We can count numerous Irish ancestors
among our forbearers including McCanns, O’Donnells,
McCann
A McCann family history was begun in 1925 by Patrick
Sarsfield McCann. It was continued in
1966 by Mary McCann Trickel and Mary McCann Baumgartner and in 1980 by Sr. Martha McCann C.S.J. A copy of this narrative along with some
supporting data was obtained by Mary Jo Rothgery from Sr. Martha a number of
years ago. She certainly has passed away
by now and it was very fortunate that we have a copy.
Patrick S. was
the son Patrick McCann, a younger brother of James and thus a cousin of
Owen. He was born
This early family history begins: “Originally three brothers, born in
“John McCann started the manufacture of
linens, James had a flour mill; Patrick, our forbearer, took up farming. Patrick’s wife was a McNamara. He and his wife had six sons and four
daughters, all born in
Someone in the family must have contacted
an Irish genealogist, because among the papers there is a report which has a
title in Irish. The researcher mentioned
that the three brothers could not have been displaced by the Cromwellian
confiscations, which occurred in the 1650’s or those of William III in the
1690’s, they were too early by a century.
However, following the
A reference[5]
found on the internet gives a partial list of families settling in Co. Mayo
from
A list
of people seeking refuge on the estate of the Earl Altamont at
Thanks
to the online resources of the Newport Historical Society and other genealogy
groups, a surprisingly large amount of information is available considering the
chaotic conditions in
The
Tithe Applotment List of 1832[7]
was made to determine the amount each land holder owed in tithes to the
During
the mid 1800’s another evaluation of land holdings was made by
If the
McCanns fled
Researching
the McCanns in the
When James McCann and family arrived in 1864 they
apparently had relatives already in
Fr. Orr, pastor of St. Matthew’s Church
in Tyrone, mentioned in a letter[9]
that there were McCann’s buried in the
There were McCanns in
When searching McCanns, three spellings, McCann,
McCan and Mc Cann have to be used, as each is treated as different in the
cenuses.
The 1850
Patrick McCann, Sr. Family
The family history begun by
Patrick Sarsfield McCann (PSMc) may be off regarding some of the early dates,
but otherwise should be fairly accurate. He was the son of Patrick, Jr., a
brother of our great-great grandfather James.
PSMc supplied the information on his father’s death certificate, listing
his father’s parents as being Patrick and Ellen McNamara McCann. We have no
other information on these two people.
They remained in
James
McCann was born in 1805 and was the oldest known child of Patrick. If his father Patrick fled
According
to the 1925 family history, Patrick and Ellen had ten children. All of them seem to have named their children
after their siblings, leading to many, many Thomases, James, Patricks and
Michaels. This has certainly made it
more difficult to keep them all straight.
There are also hundreds of additional McCanns in
James,
our forbearer, was the oldest, and apparently the last to immigrate. Perhaps this is because he inherited the
property in
Michael
He is buried in Oak Grove with many other
members of the family. The inscription
on his stone gives the years 1810 – 1880 and lists his place of birth as
The 1850 census for Warrior Mark,
Huntington Co. lists a 35 year old M. McCan, a miner from
His wife, Mary Halligan 1832 –
1892, was born in Anchony, Co.
The name
Catherine is also inscribed on the stone.
It says she died in 1857 at age 30.
It was first thought that she was his sister, but PSMc states that
Catherine married a John Kane and had 11 children. She is not his sister and is too old to be a
daughter. Could she have been a first wife?
The first child of Michael and Mary Halligan was born in December, 1858[11].
The headstone
also has the names of 4 children. PSMc mentioned that Michael’s children were
born in Warrior’s Mark; Huntington Co.
The baptismal records at St. Matthew’s Church list seven children for
Michael McCann and Mary Halligan. They
were, in order: James, John, Patrick,
Mariam, Thomas, Catharine and Helen.
No record of any naturalization
was found in Blair or Centre counties.
Huntingdon was not searched.
Patrick
Patrick was born on
Patrick was
recorded in every
According to
PSMc’s family history, Bridget never married.
She is buried with her parents and brother in Oak Grove.[12]
Patrick’sobituary appeared in the Tyrone paper on
Bridget is
buried in the family plot, having died in 1932.
Patrick, Jr. died in 1945 and his wife, Ellie A., in 1962. They are all buried together, although there
is no stone for Bridget. Patrick Jr. had
no children.
