The Emerson and O’Brien Families & their part in the Early History of Clifden
O’Brien Family
Michael O’Brien (1791-1871) set up a Classical School in the townland of Ardbear, just outside Clifden, at the junction of Roundstone Road and the lane leading to the Rugby pitch. Michael was a Classical Scholar from Ennistymon, County Clare, and a cousin of Lord Inchaquin of Dromoland Castle.
Michael married Anne Smith (1804-1898) from Oughterard, Co Galway, circa 1825. According to the Parish of Omey records, the O’Brien’s lived in Post Office Street, (Seaview), Clifden, in 1855. Michael and Anne had seven children, all very well educated for the time; John, Lucius, Mary, Honora, Ellen, Michael, and Charles O’Brien.
The O’Brien’s eldest son, John, born in Clifden circa 1827, emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. Letters home, still held in the house in Seaview, show that, because of his Classical Education in Clifden, by 1853 John had become Inspector of Schools for Melbourne.
The second son, Lucius (c.1829-c.1907), went to New York, where he was robbed of his money, and joined the Army as a common soldier. As this was infra dig for a Gentleman, he used the false name of Lucius Smith. He was commissioned to the rank of Captain in the Field during the American Civil War, became a career soldier in an Artillery Regiment, and retired as a Colonel, under the Army approved name of Lucius Smith O’Brien.
The O’Brien’s eldest daughter, Mary O’Brien, born circa 1833, married William Neyland (1830-1870) in Clifden. On the death of her husband, Mary emigrated to Boston in 1871 along with her eight children, where she remarried and had two more children.
The O’Brien’s youngest daughter, Ellen (1838-1919), met and married a builder from Clare, Thomas Emerson. They were married in Clifden in 1855 when Ellen was 17 years of age.
Emerson Family
The Emerson Family traces it history back to William Emerson (c.1600-c.1650) who came from Bedfordshire in England to Corofin, County Clare, circa 1630, and settled there before the time of the Cromwellion Plantations.
Thomas (Tom) Emerson (1831-1902) [Ellen O’Brien’s husband] came from Corofin, County Clare. His father, John Emerson (c.1795-c.1860), was a builder in Corofin, where he lived with his wife Mary Dickson, and where they had at least five children.
Although a Catholic, Tom had been baptised in the Church of Ireland in Corofin, and as a builder he did most of his work for Church of Ireland clients. At that time it was not always possible to have the birth and baptism registered in the Catholic Church, as Catholic Churches were very few in number. It was also the norm at that time for the sons to be brought up in the father’s religion, and the daughters in the mother’s religion.
Tom set up as a builder in Clifden circa 1852. He married Ellen O’Brien in 1855 and they had ten children; Annie, Michael, Mary, John, Henrietta, Susan, Thomas, Nora, Kathleen, and Charles.
Tom had a brother John (1824-1912), who was also a builder and had worked on the restoration and remodelling of Ashford Castle. Tom and John had arranged for John’s eldest son, Geoffrey Roberts Emerson, to go to Clifden and to marry Tom’s eldest daughter, Annie.
However, when Geoffrey Roberts met Tom’s six daughters in Clifden he fell in love with the second daughter, Mary, and married her instead in 1882 when she was 19 years of age.
Geoffrey Roberts Emerson (1855-1919)
Geoffrey Roberts and his wife Mary Emerson (1863-1943), known as “The Mater”, lived first in Nollie Lee’s house on the hill in Market Street, but later lived in Roundstone for five or six years in the late 1800’s.
While living in Roundstone Geoffrey R. built the Estate House in 1895, now extended and known as Cashel House Hotel and presently owned by his granddaughter, Kay Emerson McEvilly. This house and its gardens were to his own design and were considered particularly good. Geoffrey R. also built Cashel Church and a number of other Estate Houses in the Roundstone Parish area.
