James Lardner's Will

In the process of doing my search, I had always heard that wills were basically non-existent prior to 1922, but that there might be indexed summaries of wills available.  Therefore, my first stop was FamilySearch.org website to see what records they may have available and voilà...

Ireland, Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1920 

- Family Search Database - 

County Clare Lardners (and surname variations) found in will and admin index 

Probate Name        Date of Death     Location                              Beneficiary            

James Lardner       6 Mar 1912         Lisheencrona (Carrigholt)    John Lardner
Thomas Lardner    24 May 1913       Monmore (Kilrush)               Mary Lardner
James Larner      13 Jul 1883        Clounlaheen West            Catherine Larner

Even though the surname is not spelled the way my family has come to understand it, it was the Clounlaheen West location that had me looking at the entry with hope (below is partial transcription of what is listed in the index):

LARNER, James
Effects £51
"Letters of Administration (with the Will annexed) of the person estate of James Larner late of Clounlaheen West County Clare Farmer deceased who died 13 July 1883 at same place were granted at Limerick to Catherine Larner of Clounlaheen West aforesaid the Widow and the Principal Legatee."

Taking what I had understood about probate records (read the articles from the National Archives of Ireland and Family Search for assistance) I decided to order FHL film# 100947 for the Limerick District will books... and I was surprised to find a will for James Lardner Sr!

Dated 20th of February, 1883, the document stated that James had decided to disinherit all of his children he had with his first wife Bridget because of their lack of "obedience" and "subservience" to him.  Instead, he left his second wife Catherine Halloran Lardner (née Breen) his worldly possessions after his death and the right to pass on that property to his step-daughter Mary Halloran when ever she so chose.  This transfer did take place between Catherine and Mary's husband, James Scullane, and is recorded in the General Valuation Revision lists of Kilrush Rural District (FHL film# 819460).

In addition to this disinheritance information, there followed a phrase that had me scratching my head in puzzlement over his relationship with his blood descendants.  Apparently, the children were disobedient enough that he had no other choice but, "...to help them to emigrate to foreign lands..." Which, OK, I'm not exactly sure how that logic works, but I decided to focus on the idea that all of the children had emigrated by 1883.

This fact may explain why I have been having such difficult time locating information on my 2x Gr-Grandfather's siblings in Ireland.  As a result, I now have a newly modified set of questions I need to answer about them: when did the children leave?, where did they go? and were they married with their own families when they emigrated?  The search continues!

Until next time.

Jessica