The list of
baptisms at St. Matthew’s includes a Patrick S. McCann, son of Patrick McCann
and Sarah McDonald, born
Warriors Mark
is a township and village in the northwest corner of Huntingdon Co. However it borders on both Blair and
Patrick Jr.
often spells out his middle name, Sarsfield.
As a point of interest, the name was searched on line. It revealed a noted Irish general in the service
of King James II, the last Catholic king of
The 1893 city
directory listed a Patrick McCann at 1418 Bald Eagle with Sarah, E.S. (should
be P.S. ?) and Mary B.
A declaration
of intention was filed on
Thomas
His obituary appeared in the Tyrone
Daily Herald on
He is buried in Oak Grove. His stone states that he was born in
The 1860 census for Snyder Twp, Blair
Co. has a 34 year old Thomas McCann living alone. The 1870 census for Tyrone
has a Thomas McCann, age 47, living with three sons, Michael, Owen and
Thomas. He was a railroad laborer. His sister, Catherine McCann Kane, is listed
living next door.
Thomas McCann petitioned to become a
citizen in 1863 in Centre Co. He stated
that he immigrated in 1846.
There is a deed recorded in the Blair
courthouse for a Thomas McCann who purchased property in Snyder town ship on
Baptismal records at St. Matthew’s
list three sons for Thomas McCann and Margarita Lamb. They were: James,
The 1888 Tyrone directory lists a
Thomas McCann, retired, living on
Owen
PSMc gave no information about him,
not even a date of birth. There are two
Owens in the 1860 census of
An
Owen McCann purchased lot #11 on
The list of
naturalizations at the Blair Co. Courthouse records that an Owen McCann was granted
citizenship on
The younger
Owen and Michael, the sons of James, both filed for citizenship on the same day
in Centre Co. Both had another Owen
McCann as witness.
Margaret was
born in 1832 and married John McDonald.
Her children were: James, Thomas, Mary, Edward and Patrick.
Margaret
According to PSMcC Patrick Halligan married Mary McCann, however census and tombstone records give the name of Patrick’s wife as Margaret. She was born in 1832 according to PSMc. Her children were: John & James (twins), William, Patrick, Mary and Ann (twins), Margaret, Ella, Joseph and Nora.
John Halligan
was killed at the age of 22 by a train wreck which occurred at McCann’s
Crossing on
John was a
nephew of James and thus a first cousin of our great grandfather Owen.
Ellen
Her date of
birth is unknown. She married a Patrick
Walsh. There are a number of Walshes
buried in Oak Grove.
Catherine
She was born
in 1830 according to PSMc and married a John Kane. Their children were: Mary, Patrick, Margaret, Ellen, Ann,
Catherine, Bridget, Sarah, Agnes, Elizabeth, William. All these children are in
the 1870 census for Snyder town ship.
The family enumerated next on the census sheet was the Thomas McCann
family. No wife was listed.
The 1872 Snyder
Twp. Map shows a “Jno. Kane” next to the J. McCann farm. There are a numerous Kanes buried in Oak
Grove, including Catherine and John.
There are no dates on the stones.
John
PSMc mentions
little about him. He was not even sure
if John immigrated. However there was a
21 year old John McCan in the 1850 census of
A John McCann filed a declaration of
intention at the Blair Co. courthouse on
James McCann
The oldest of our Irish ancestors to
emigrate was James McCann. He was born
James’s parents were Patrick McCann and Ellen
McNamara.[16]
The first mention of the James McCann
family after their 1864 immigration was the purchase of 25 acres along the
Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad in Vail, Snyder township on
Searching the immigration database
available on Ancestry.com, uncovered a McCann family that immigrated
The ship was the SS Edinburgh, sailing
from
John McCann m 55 farmer
Mary f 40 wife
Hugh m 20 laborer
Marg-? f 18 spinster
Owen m 15 laborer
James m 8 child
Thomas m 6 child
Mary m 5 child
Bridget m 3 child
The James McCann family was first
recorded in the 1870 U.S. Census for
An 1872 map of
At the time of the 1880 census, James,
Mary and three children; Thomas, Mary and Margaret were still on the farm at
Vail Station. Thomas was working for the
railroad while the rest were at home. Michael was a rail road clerk and lived
in a boarding house in Tyrone town.
