Tracing a family history online: The Nolans and the Mayoralty of Limerick

Castleconnell Historical Society

8:00pm

17 May 2011

by Paddy Waldron

WWW version: http://www.pwaldron.info/Castleconnell/

Online pedigree: http://pwaldron.tribalpages.com (password required)

(or direct link to Nolan family)

Outline:

Where do I start?

Humble beginnings in Kerry

Second generation: Four brothers

Third generation: Four only sons

The Mayoralty

Where do I finish?

Where do I start?

Start with yourself!
With names, dates and places
With a blank pedigree chart
With a computer program like Ancestral Quest AND online backup like tribalpages or WorldConnect
With your oldest and/or most knowledgeable relatives
With your family papers (in memoriam cards, family bible, wills, intestacies - no will, maybe a pedigree affidavit like that sworn by my greatgrandmother Margaret Waldron (née Nolan) on 17 Nov 1924
Then with online sources, for example:

Google (for more unusual surnames)
Limerick Archives Limerick City Council website Local Studies Limerick City Council website Museum Councillors 1841-2009 Families Limerick City Council website Chronicle Obituaries by year Limerick City Council website Alphabetical listings of obituaries Limerick City Council website Mount St Lawrence 1855-2008 Limerick City Council website Limerick City Trades Register 1769-1925 Limerick City Trades Register - Advanced Search Magazine of Magazines Digitisation Project: The Magazine of Magazines, 18th Century Limerick Publication Mark Humphrys' family tree Notable Mayors in Limerick's History IFHF Online Irish ancestral Birth, Death and Marriage records for Co. Limerick. Genealogy research center - Limerick Genealogy
Ireland Irish Civil Registration Indexes Search tips here 1911 Census of Ireland Irish Genealogy FamilySearch.org â€” Irish Civil Registration Indexes FamilySearch.org â€” Ireland Births and Baptisms FamilySearch.org â€” Ireland Marriages FamilySearch.org â€” Ireland Deaths Griffiths Valuation (askaboutireland) Griffiths Valuation (Irish Origins) Griffiths Valuation (Find My Past) Townland index (SeanRuad RIP) IreAtlas Townland Search Form Lewis, Samuel: Topographical Dictionary of Ireland Architects Dictionary Online newspaper archives
U.K. England and Wales BMD indexes I England & Wales GRO Certificate Ordering Service UKBMD 1901 Census of England and Wales Online 1911 Census of England and Wales ScotlandsPeople CWGC :: Search London Gazette
U.S. Ellis Island Ellis Island II SSDI California Death Records
Australia Birth Death and Marriage Records - Australia Web Sites for Genealogists NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
World - free IGI search FamilySearch.org â€” Free Family History and Genealogy Records
World - commercial Ancestry.com

Humble beginnings in Kerry

The Nolans were originally from Listowel.
Lots of new information has come to light since Old Limerick Journal articles in 1986 and 1990
William Nolan occupied 3 acres, 1 rood 25 perches in Gortcurreen townland in Griffiths Valuation
Trades Register shows his sons James Nolan at 43 William Street by 1867 and William Nolan at 3 Cornmarket Row by 1870; William later emigrated to Canada

Buckley, Johanna

b. ABT 1785
d. 10 Dec 1871
- Greenville,Listowel,Kerry,Ireland
m. Nolan, William

Nolan, James

b. ABT 1828
d. Oct 1888
- Barrington St.,Limerick,Ireland
e. Burial
- Mt. St. Lawrence,Limerick,Ireland
m. O’Rourke, Mary A.
- 16 Sep 1851
- St Michael’s Ch.,Limerick,Ireland
- d. 11 Dec 1891

Nolan, William Michael (Willie)

b. 29 Sep 1855
- Limerick,Ireland
d. 22 Mar 1941
- ’Mentana’,Laurel Hill Ave.,Limerick,Ireland
m. Murphy, Ellen

Nolan, Michael James

b. 29 Sep 1859
- Limerick,Ireland
d. 27 Dec 1944
- 3 The Crescent,Newcastle,Down,Ireland
m. Whelan, Kathleen (more..)