On returning to Clifden in the early 1900’s, Geoffrey R. and Mary purchased “The Ivy” at the Waterfall, as their home. “The Ivy” was said to have been built by the original builder who built Clifden Castle, and this may well be true.
Geoffrey R. built a number of houses, rebuilt others, and carried out maintenance work on the Convent of Mercy School and orphanage in Clifden in the early 1900’s. Brian Mahon’s Terrace, next to the Clifden workhouse, was built for soldiers who had survived the First World War and its construction was supervised by Geoffrey R.
Geoffrey R. and his wife Mary, ‘The Mater’, had seven sons and two daughters, Jack, Ray (short for Geoffrey), Thomas, Mary Josephine (Moddie), Timothy, Leticia, Louis, Francis Joseph (Frank), and Sydney. Most of their sons worked as builders; Tom in Melbourne, Australia, Ray and Louis in New York, and Timothy (Marie Emerson Brennan’s father) in Clifden.
After Geoffrey R. died in 1921, ‘The Mater’ and her daughter, Moddie Emerson, established The Ivy Hotel and ran it as a hotel for many years. The first Motor Car to come to Clifden was owned by a Dr. Petherbridge, a Botanist from London University , who stayed (circa 1920+) in The Ivy Hotel when he came on his regular visits to the area to study fauna in the bogland between Clifden and Roundstone Hill.
Timothy Emerson (Timmy) (1889-1975)
Geoffrey R.’s fourth son, Timothy Emerson (Timmy), took over his father’s Design and Building Practice in Clifden and lived with his wife, Annie Barry, in the house in Seaview that was originally owned by his great grandfather, Michael O’Brien. Timmy restored and renovated the house in the Nineteen Thirties, and his daughter, Marie Emerson Brennan, continues to live there today.
Frank Emerson (1901-1978)
Frank Emerson, the sixth son of Geoffrey R. and ‘The Mater’, was the Manager of the Employment Exchange in Clifden for many years. The area he serviced included most of Connemara and the islands, and he claimed it was the largest Employment Exchange area in the country. As a boy Frank witnessed the spectacular arrival of Halley’s Comet in May 1910. This comet returns to our Solar System every 76 years, but its next visit in 1986 was far less spectacular due to cloudy conditions. On the 15th June 1919 he watched the Alcock and Brown plane circling Clifden after its flight from America, looking for a place to land before it landed in the bog where he inspected it later that day near the Marconi Station which he frequently visited.
Frank’s son, Geoffrey J. Emerson, and his grandson, Geoff Emerson, carry on the family tradition. Both are Civil Engineers and work as Consulting Engineers in the company of Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates in Blackrock, County Dublin, and have been responsible for construction projects throughout Ireland.
Charles Emerson (1878-1921)
Charles Emerson was the youngest brother of Mary Emerson (The Mater) and a son of Thomas Emerson and Ellen O’Brien. Charles became Head Master of Monaghan Vocational School, and was a Commandant in the Old IRA. He died in Clifden in 1921, after his release from Belfast Jail, as a result of a hunger strike there in which he had participated. A huge Military funeral of five Companies escorted his remains to the Emerson plot in Ardbear Cemetery, Clifden, and was described in detail in the Connaught Tribune at the time.
Note: Most of the above named persons are buried in Ardbear Cemetery and are named on the family Headstones.
Family History & photographs courtesy of Geoffrey Emerson
BENJAMIN TYRRELL AND FAMILY, 1840-1859
Introduction
Benjamin Tyrrell the elder (my great great grandfather) was born in Arklow, Co Wicklow in 1805. He joined the Royal Navy in 1826. Between 1826 and 1834, Benjamin served on various ships which plied from
In 1832, Benjamin was promoted to the Gunner’s Crew, briefly on HMS Stag and then on HMS Malabar. By 1834, Benjamin was the Captain of the Forecastle (pronounced Foaksl) of HMS Malabar. This was a position equivalent in rank to a Leading Seaman or Junior Petty Officer and involved leadership responsibility for a number of sailors and for the cleanliness and maintenance for the forward part of the ship. Later in 1834, Benjamin was nominated to join the (relatively) newly established Coastguard.
