North Tipperary Genealogical Information
There was one Campbell family living in Newport Parish, Tipperary, Ireland. We have all Campbell birth records except for Bartholomew Campbells. We learned of our relationship a few years ago from the Campbells of Waukon, but we now can get (if we want) the actual baptismal information.
These are Batt's uncles and aunts.
Boney 1830-1860 Parish (Newport RC):
Denis, born in 1844, is Batt Ryan's brother. In a 10 year period, only one other "Denis" had a father by the name of "James Ryan" in Newport parish.
Maurice Ryan 1840-1850 Tipperary Church Baptism Ryan Maurice 1843 Co. Tipperary
Maurice is how the Church sees "Batt Ryan". This Maurice was born in Newport Parish, but may not be the "Batt Ryan" whom was our ancestor. I will need to order the baptismal record to validate.
While there were 4 or 5 Bartholomew Ryans born in Newport Parish, the last record was 1840. 1840 is too early for us to consider as being our ancestor's baptismal record.
Margaret's census data states her birth year to be either 1819 or 1820. This shows she was closer in age to her husband, Edward, than originally thought. Edward's birth is estimated to be 1813 or 1814. One thing we've learned since discovering our family's history - the Irish were never that concerned about their age. The age in U.S. census records were always a rolling target.
These folks are related to us - may be Nancy Ann Campbell Ryan's father, sister and brother.
One of these three birth records is associated with our family. It is likely that the 1843 birth record is James Ryan's, the son of James and Nancy Ann (Campbell) Ryan.
In a 40 year period, there is only one Edward Hill in the church records. It is possible that his records were never saved. Its also likely that his real first name was not Edward.
In Newport Parish, this is the only "Edward Hill" marriage recorded. It fits the timeline per our family records.
Very few Catholics owned their farms. Generally, they held leases ranging from 21 years to life; and as the 19th century progressed, the terms were seldom negotiated to be "life." During the great famine, most of the leases were converted to annual leases...or were not renewed at all. The reason for this change was because the minor gentry needed grazing land for their cattle.
| James RYAN Lease from George KINAHAN TO Jas. RYAN, dated 23 Aug., 1844, for 21 years from 1st May, 1844. Of abt 2a. 2r. Irish, 12 James RYAN Tenant from year to year determinable 1st November in each year. | The James Ryan, Sr. leases in Gortnaskey, Newport Parish. Gortnaskehy is the townland where all the Ryan children were born and raised. He had two leases - a lease that expired in 1865 and an annual lease. With the annual lease - he is described as tenant, which indicated he had some status among the "leasing class." |
As the tenants were ejected, such as we saw earlier with the Edward Hill family, the poor Catholic families found themselves heading to Canada or Australia. While we have never been told why the James and Nancy Ryan family left Ireland in the 1860s, we suspect that it had something to do with a lease not being renewed (see above). These evictions inevitably led to the disturbances and rural outrages that typified North Tipperary in the 1840's more than any other part of Ireland. As a historical note, Tipperary was the second worst county in Ireland for ejections; and northern Tipperary, where our families lived, led the way with tenant removals.
Finally, did you ever wonder how big the Irish Catholic farms were? Over 90% of all farms were below 50 acres, with some 60% below 10 acres. The James Ryan and Campbell families farmed more than 50 acres in total, so were more likely "well off" by typical Irish farm family standards.What is interesting is that one of the major crops produced in northern Tipperary was the turnip. When Batt Ryan homesteaded in South Dakota in the 1880s, his first crop was "turnips"...or as Mark Ryan would say, "it became the last crop of turnips he ever produced."