Nolan, Patrick James (Paddy)

b. ABT 03 Mar 1862
- Limerick,Ireland
d. 10 Feb 1913
- 808 Royal Avenue,Calgary,Alberta,Canada
m. Lee, Mary

Nolan, Johanna Mary (Annie)

b. 07 Feb 1867
- William St.,Limerick,Ireland
d. 14 May 1891
- 8 Mallow-street,Limerick,Ireland

Nolan, James Joseph (The_Lamb)

b. 07 May 1869
- Limerick,Ireland
d. 13 Sep 1939
- London,England
m. Russell, Charlotte

Online death notices, funeral reports and obituaries from Limerick Chronicle

Nolan, James (258 Kb), 27 Barrington Street, L.Chronicle 20/10/1888, death notice,(funeral report 25/10/1888) (273 Kb): `He occupied a foremost position amongst the merchants of the city, his commercial career being marked throughout by the highest probity and honour. A gentleman of great energy, he devoted his attention successfully to his business affairs, and placed his sons and daughters in well secured positions in life, leaving them moreover the inheritance of a good name and an untarnished reputation. Unostentatious in manner, highly intelligent and possessed of sound judgment and common sense, inoffensive to party or persuasion, and quietly doing good in his own way, he was held in high esteem by every portion of the community.'
Nolan, Annie (463 Kb) , 8 Mallow Street, L.Chronicle 16/5/1891, death notice, dau of late James Nolan of Limerick, aged 24 years.
Nolan, Mary (442 Kb) , The Crescent Limerick, L.Chronicle 12/12/1891, death notice, widow of late James Nolan.
Nolan, William (721 Kb), Calgary, Canada, L. Chronicle 12th September 1905, former pawnbroker at Cornmarket Row, Limerick; death notice
Nolan, James J. (289 Kb), Cornmarket Row, L.Chronicle 10/2/1906, son of late William Nolan, pawnbroker, aged 31 years
other N obituaries forthcoming online and already available at The Granary. (No known relationship to Nolans of Bloomfield, Castleconnell.)

Second generation: Four brothers

William Michael Nolan (1855-1941)

Educated by the Christian Brothers, and also at Weir's Academy and as a lay boy at the Limerick Diocesan Seminary
member of the Limerick Harbour Commissioners
High Sheriff (1890)
married in Kerry, one son, one daughter
Town Councillor for the Castle Ward and later for the Market Ward
Mayor (1895-6)
leased out the family business premises at 43 William Street from 1895 (see Rate Valuation Books)
Town Clerk (1896-1933)
kept Limerick City Council Minute Books in difficult handwriting
Nolan's Cottages named in his honour; demolished 1987 to make way for City Hall on Merchants Quay

Michael James Nolan (1859-1944)

Educated at the Crescent and RCSI
Visiting Physician to the Limerick Lying-in Hospital, 1884
Married twice: to Kathleen Greene in 1886, one son; to Kathleen Alice Courtenay née Whelan in 1934 (Mrs Courtenay had been widowed for over 21 years, Dr Nolan for under four years)
Deputy Resident Medical Superintendent, Richmond Lunatic Asylum Dublin (now Grangegorman Mental Hospital)
In 1893, he was appointed (Resident) Medical Superintendent at the institution variously known as Down County Mental Hospital/Downpatrick Mental Hospital/Down District Asylum.
Retired as R.M.S. on account of failing eyesight, the result of an accident, in 1935
Justice of the Peace for Co. Down

Patrick James Nolan (1862-1913)

Educated at the Crescent, London University, Royal University of Ireland, TCD, Gray's Inn, King's Inns
Emigrated to Calgary, where he had an uncle and two first cousins (Costelloes from Kerry)
Married Mary Elizabeth Lee in Calgary in 1892, one son
first secretary of the Calgary Board of Trade (1890-94), auditor of the city (1893-95), and editor of the Calgary Herald (1900-3)
one of the best orators of the age
most of Nolan’s litigation was on the criminal side
The standard biographies give him a high place in the history of the law profession.
See also Wikipedia