At this time, HMS Coastguard was primarily an anti-smuggling operation. To encourage diligence, awards were made for the capture of smugglers and the seizure of contraband. On land stations, there was a scale of prize money which ranged from 25 shares for the chief officer to 6 shares for the boatmen. In addition, it was naval policy to station its personnel away from their home locations, so that they would not be subjected to influence by their friends and relatives. However, I’ve been told that, even so, becoming a Coastguard was a desirable position to obtain, since it meant that a man didn’t always have to be at sea, and there could be a land base for his family.
Benjamin was appointed at the lowest grade of Boatman and was sent to Priory Station, Hastings Port in England. In 1838, Benjamin was promoted to Commissioned Boatman and was moved a short distance to Camber Station, where he stayed until 1840. Between 1835 and 1839, Benjamin and Bridget had three more children:
- Benjamin the younger (my great grandfather), christened 9 July, 1835, Holy Trinity Church, St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, Sussex
- Ellen, christened 21 July, 1837, St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, Sussex
- Thomas, born 29 January, 1839 at Broom Hill, Kent, registered Rye, Sussex, christened 19 May, 1839, East Guldeford, Sussex
The Tyrells in Connemara 1840 - 1859
In 1840, Benjamin was transferred to Mannin Bay Station, Co Galway, still with the rank of Commissioned Boatman. By then, Benjamin and Bridget’s children were aged about 9, 5, almost 3 and 1.
While this transfer brought the family back to Ireland, it was to the west coast rather than the east coast from which both Benjamin and Bridget came.
We do not know whether or not any accommodation was provided for families at Mannin Bay Station, nor indeed where the station was located. However, it seems that the family lived at Coolacloy between 1841 and 1847, since this was the place of residence given when the next three children were christened in the Ballinakill Church of Ireland:
- Jane, christened 14 October, 1841
- Eliza, christened 15 December, 1843
- Rachel, christened 23 February, 1847
The years between 1841 and 1847 were among the hardest years of the Great Famine. Yet, Benjamin and Bridget produced these three daughters, all of whom survived and lived to adulthood. Indeed, all of the Tyrrell family survived and all of the children lived into adulthood. This may be explained by the very fact that Benjamin was employed by the Royal Navy and that the Coastguard was involved in distributing famine relief. Hence, Coastguard families had access to food and other supplies during those terrible years, whether legally or illegally.
Benjamin the elder was promoted to Chief Boatman in 1847 and transferred to Cleggan Coastguard Station. He was again promoted in 1849 and was transferred further north to Killeries Station, where he became Chief Boatman In Charge, since there was no officer at the station.
Benjamin the elder remained in charge at the Killeries until 1859, when he was transferred to Kilmichael Station, Dublin Port “by request”. It is not known who requested this transfer – perhaps it was the Admiralty, or perhaps it was Benjamin’s request, for reasons related to himself, his own health and/or his family. In 1861, “for the good of the Coastguard service”, Benjamin, now aged 56, was transferred to Wicklow Head, which is close to Arklow, where Benjamin was born and grew up. In 1864, Benjamin was transferred yet again to Roches Point Station,
Questions
Whilst we have been able to piece together the outlines of the family story, through Admiralty and Omey Parish records, we still have many questions about what life was like for the family in the Connemara.
1. Where did the family live?
It is not known where the family lived after Benjamin was transferred to Cleggan Bay Station in 1847 and to the Killeries Station in 1849. However, there are a few clues, albeit somewhat confusing:
- When Mary Ann, still a minor, married Henry Pollington, a Boatman in the Coastguard, at Ballinakill Parish Church in 1851, her place of residence was Rosroe. This is the townland on which the Killeries Coastguard Station is located. This suggests that Mary Ann was living at the Coastguard Station.