The 1888 Tyrone directory lists James
McCann, Sr. at
The next available census is that for
1900. By that time, James and Mary were
living in Tyrone with their daughters Mary Strasbaugh, and Margaret. Mary was a widow and had a boarding
house. One of the questions asked in
1900 was year of immigration. All four
listed 1864. The 1900 census also records that they had been married 56 years
and that of 10 children, six were living.
Back calculating would give a marriage date of circa 1844, 20 years before emigrating.
James McCann’s obituary is the source of
most of we know of him. It was published
in the Tyrone Daily Herald on
“James
McCann, Tyrone's most aged citizen, died at 11:00 this morning at the home of
his daughter, Mrs. Mary Strasbaugh, on Pennsylvania Ave. Mr. McCann had been in
feeble health for a long time and his death was due the gradual breaking down
of a strong constitution by the weight of years. The deceased was born in
The
funeral will take place from
Owen McCann
Perhaps the most prominent person of the
family was Owen McCann. He was born on
The first reference to him is the immigration
record of 1864. In the 1870
His citizenship application of
Centre Co. records also contain a
citizenship application for Owen’s brother, Michael McCann, filed on the same
date and signed by the same two witnesses as was Owen’s application. One of the witnesses is another Owen
McCann. This may well be their uncle. An 1872 map of the town of
In the 1880 census he was married and had
four children. They were living at
According to his daughter Nora, his wife Mary
did not want him working in the rail yards in Tyrone because it was so
dangerous. Several of his cousins were
killed in railroad accidents. He moved to
According to the 1900 census he was living at
A Cleveland City Directory for 1900 lists
one Owen E. McCann, retired, residing at 88
Owen was buried the in family plot he had
purchased at
Owen liked to write poetry and three
examples of his work have survived. They
are included in another file of the McCann Book.
Three ages of Owen McCann
Owen McCann Family
Martin Leo was born
James died
Joseph F. died
Anna According to the Cleveland Probate Court Marriage Index, she married a
Henry Gale. Her brother also married a
Gale, were they related? The obituary
index gives little information. It was
dated
Maria The marriage index recorded a marriage of Mary A. McCann to Thomas P.
Kolfoyle. There is an obit for Thomas P.
Kilfoyle, on
Jennie
According to Mom she married a Tolman and that her three children were
Marian, James and George. The marriage index lists a marriage between a Jennie
McCann and Richard Tolercian. No other
records can be found under either last name. It is possible that it was
misspelled as was Kilfoyle. In the 1910
census, Jennie V. was still single and living with her father at the home of
her sister Nora and her husband, Frank Didas.
Margaret
The first name on the list
of interments in the McCann plot at
Nora McCann
Nora McCann was the third child of Owen
and Mary Berry McCann. She was born
By the time of the 1880 census the family
was living in
Family lore has it that, Nora met Frank
Didas at a church picnic in
Nora’s two daughters, Virginia and
Genevieve, were both born in
Younger and older Nora McCann
O'Donnells
Mary O'Donnell was born
Her death certificate lists her parents
as Hugh O'Donnell and Mary Berry. The information on the certificate was
provided by her eldest son Hugh, who lived in
Her passing rated a very informative
obituary in the Tyrone Daily Herald.
“This morning at 7:00 Mrs. Mary O'Donnell
McCann, the oldest resident of Tyrone, passed peacefully away at the home of
her daughter, Mrs. Mary Strasbaugh, on Pennsylvania Ave. Mrs. McCann's death
was due to disease incident to old age, from which she has been a patient
sufferer the past year.
Mrs.
Mary O'Donnell McCann was born over 90 years ago in Newport, County Mayo,
Ireland and moved to this country in 1861, locating near Vail station, where
she resided about 15 years, later on moving to Tyrone where she has resided
ever since. Her husband, James McCann, preceded her to the grave in November
1900. When only a girl Mrs. McCann united with the Catholic Church and has
always lived a true and faithful life according to the teachings of that faith.
She
is survived by the following children: Michael, Mrs. Mary Strasbaugh and Miss
Margaret of Tyrone; Hugh of Osceola Mills; Owen of Cleveland, Ohio and Thomas
of Pittsburgh. She is also survived by one brother, Hugh O' Donnell and one
sister, Mrs. Anna Berry of
The
funeral will take place on Friday morning from St. Matthews Catholic Church. Interment
in
Mary is mentioned in every U.S. Census
from 1870 until 1910. There are some
inconsistencies in the census data. This
could be due to misunderstandings, or due to misinformation. This seems to be not unusual with some immigrant
families.