James Joseph Nolan (1869-1939)

Educated at the Crescent and at King's College, London
Served for many years on the staff of The Times
Co-author with Mary L. Pechell of Professions for boys and how to enter them (1898) with a preface by the Reverend J.E.C. Welldon.
Married Charlotte Russell (from Limerick), Fulham, 1897; one son
In 1915 he went to Burma (then part of the Indian Empire) to become editor of the Rangoon Timesuntil 1920
Then Director of Publicity to the Government of Burma
Retired and returned from Rangoon to live in London, where he remained London correspondent of the _Rangoon Times

Third generation: Four only sons

William Anthony Gerard Nolan (1897-1981), son of William

Born in Limerick
Served for six years (1915-1921) with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers in WWI and was wounded at Ginchy in Sep 1916
Could not get any permanent civilian job - Foot & Mouth Inspector, etc.
Service in WWII comprised five years (1940-1946) with the Royal Ulster Rifles - not passed fit for active service
Spent the last nineteen years of his life in Simpson's Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin
Never married
One sister, Mrs. Marie Rose O'Dwyer

James Noel Greene Nolan (1886-????), son of Michael

Born in Limerick
Educated at Clongowes and Stonyhurst
Studied medicine at TCD
Like his father, specialised in psychiatry
Assistant Medical Officer of the East Sussex Asylum, Hellingly, 1912 (The Irish Times, 7 May 1912)
Temporary captain in the RAMC in WWI
Married in 1935, while residing at Melville House, Lundin Links, Fife, no known issue
Rejoined RAMC in WWII
Retired from Scotland to Newcastle, co. Down

Henry Grattan Nolan (1893-1957), son of Paddy

Born in Calgary
Educated at University of Alberta, Edmonton
Rhodes Scholar at University College, Oxford
Enlisted in in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in WWI, wounded at Cambrai
Called to the Bar from Gray's Inn in 1922
Awarded Military Cross
Married 1928, two daughters
Brigadier and a deputy to the army's advocate-general in WWII
First Albertan ever to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada

Michael Charles Nolan (1898-1954), son of James

Born in Fulham
Followed his paternal first cousin Noel to Stonyhurst College (see 1911 census); followed in turn by his maternal first cousin, Ted Russell
Then Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
20th Burma Rifles, Indian Army (see London Gazette)
Rose to Lieutenant-Colonel
Retired to Dublin, principally in order to look after his widowed mother, whom he was to survive by only 10 months
Never married

The Mayoralty: keeping it in the family

Kathleen Mary Nolan née Greene (1859-1930), first wife of Michael James Nolan, was born in Ennis and died in Downpatrick, but was related to lots of Mayors, High Sheriffs, Councillor and Town Clerks of Limerick:

sister-in-law of William Michael Nolan (Councillor, Market Ward, 1892-96, High Sheriff 1890, Mayor 1895, 1896, Town Clerk 1896-1933)
granddaughter of John McDonnell (Councillor, John's Street/Gate Ward, 1841-9, Alderman John's Street Ward, 1850-2; Councillor, Irishtown Ward, 1853-64 (also Councillor, William Street Ward, 1841-2?), High Sheriff 1871)
niece of Robert McDonnell (Councillor, Abbey Ward, 1860-91, Mayor 1871, later Town Clerk to 1896)
sister-in-law of Jerome Counihan (Councillor, Custom House Ward, 1871-82, Alderman, Custom House Ward, 1883-94; Mayor 1882 and 1883)
daughter-in-law of James Nolan (Councillor, Irishtown Ward, 1878-84)
first cousin of Robert Wyndham Berchmans (Bob) de Courcy (Councillor, 1921-34; Mayor 1923-1925)
Kathleen's brother-in-law James Joseph Nolan (1869-1939) was married to Charlotte (Harriett) Russell (1869-1954) whose nephew, George Edward (Ted) Russell (1912-2004), was a T.D., a Senator and a City Councillor (from 1942-79) and served five terms as Mayor between 1954 and 1977.