Dunleavys of Kilcar
George Dunleavy is the earliest recorded Dunleavy in my family. He was born circa 1780 and died in 1857. He sired an estimated sixteen children with two wives. There is a Patrick Dunleavy (b. 1773) farming in Derrylahan who may be a brother but it has not been possible to establish any other family connections. There is a tract of land in Derrylahan (which borders the Roxborough Glebe) known in the 1833 Tithe Aplotment records as "Donlevy's Third". This may suggest that the family had farmed there for some time, and there is no reason to doubt this. Dunleavy is a long-established Donegal and Kilcar name and as farmers there is every reason to suppose that they had been there for a long time as an authentic Irish family. They were members of the Church of Ireland congregation and may have been for some generations. I can only suppose that conversion from the Catholic faith came at some point in the 17th or 18th centuries. I wonder too at the relative absence of other Dunleavy families in the early 19th century and I can only suppose that many emigrated as the opportunity arose. There is the aforementioned Patrick and a Robert Dunleavy who baptized four children in the 1820s. This family may have emigrated because I find no subsequent records. One would expect the name to multiply more if they had been there for several centuries so it is possible that they came into the parish during the 18th century. This is all pure speculation, which underscores the absence of fact.
In 1833 George Dunleavy was renting 21 acres from the Reverend Edward Labatt, Rector of Kilcar which appears to have been sufficient to support a second family. He also owned a fishing smack and he was also the local wheelwright - a trade taken up by his son George (b 1818). Even today, folk memory is strong enough to recall that the Dunleavys were known for their spinning wheels.
Kilcar is a small village on the west coast of Donegal under the shadow of the 2000-foot mountain, Slieve League. Kilcar (Cill Chartha) was named after the founder of the original Christian Church, possibly in the seventh century. The land is not especially fertile, although George Dunleavy's 21 acres or so are described as "quality" in 1833. The rent he paid in that year was £5 5s 10d. - not a large amount.
Life in the parish of Kilcar was certainly poor, but not without dignity. A traveler of 1845 passing through Kilcar observed, "the Irish-speaking population, who generally live in the mountains, never present the same aspect of destitution as we see in the English-speaking townlands. I suppose they have not been ground down by high rents, or eaten up by too large a population." However, his companion on the same tour, John Mitchell, described the region in rather different terms:
the dreariest region of moor and mountain that is to be found within the five ends of Ireland; - wide tracts of quaking bog, interspersed with countless dismal lakes , intersected by rocky ridges, and traversed by mountain rivers roaring in the tawny foam to the sea. The two or three wretched villages that lie along this road give to a traveler an impression of even more dreariness and desolation than the intervening country; a cluster of ragged-looking, windowless hovels, whose inhabitants seem to have gathered themselves from the wastes, and huddled together to keep some life and heat in them; a few patches of oats and potatoes surrounding the huts, and looking such a miserable provision for human beings against hunger in the midst of those great brown moors.
The Reverend Edward Labatt, Rector of the Parish underlines the general poverty of this period in this appeal:
Kilcar Parish, an unimproved mountainous district, comprising an area of 18,879 acres, with a poor population of nearly 5,000 souls, is situate in a remote part of the County Donegal, without a single Market, and not a resident Landlord, except the Rector, who has, to this period, brought into the Relief District, of which he is Chairman, nearly £2,000 worth of Provisions, and, with the exception of £8, he has not received any pecuniary aid from the Landlords of his Parish, the principal Estate belonging to a Minor under the English Court of Chancery. The demand for food is now so excessive, almost every family in tile Parish is now destitute of provisions, and the people's means are so exhausted by purchasing Indian Meal at the present exorbitant prices, that Mr. Labatt must give up in despair, and starvation must inevitably ensue, unless a sympathising public will enable him to procure immediately a large supply to sell under Cost Price; give gratuitous relief to the destitute, who are unable to engage in labour work, and open a Soup Shop.
Contributions forwarded to the Rev. Edward Labatt, Kilcar Rectory, Killybegs, will be gratefully acknowledged on the part of a suffering yet patient people.