In 1870, 50 year old Mary was on the farm
in
By 1880 she had aged 18 years to 68. They are still on the farm, but only one son,
Thomas was still there, with the two daughters.
In 1900 Mary and James were living with
their widowed daughter, Mary Strasbaugh, on
In 1910 Mary was a widow and was still
living with her two daughters in the boarding house owned by Mary
Strasbaugh. Her age was given as
80. She is buried with all the McCanns
in
According to her granddaughter, Nora
McCann, Mary considered the McCanns to be “little people” implying they were
less important than her O’Donnell family, which was of a better class.[25]
Martin Berry
The only references to Martin Berry are
his death certificate, the Cleveland Public Library Necrology Index and the
1900 census.
His date of death was
The 1900 U.S. Census lists a Martin Berry
at
Mary Berry
Little information is available on Mary
Berry, the wife of Owen McCann. Her
death certificate of
The information about Mary in the 1900
census is obviously in error. Her date
of birth is given as April, 1859 and date of immigration 1874. Her daughter Nora (our grandmother) was
listed as being born in 1891, which we know to be in error.
Owen McCann’s grandmother Mary was also a
Mary Berry McCann
Honora Cannon
The only references to Nora Cannon are
the death certificate of her daughter, Mary Berry McCann and her own.
Her death certificate contains little
information other than that she died on
Appendix
Signatures
Many Irish immigrants of the mid 19th
century were illiterate, not unsurprising, given the social conditions in
James McCann’s signature, 1868
Owen McCann’s signature, 1872
McCann History
Clancan[29]
was once the territory of the McCann sept and now roughly corresponds with the
civil Parish of Tartaraghan.
The territory between the Rivers Bann and
Blackwater, immediately south of Lough Neagh, and known as Clancan, must have
been very sparsely populated in medieval times as much of it was covered by
forest; this is indicated by the number of townlands whose names are prefixed
by the term "Derry", signifying an oak grove or wood. A large tract
of land was only slightly above the level of the Lough, and consequently was
marshy and subject to frequent flooding. Sir William Petty map, "Hiberniae
Delineato" published in 1685 has a blank space between Drumcree and
Magheregreen (Maghery), which would indicate that this territory was either not
surveyed at that time or contained nothing note-worthy.
During the 17th century travel throughout
Clancan was frequently fraught with difficulties and dangers for the unwary. In
1650, following the hoisting of Cromwell's Standard on Charlemont Fort, Sir
Charles Coote, one of Cromwell's Generals, dispatched a party of horse into
this area to carry out mopping-up operations. On the 30th November of that
year, a troop of horse consisting of four officers and seventy men passed into
the woods and bogs of Clancan, but were there routed by little more than a
dozen of McCann's men. In their panic they fled headlong into Annagarriff bog
where both men and horses perished. Charles Roe, who some years later recorded
this incident says, "We marcht to the myre of Annagarfe and saw the yellow
jerkins (jackets) of our army in the hell-deepe mud.”
The area of land covered by Portadown was
in pre-plantation days (prior to 1610) sparsely inhabited by people of Gaelic
origin[30].
The local sept were the McCanns of Clann-Cana (Clancan) which is the area south
of Lough Neagh between the Blackwater and the Bann. About the end of the
thirteenth century a branch had thrust across the Bann and become masters of
Clann-Breasil. Their neighbours were the O'Hanlons of Ballymore (Tandragee
area) and the Magennises of Iveagh (Donacloney and Tullylish area). These local
chieftainships were vassals of the powerful O'Neills.
The name Portadown is derived from the
Irish `Port-nadun', meaning the port of the dun, stronghold of the McCanns,
commanding the crossing of the river Bann at the main intersection of a road
going east and west with water communication of the Bann flowing south to
north.
Little is known of the Portadown area
until the Plantation of Ulster in 1610. In
In 1608, James I of
The dispossessed Irish had been plotting
for many years to wipe out the imposed alien culture, to regain their lost
lands and re-establish Gaelic rule. A rising was planned for October 1641. Sir
Phelim O'Neill, nephew of the great Hugh, led the rebellion in
Recently we have seen the creation of the
In order to do this, the 1967 Register of
the Borough of Lurgan was used. What was required was an analysis of the names
it contained, in order to discover the most common names in the area, so that
they could be compared with the native Irish names, and the name of the
plantation period.
