margaret Humphreys	Margaret Hill	4/5/1834
Michael Hill and Bridget Flannery	Francis Hill	11/17/1834
Ditto	Patrick Hill	2/5/1837
Ditto	Patrick Hill	3/4/1839
Ditto	Michael Hill	5/24/1843
Thomas Hill and Betty Flinn	Betty Hill	3/7/1835
Michael Hill and Winefred Keefe	James Hill	12/4/1835
William Hill and Betty Brien	Ellen Hill	10/1/1837
Ditto	Edward Hill	5/28/1838  (Bridget Bourke}
Ditto	Nancy Hill	11/29/1841
Ditto	Patrick Hill	2/4/1844
William Hill and Winny Dwyer	Mary Hill	1/28/1838
Ditto	John Hill	11/10/1844
Ditto	Ellen Hill	11/10/1844
Ditto	Edward Hill	5/1/1848
Ditto	Peggy Hill	6/16/1850
Thomas Hill and Catherine Davis	John Hill	5/15/1842

 

These are additional baptismal records for female Hill family members.

Parents	Child	Baptismal Date
Dennis Carroll and Mary Hill	Tom Carroll	1/14/1816
Ditto	John Carroll	10/8/1818
Ditto	Elizabeth Carroll	5/24/1820
Ditto	Judy Carroll	5/24/1820
James Sheedy and Cate Hill	Pat Sheedy	2/5/1816
John Ryan and Ellen Hill	Tim Ryan	2/14/1819
Ditto	John Ryan	6/5/1820
Michael Carmody and Margaret Hill	Thomas Carmody	12/13/1819

 

Edward Hill Naturalization Document
In the late Eighteen Forties our ancestors, Edward Hill and Margaret McDonnell, moved to Concord, New Hampshire.  There Margaret bore several more children including our own great grandmother, Elizabeth Hill. By 1855 our Hill ancestors were living in Allamakee County, Iowa, but it appears Edward’s naturalization papers were recorded at Concord sometime in 1854.