January 26, 1847
An earlier relief fund had raised £76.10.0 locally and of interest to this family James Dunleavy contributed 10 shillings.
Because of the punitive laws against the Catholics in the early part of the century the Protestants generally lived better since they had access to more. Even so, life was spartan and the diet unvaried for a good part of the year.
Herrings were to be had in season and occasionally oat bread and fatty rashers of bacon, but for the most part the potato was the staple food. Potatoes was the common food from August till February; they were used mostly three times a day; milk was the common 'kitchen' - a large pot of potatoes was boiled for breakfast and tumbled out on a basket when the water was drained off; it was set on a pot, perhaps the pot in which they were boiled, on the middle of the floor.
There was schooling of a sort for the protestant children in the National schools. Catholic children were permitted to attend but often did not which would account for the high incidence of illiteracy among the catholic families. The teachers were poorly paid and did not stay long in these postings. The schools were poorly equipped, and, if McCarron's account is typical, the only pedagogy was to teach reading aloud from the Bible.
All that could read, good, bad or middling, were in one class and each on his turn would read a verse out of a Chapter of the New Testament or Bible.
The Kilcar school was situated on the Roxborough Glebe next to the Dunleavy acres. Samuel Love, a Scotsman I believe, came to the school in 1819 and spent the rest of his life there. He was instrumental in establishing the need for a parish register and we can all be grateful for that, especially as my great-great grandfather was the seventh entry in that document. Figures from 1836 show that there were 35 males and 57 females enrolled in the one-room school where they were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and bookkeeping. If we wonder about the difficulties of teaching today we can reflect on what it must have been like to manage 92 children in a one-room school. It was far worse in 1847 when Captain O'Neill, a Board of Works inspector, paid a visit; he found 174 in a room that could apparently accommodate 90. "The heat and vitiated air were so bad that I could not remain more than a few minutes in it." This state of affairs was one of the unintended consequences of the food relief program administered through the school. Naturally the promise of food doubled the attendance.
Roman Catholic schools had been made illegal in the 18th century and so-called hedge schools grew to meet the need whereby a teacher would instruct children behind a hedge in a field. In reality, the authorities turned a blind eye to this practice and the hedge school operated under shelter. However, they were not publicly funded in any way. In 1836 Kilcar had two hedge schools - one with 40 pupils and another with 36. Given the relative differences in the catholic and protestant populations these figures shows that catholic children were still relatively uneducated.
Andrew Dunleavy and his brothers and sisters learned to read and write. This rough stone of literacy was sufficient in 1846 to provide Andrew with an alternative to farming. Both he and his wife were literate (they both signed the marriage certificate) and his ability to get work in clerkly occupations is clear evidence that he was bright enough to make use of his education - an advantage in a country where, according to some estimates, at least half the population was illiterate.
Kilcar today is very beautiful and unpopulated. I doubt if the parish has 5000 souls today. Many of the cottages are used as second homes. Even today, while there is no grinding poverty such as our forebears experienced in the 19th century, there is no sense that there is much wealth. The couple who provided me with B&B on my visits to Kilcar are possibly typical in that their income is from mixed sources - B&B, some farming, and work in the fish factory in Killybegs. It is easy to romanticize places like this and it is not a difficult place to fall in love with. The scenery is dramatic, it is culturally unique, life is less hurried - all the things that a city dweller yearns for until they actually have to live there.
Kilcar in the mid-nineteenth century was probably a place to leave. Of the sixteen children of George Dunleavy fewer than half stayed. Andrew probably had little choice but to leave. Surprisingly he turns up in the village of Glaslough in County Monaghan in 1846. On the marriage certificate he is a farmer by occupation and on his son's birth certificate in October he is a clerk. What brought him to Glaslough from Kilcar will probably remain a mystery. There may be a family connection of some sort but I have been unable to find it. From here his story moves to England and has been told earlier in this book.