- When Benjamin the younger retired and bought a house in Brisbane, Queensland, he called it “Salruck”. This is probably a direct reference to Salruck House which is located on Little Killary Bay, in the townland of Salrock. It suggests that Benjamin the younger had formed some kind of connection with the Thomson family and the Salruck property, which is not far from the Killeries Coastguard Station.
- In the 1855 Griffith Valuation, Benjamin the elder was listed as occupying a house and garden on 10 perches in the townland of Ross, which is on the south side of Ballinakill Harbour, and to the south of the Killeries. There was a Coastguard Station close to
2. Schooling for the children
There is evidence that all of the children learnt to read and write. We would be interested to know whether or not school records exist and whether we might be able to find out where the children went to school.
3. Occupations and outcomes for the children
There are many questions and few answers yet about what occupations were available for the Tyrrell children as they grew beyond childhood and schooling into their adult years. In 1849 when Benjamin the elder became Chief Boatman In Charge at the Killeries, Mary Ann could have been aged about 18, Benjamin the younger was 14, Ellen 12, Thomas 10, Jane 8, Eliza 6 and Rachel 3. During the next 10 years to 1859, at which time Benjamin the elder was transferred away from the Connemara back to his home territory in Co Wicklow on the east coast, Mary Ann had married, had had three children and had died; Thomas, the younger son, had joined the Royal Navy; and Benjamin the younger, Ellen, Jane and Eliza had matured into adults. In 1859 Benjamin the younger would have been aged 24, Ellen, 22, Jane, 18, Eliza, 16 and Rachel, 12. As yet, we have no information about what occupations could have been available for these young people, but it is possible that perhaps the older four children moved away from the
One can only guess at the horrors that the young Tyrrells witnessed during the years of the Great Famine and what impact these experiences had on their development. However, all of the family survived, and between 1864 and 1874, the entire family, beginning with my great grandfather Benjamin the younger, and his three sisters Ellen, Jane and Eliza in 1864 and ending with Ellen and Mary Ann Pollington in 1874, emigrated to Queensland, Australia. No Tyrrells remained in the Connemara region.
They mostly settled in Gympie, where gold was discovered in 1867, and opportunities abounded. There were some tragedies, but mostly the outcomes were positive. Of the many grandchildren who were born, 23 survived into adulthood, 20 of whom were born in
By Jan Kelly This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Mary Ann, the oldest child, married Henry Pollington in 1851 when she was still a minor. They had three daughters in quick succession between 1852 and 1854 – Ellen, Mary Ann and Elizabeth Jane. Mary Ann died before October, 1856, which was when Henry Pollington remarried to Louisa Hawkshaw. However, each of the Pollington daughters survived. It seems likely that the little girls had significant contact with their grandparents Benjamin and Bridget, perhaps even becoming part of the Tyrrell family. Later details show that the youngest daughter, Elizabeth Jane,aged 13 years, emigrated to
. Thomas, the younger son, joined the Royal Navy in 1858, aged 19. He served on various ships until 1872, when he was invalided out at age 33, in receipt of a Royal Navy Pension of #12/3/- per annum. In 1873 he came to
. Benjamin the younger, the older son, does not seem to have joined the Royal Navy, nor to have had any interest in the sea. It is not known what other occupations were available for him. However, his apparent affection for “Salruck” may indicate that he made a connection with the people there – perhaps he was employed in some capacity, either in the fields or, as is evident later in his writing skills, in a clerical capacity. Nothing is known about where Benjamin the younger lived or what he did until he emigrated to
. Ellen, Jane and Eliza emigrated to
. Rachel, the youngest of Benjamin and Bridget’s children, emigrated to Queensland, Australia in , aged 20 years, in the company of her parents and the 13 year old Elizabeth Jane Pollington. Benjamin had been discharged from HM Coastguard in 1865, and was in receipt of his pension (#39/18/- per annum).
By Jan Kelly This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
