Timoney and McCloskey Families

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The Timoney and McCloskey Families

County Donegal 

Introduction 

You probably know how the Timoney and McCloskey families tie into our own family tree.  Catherine Murrin’s mother was born Bridget McCloskey.  We do not know the names of Bridget’s parents other than their last names – Timoney and McCloskey.   

The Griffith Valuation Survey 

The first modern census for Ireland began in 1821 and a census was taken each year.  Unfortunately, war and fires destroyed most census records, and the earliest records to be found are dated 1901.  Due to this lack of census information, genealogists rely on ‘census substitutes’ such as the Griffith Valuation Survey when seeking distant relations.  This survey would have collected dust and long forgotten had the census returns been intact.  We included copies of this index for two purposes.  How does this information help us?  Since we do not know the first names for Catherine’s grandparents we can use the Griffith Valuation Survey to determine where the Timoney and McCloskey families lived in the part of Ireland.  Another possibility is that we are seeing names of some distant relatives. 

The Timoney/ Timmony/ Timony Families 

Spelling variations include:  Timony, Timpany, MacTimpany, Tympany, Tumpeny, Tempany, Tenpanny, Tenpenny, Tamaney, MacTammany and many more.  This surname was first found in Leinster where they were anciently seated as Chiefs.  Many variants of this name can be found listed in mid-seventeenth century American records. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolina and other locations. 

In the following sections you will see the Timoney (Timmony / Timony) surnames listed in the Griffith Valuation Survey as taken from 1847 to 1864.  Maps are included to show general locations for where these people lived.  Since we do not know the first names of this great ancestor we strive only to show where these families were clustered in County Donegal.  The only person not analyzed further is the person shown below.  Patrick Timony lived in the far north part of County Donegal, far from the southern portion of this county where the Timoney families lived. 

 Inishkeel Civil Parish 

The two maps to your side show two different sections of Inishkeel Civil Parish.  The top section shown is close to Killybegs Upper Civil Parish.  The Timoney family listed here seems out of place as most of the Timoney listings are found in the northeastern part of this parish. The highlighted areas are where we find ‘Timony’ families listed in the Griffith Valuation Survey.    21  – Clogher East 34  – Dalraghan Beg 104 – Lughveen 114 - Meenagolan 125 - Meenanarwa 129 - Meenasrone, North 127  - Meenatawy 139 – Montymeane 165 – Stranagoppoge   Twenty two Timony families are found in this Civil Parish.  ‘Timony’ is a variation of ‘Timoney’; however, there are no families listed in the Civil Parish that use the surname variation, ‘Timoney’.   This is a map of Donegal showing the location of this civil parish:

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