George Dunleavy married a woman named Margaret and there were several children. Andrew was baptized in 1820 and was followed by Anthony (b.1822) and Isabella (b 1824). An older brother George's birth date of 1818 can be inferred from his death certificate in 1899. There are no parish records for older children but I have made deductions from secondary evidence.
In a letter written about 1900 A.A. Dunleavy of Duluth, tried to put down what he knew of his family line. His father had died at this time and what he wrote was probably from memory. Some of the entries are intriguing.
Andrew Dunleavy (my father) was born in 1821 in Killybegs, Galway, Ireland, and died on Jan.21, 1892 in London, England. He belonged to the Church of England and in politics was Conservative. He married Mary Gordon Killen who died Sep. 24, 1884 and was born in 1824. My father, Andrew Dunleavy, had two sisters married in the United States, but he always refused to give me their names or addresses because they married Roman Catholics. I had an uncle, Anthony Dunleavy, in the Irish Constabulary, address not known. I think I remember hearing of his death. I have an aunt, Isabella Dunleavy, wife of . . . McKinley, a retired naval officer of Hull, England. My father had a brother named George Dunleavy, of Glasgow, Jefferson County, Iowa.
I have written to England to see if my father left any documents or information relating to his parents. I know nothing of them myself, as I was born in England and came to this country at the age of 20. Father's oldest brother "George Dunleavy," lived 20 years ago near Glasgow, Jefferson Co., Iowa. I presume the old man is dead, but the family should live there yet as they were farmers.
Now the brother named George actually stayed on the farm at Kilcar, but I did search records in Glasgow, Iowa and did indeed find a Dunleavy - Alexander Dunleavy, born in Ireland in 1810. He arrived in Jefferson County in 1841 according to his obituary, when presumably they were just opening up the state for farming. Some of the records suggest he came via Ohio. Two years after his arrival he married Catherine Messner who was born in Frankford, Pennsylvania. There were four daughters and three sons. Now this is very little to go on but there is some other circumstantial evidence. He arrived in Glasgow with a John Cochran as a neighbour, also born in Ireland. Cochran is a Kilcar name. I also noticed later that one of Samuel Love's sons had emigrated to this part of Iowa. So this may suggest a Kilcar connection. The Fairfield death register also notes that he originated from County Donegal. His second son was called George in the fashion of the day in naming a son after the paternal grandfather. It also has to be said that his birth date is feasible. George Dunleavy was born in 1780 and Margaret in 1783. There is certainly time for him to emigrate and settle in Ohio before moving on to Iowa. The last piece of information I have is that he was a member of the Episcopalian Church. Since we know that his parents were Church of Ireland (as were the Cochrans) this is another fragment of information that is not out of place
I should emphasize that this evidence is not hard proof but the little pieces of information I have assembled tend to support the connection. However, I am including Alexander Dunleavy's family and descendants on a provisional basis until it is proved one way or another.
The township of Round Prairie is in the southeast corner of Jefferson County. Glasgow is its only recognizable settlement has a very small population today, hardly recorded in fact. Fairfield, a small city of 10,000 is 11 miles away. Alex Dunleavy farmed there until his death in 1898, a little shy of his 88th birthday. There are no descendants named Dunleavy beyond the next generation. The youngest son Francis died in 1897. George died in 1900, only three years after marriage. John, who ran the farm until his death in 1921, married but had no children.
James Dunleavy (b 1812) farmed in Kilgoly in the nearby parish of Glencolumbkille. My only clue to his existence was a letter written on August 5, 1900:
Dear Miss Kelley:
I am sure you will think I am a long time in writing, but I only had an answer from my eldest brother last week, and he had the few papers my father left when he died. My father's only sister (her husband died some years ago) lived at 4 Albert Avenue, Mayfield Street, Spring Bank, Hull. Her name is McKinley and her son John McKinley is a clerk in Peases Bank, Hull. Our uncle's addresses were George Dunleavy, Roxboro, Kilcar, County Donegal, Ireland and James Dunleavy, Glen Lodge, Killybegs County, Ireland, and he has a photograph of another brother in America. And he believed my father's father was a fishing smack owner in Donegal Bay in the neighbourhood of Killybegs. I am afraid I cannot give you any more information for I never heard much of my father's relatives.