The results show that there are 1307
different names listed in the register. Five names have more than 100 entries.
These are:
Lavery 176
McConville 171
McCann 162
Thompson 120
In leases dated about 1624, we find such
Irish names as Owen O'Neale, Shane McAlinden, Murtagh McAtananey, Donnell
McCawhelly, and, naturally, the inevitable McCanns. After the Williamite wars
of 1689-91, we find that these Irish tenants were replaced by English tenants
with names like
O’Donnell History
The O'Donnells[32]
have always been both numerous and eminent in Irish life. They are chiefly
associated with Tirconnaill (Donegal), the home of the largest and best known
O'Donnell sept; but, as the present distribution of persons of the name
implies, there were quite distinct O'Donnell septs in other parts of the
country. All of these descend from some ancestor Domhall and are O Domhnaill in
Irish.
The Cromwellian campaign resulted in wholesale
clearances of the native population in Donegal and following the defeat of the
Irish at near Letterkenny in June, 1650, it is believed that Manus ODonel's son
"Rory of Lifford", and many others, were transplanted to the
Ballycroy district of Mayo, around 1654.
Rory's son
Manus fought at
Two facts
indicate that our great-great grandmother, Mary O'Donnell McCann was somehow related
to this family. In her obituary it is
mentioned that she was born Protestant and converted to Catholicism. The O'Donnell family of
According
to family legend, Mary O'Donnell considered herself to be of a better family
than the “little people” around her and she always used her maiden name along
with her married one.
Irish Places
The McCanns and O’Donnells lived in or
near the town of
Mayo, a county in western
Burrishoole
Burrishoole was first mentioned in the
Ormonde deeds in the 1570s. The parish
is situated on the north-east
It is
however chiefly with the abbey of the Dominicans near
The large
estate, formerly the Manor of Burrishoole, from the Dukes of Ormonde, was
leased it to a Captain Pratt who served in the treasury office in
By 1766, the O'Donel family had succeeded
in acquiring much land in the parish and were ready to become owners in their
own right. By changing their religion in
1763 they had paved the way for this. By 1777 they were able to buy a large
estate which was for sale.
In the
1780s the O'Donels were engaged in their own building program, Newport House remains
as a testament to their own powerful status.
The town
population had risen to 1541 by 1841, in 1851 it had fallen to 870. The decline
continued through the 19th century. The famine of the 1840’s began
the destruction of the landed estates. This issue would continue to bedevil
Irish society through the nineteenth century until agitation, land war and
finally legislation empowering the people to own their own land.
In the mid 19th century the
principal seats were Newport House, that of Sir R. Annesley O'Donell, Bart.;
Newfield, of J. McLoughlin, Esq.; Seamount, of Connell O'Donnell, Esq.; Tymore,
of J.T.S. Stuart, Esq.; Newfort, of J.
Hilles, Esq.; and Abbeyville, of J. McDonnell, Esq.
The Roman.Catholic.
parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains two
chapels, one at Newport-Pratt and the other at Newfield, both good slated
buildings. It is interesting to note the
complete description of the Anglican Church and the bare mention of the
Catholic, even thought the population of the area was probably 90% Catholic.
Burrishoole Abbey
Burrishoole
Abbey, first mentioned in a bull of
Pope Innocent VIII, dated
Newport
Newport,
or Newport-Pratt, a market and post-town,
in the parish of Burrishoole, county of Mayo, and province of Connaught, is 6
miles from Westport and 140 miles from Dublin; containing 1235 inhabitants.
This town, which is situated at the extremity of Clew bay, was the original
port of discharge for the county of Mayo; it is intersected by a fine river,
which rises in Lough Beltra and falls into the bay; the river Burrishoole also
flows through the parish, and both abound with excellent salmon, for taking
which weirs are placed about half a mile above the town.
It consists of one principal street and
several others, and contains about 230 houses, some of which are well built and
of neat appearance. The trade formerly very extensive has, from the difficulty
of communications with the interior, been in a great measure transferred to
Westport, and at present consists principally in the export of grain, which on
an average, 1000 tons are annually shipped to England.
SS. Edinburgh[35]
The McCanns immigrated in 1864 on the
ship, S.S. Edinburgh. Their voyage from
Queenstown (
The
