Leitrim-Roscommon

I've been trying to find out where in Roscommon my great grandfather Edward Lyons came from. He was born circa 1831 and his father was Matthew Lyons. Matthew seems to be a name that was not often used at that time in the area.

The name Matthew Lyons occurs twice as a sponsor at baptisms in Kilkeevin parish between 1827 and January 1833 (I noticed the name in Tom Lavin's list of Lavin records, thank you Tom). This particular Matthew Lyons does not appear as a father during this period, and perhaps might have come from the neighbouring parish of Kiltullagh, where baptismal records don't start till 1839. I didn't have time to look further when I was in Dublin.

Does anyone else have connections to Matthew Lyons? or to his son Edward, who emigrated to London circa 1851.

Thanks,
Anne

Good day to you. I, too, am looking for a Lyons. Her name was Catherine Lyons. She married Tommy Winston of Roscommon. They had many children, one of whom was my grandfather, Tommy. He came to the USA in 1907.

Thanks.

Beth

Hi Beth
When I was looking through baptisms from the parish registers of Kilkeevin (Castlerea), I noticed the name Whinstone/Wenston cropping up in connections with Lyons baptisms. I was only able to look through from Jan 1827 - Jan 1833 which is too early for you (it takes ages to go through line by line, the records are in difficult-to-read handwriting and in Latin) but I have:

1828
23 November Mary daughter of Thomas Lyons and Joan Whinstone
sponsors: Catherine Whinstone [I couldn't see a second sponsor]

1832
3 September Sarah daughter of Thomas Lyons and Brigid Wenston
sponsors: Thomas and Mary Flynn

183? [couldn't find the date]
12 October John son of Thomas Lyons and Brigid Wenston
sponsors: Thomas McLoughlin and Mary Wenston

I suspect Winston is likely to be a local name around the north west Roscommon area - does any one know if this is right? Any more Winstons/Whinstones/Wenstones out there?

Anne

Good day, Anne,

My grandfather came to the US stating that he came from Carrick Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon Ireland. I think this is somewhat north in Roscommon.

Thanks for your information.

Beth

Good evening Beth (but I think it's still the afternoon in Washington).

Yes - in fact Carrick is in the neighbouring parish of Kiltullagh, and I think the name given to civil registers for this area is Ballinlough. It's west of the parish of Kilkeevin. It's a bit of Roscommon that sticks out between Mayo and Galway.

The strange thing is that I started looking up Carrick on the townland maps provided on this site only last night to see if it was near the parish border, because I thought that the Matthew Lyons I found in the Kilkeevin registers, acting as a sponsor at a baptism, might have come over to the baptism from this neighbouring area. I was looking at Carrick and some other townlands because Griffiths Valuation has people called Lyons mentioned as living there.

I will check out the information I have from Griffiths and get back about this.

Anne

Beth,
Winston is not a common surname in County Roscommon. The following details for the surname “Winston” have been extracted from “Distribution of Surnames in County Roscommon Civil parishes 1749-1901”.

Civil parish, Barony,1749 Elphin Census folio #, Listed c1830 Tithe Applotment book, Qty c1855 Griffith's Valuation, Qty 1901 Census main occupier, Qty 1901 Census other occupiers
Baslick Castlereagh 262
Bumlin Roscommon - - - - 1
Kilkeevin Castlereagh - - - - 1
Kiltullagh Castlereagh - yes 19 14 2
Tibohine Frenchpark 304

The 1857 Griffith’s Valuation of Kiltullagh Civil parish includes the following:
Surname, Given name, Civil parish, Townland
Winston Bridget Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston John Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston Laurence Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston Michael Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston Patrick Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston Patrick junior, Kiltullagh Carrick
Winston Thomas junior, KiltullaghCarrick
Winston James Kiltullagh Cloonlish or Robinhood
Winston James junior, Kiltullagh, Cloonlish or Robinhood
Winston Patrick Kiltullagh Cloonlish or Robinhood
Winston Thomas Kiltullagh Cloonlish or Robinhood
Winston Thomas Kiltullagh Clydagh Lower
Winston John Kiltullagh Coolatinny
Winston John junior, Kiltullagh, Coolatinny
Winston Michael Kiltullagh Coolatinny
Winston Patrick Kiltullagh Coolatinny
Winston Martin Kiltullagh Coolougher
Winston Edward Kiltullagh Grange
Winston James Kiltullagh Marystown

Lyons Thomas Kiltullagh Ballinross
Lyons Andrew Kiltullagh Carrick
Lyons Bryan Kiltullagh Carrick
Lyons John Kiltullagh Carrick
Lyons William Kiltullagh Clooncrim
Lyons William Kiltullagh Clooncrim
Lyons William Kiltullagh Clooncrim
Lyons Martin Kiltullagh Clydagh Lower
Lyons Catherine Kiltullagh Clydagh Upper
Lyons Peter Kiltullagh Clydagh Upper
Lyons William Kiltullagh Grange
Lyons James Kiltullagh Mountdelvin
Lyons James Kiltullagh Mountdelvin
Lyons Austin Kiltullagh Pollanalty East
Lyons Michael Kiltullagh Pollanea Upper
Lyons Patrick Kiltullagh Pollanea Upper

The above townlands are in Ballinlough Catholic parish, Tuam Diocese.

For the 1901 Census records of the above townlands visit http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/1901census/

For a map of Kiltullagh Civil parish visit http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com/MAPS/kiltullagh.html

John

Thank you for that info, John - I had my Griffiths details from another source, origins.net, and what's interesting is that you've given 16 Lyons names from Kiltullagh instead of their nine. This made me look at the Griffiths info available for Kilkeevin on this site - the Leitrim-Roscommon site- and there are 3 Lyons listed there for Kilkeevin, while origins.net only had one Lyons indexed for that parish. So the indexing that origins.net have done is a bit faulty!

Beth, I expect you've found your grandparents on the 1901 census, and your great grandparents would have married after civil registration came in, in 1864, so you should be able to get back a further generation if you get the marriage certificate. You are very fortunate, knowing the townland that your family came from. I would really like to know which area of Roscommon my Lyons family came from.

I don't know of a Catherine Lyons in my family - my great grandfather Edward Lyons was married in London to Ellen Kennedy from Galway (probably from Tuam, and her father was Darby Kennedy) and their children were Edward and Ellen.

I don't know whether the Matthew Lyons mentioned in the Kilkeevin records is a relation or not, or whether there is some other Matthew Lyons lurking in other records. I will have to do a lot more research, I think!

all the best

Anne

Thank you so much for all this information. I sure wish I had paid attention when Dad was alive. It appears that many of the Winstons came to the US and scattered. My grandfather, Thomas married Elizabeth Cunniffe from Galway (married here in the states). There are a few of the family in the Roscommon area, named Winston, McDermotts, etc. I just can't get a handle on this.

Again, thanks.

Beth

I believe that my great grandfather, Thomas Winston was born in 1843. He married Catherine Lyons and had many children. Their names are:

James 1874
Bridget 1875
John 1877
Mary Anne(?) 1884
Thomas (my grandfather) 1885
Martin 1889
Michael 1892
and
Joseph 1893

I really have no info about Catherine and her lineage. Any of these people familiar?

Thanks.
Beth