Yours truly,
A Webdale
Research into 19th century land maps turned up Glen Lodge and the exact location of James Dunleavy's farm, so I feel confident about identifying this James Dunleavy as a son of George Dunleavy of Kilcar. The farm is in the parish of Glencolumbkille to the west of Kilcar. His wife's name was Susan and they probably married in 1835. I guess that the Kilgoly farm may have come through marriage. George Dunleavy senior was still working the home farm and was starting his second family. There may have been land available for rent on Roxborough Glebe or in Derrylahan but the marriage may have provided him with an opportunity. Glencolumbkille was definitely the poorer parish of the two, but James Dunleavy nonetheless managed to contribute 10 shillings to the joint parish famine relief appeal in 1847.
There were eight children. Margaret (b 1836) who probably died in infancy, Mary Ann (b 1838) who married RIC Officer Joshua Allen in 1867 and subsequently moved to Letterkenny, Margaret (b 1840) who may also have died in infancy, William (1842-1910) who stayed to farm at Kilgoly, Susan (b 1844) and died in infancy, George (1846 - 1885), James (1849-1913) and Susan (1851-1922).
The four youngest, William, George, James and Susan, farmed at Kilgoly until their deaths. They did not marry and there were no heirs. Susan bequeathed the house and farm to one George Reilly of Drumroe on condition that he cared for her for the rest of her life. It was not to last much longer. She signed the will in a very shaky hand on 11th April 1922. On May 2nd of that year, she died.
We now come to George Dunleavy (1818-99) the third son of George and Margaret Dunleavy. He stayed in the parish and on the farm. By 1857, when the Griffiths Valuation was undertaken, he is living with his family on the main farm. His father is working a smaller acreage at Rushen Park. George junior married Frances Chesnut from a neighbouring farming family in 1840. She was 17 years his senior, but was able to bear three children - Margaret (b 1841), Prudence (b 1844) and a son George (b 1850). Fanny, as she was known, lived 89 years before dying of old age in 1889. George continued to farm on the Roxborough Glebe and was also a wheelwright. This trade must have provided a useful supplement to the farming income. As I mentioned earlier, the Dunleavys were known in the parish for making spinning wheels. This family continued to farm here for another two generations when James Dunleavy sold the farm to Michael McNelis around 1955.
Andrew Dunleavy (1820-1892) has been described in some detail earlier but after Andrew another brother, Anthony, followed in 1822. A.A. Dunleavy's letter above refers to an Anthony who was in the Irish Constabulary and indeed there are records, but the data conflict. There is an Anthony Dunleavy born in County Donegal who entered the RIC at the stated age of 20 in 1844 but he might not be the same Anthony Dunleavy baptized in Kilcar in 1822. Apparently it was not the practice in those days to employ RIC officers in the county of their birth but as he had retired by the time of his marriage to Anne Love in 1865, there would be no bar to the return of the native. My conclusion is that the Anthony Dunleavy born in Kilcar and the RIC officer are one and the same, but that there has been an error in date recording somewhere. Anthony probably did his twenty years service in other counties before returning in 1864. Sadly he died of a heart attack a year after his wedding day. A daughter, Margaret Fanny, was born posthumously. Despite the conflicting evidence he stays "in the family" until he is proved to be "out".
The last child born to Margaret was Isabella in1824. She married a coastguard officer from the Teelin Station, James McKinley, born in Taunton. They married in St Matthew's parish church in Kilcar on July 10th 1849 and were shortly after whisked away to Westport in Sligo. The Coastguard records are terse:
James McKinley, Boatman
Removed July 21, 1849 to Blacksod. Married a native.
Apparently it was not coastguard policy for officers to become too friendly with the native population, no matter how respectable.
The first daughter, Mary Ann, was born the following year and baptized in the Kilcar Church. She later married Edward Greene in Craig, Scotland and had two sons that I know of: James and Edward. A son George was born in 1851, and he also entered the coastguard service. John, born in 1859 became a bank clerk. There are two daughters that I know of: Margaret, born 1855 and Jane born 1862. There are probably others born in the 1850s. All of them established families and have descendants.
James and Isabella McKinley remained at the Bellmullett Station in County Mayo until 1865. He then spent a year in Dublin and was then transferred to Leith in Montrose, Scotland for the years 1866 to 1873. He worked then at Elie on the coast of Fife until 1878 when he retired with a pension. They thereupon moved to Hull, although the reasons are not evident. James McKinley died in 1882 at the age of 59. His widow, Isabella, lived on her own at first but in the last years of her life moved in with her eldest son George, who was then a coastguard officer at Welland Bank in Lincolnshire. She had become blind by 1901, according to the census, but she lived until 1906 after 82 years of life.
In the years between the birth of James Dunleavy in 1812 and George Dunleavy in 1818, there is the possibility of at least two other births to George and Margaret Dunleavy. I had heard from another oral source that one of Andrew's sisters had married a Catholic man; the letter from AA Dunleavy above suggests two. If they existed, they could have been born in these years. Given the passions that flamed around cross-denomination marriages in those days (and for many years after) it is highly probable, as the letter suggests, that the newlyweds emigrated to the United States to start life free from family disapproval. Obviously contact was dropped on all sides but it may be possible to unearth a connection at some time in the future - some woman named Margaret or Ann, say, born in the years 1814 to 1816.
It does however offer a chronology for George and Margaret Dunleavy's family. Marrying in their late twenties, a first child when George is 30 and thereafter every two years. So Alexander in 1810 when George was 30, James in 1812, two more births in the intervening years, George in 1818, Andrew in 1820, Anthony in 1822 and Isabella in 1824. The naming conventions of the age might also support this theory - the first son named after his paternal grandfather, the second son after his maternal grandfather and the third after his father.
Margaret Dunleavy died at the age of 44 in 1827. George Dunleavy subsequently married an Elizabeth (known as Bess) and started a second family at the age of 56. Of this family, Ann (b 1836) married William Greenlaw, a Killybegs farmer. Many descendants come from this line. Margaret, the second daughter was born in 1837 and remained single. Bess (b 1839) married Patrick Watson, also from Killybegs, and after she was widowed came back to the farmstead to live with her two unmarried sisters and brother Patrick (1845-1922), who was the schoolmaster. Jane (b 1841) and Hamilton (b 1843) may have died in infancy, as there is no further record. Another daughter Jane was born in 1849 and she lived on the farm until her death after 1901. The last-born was Robert, born in 1855 when his father was 75; unfortunately he died at the age of 30.
Margaret died in 1917 and Bess in 1919. Jane may have died in this decade, certainly before 1921 when Patrick made his will, bequeathing his land and property to his "kinsman" James Dunleavy. James was the grandson of his elder half-brother George and had inherited the Roxborough Glebe acres. Jim sold the farm in the 1950s and retired to the US to join his daughter. He died in New York in 1976. James was the last Dunleavy link with Kilcar, but the family is still remembered. They were known for making spinning wheels and the present owner of the farm showed me the pit where the metal hoops were heated before they were sprung onto the wooden wheel. The original farmhouse still stands in part, but has been converted to a byre. Mrs. McNelis told me that she remembered wallpaper on the walls when she was a young girl and was quite impressed that they could afford it. The neighbour of Patrick Dunleavy and his sisters (Bea Cannon), in her 80s when I talked to her in 1992, recalls that the four old ladies used to come out of the house in the afternoon, all dressed in black, to take the air. Patrick was a big man with a long white beard.
And I might conclude this section by reflecting that the Dunleavys were (and still are) tall people. Andrew Dunleavy's height is recorded as 6 feet in 19th century railway records, and his sons succeeding generations achieved were equal or greater.
