Lardner name in the "Ireland Dog Licence Registers" on FindMyPast

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to post some information I found on the website FindMyPast.com and their database, "Ireland Dog Licence Registers."  Who knew that this rather banal collection of data could one day be used for genealogy!

Unfortunately, due to constraints of this blog I had to post the info I found in picture format below:

You should be able to click on the image to make it larger and the original records are available on FindMyPast.com.  The individuals listed are: 

• William Lardner of Monmore 
• James Lardner/Larner of Clounlaheen/Powerstown
• James Larner of Lisheen
• Miss Lardner/Miss M.E. Lardner/Ellen Lardner of Corofin and Corofin Workhouse
• Thomas Lardner and Tom Lardner/Larner of Moanmore/Moanmore Lower 
• John Lardner of Knockerry and Knockerra.

James Lardner of Clounlaheen/Powerstown is my direct relation and his dog license registration covers the time periods of 1870-1872 and 1876-1882.  The fact that the standard breed of dog that he licensed is a Sheep dog provides insight into the possible means of subsistence for the family.

Until next time,

Jessica

Breakdown of Family Groups in Seven RC Parishes (Part 1)

Hello Everyone,

This post provides the first part of a breakdown of the family groups found in the seven RC parishes mentioned in my prior post (Seen Here).

I'm going to move left to right along the coast, beginning with...

Carrigaholt | 4 Families
Microfilm 02485 / 01 (Baptisms: Feb 1853-Mar 1878/Marriages: Jan 1852-Mar 1878)

Baptisms
James Lardner and Mary Dunn:

• Patt Lardner, Bapt: 27 Jan 1862 - Residence: Kilcrona
• Bridget Lardner, Bapt: 19 Mar 1864 - Residence: Kilcrona
• James Lardner, Bapt: 24 Feb 1866 - Residence: Kilcrona
• Mary Lardner, Bapt: 15 Jan 1868 - Residence: Lisheen
• Martin Lardner, 21 Oct 1870 - Residence: Lisheen
• Thomas Lardner, 08 Nov 1872 - Residence: Kilcrona
• Magaret Lardner, 11 May 1874 - Residence: Kilcrona
• Bridget Lardner, 31 Jul 1877 - Residence: Kilcrona

John Moloney and Margaret Lardner:

• Michael Moloney, Bapt: 22 Oct 1862 - Residence: Moneen
• Mary Moloney, Bapt: 27 Jun 1865 - Residence: Moneen
• John Moloney, Bapt: 29 Apr 1868 - Residence: Moneen

Thomas Lardner and Bridget Corbett: (See also: St. Senan's parish)

• Mary Lardner, 04 Nov 1866 - Residence: Clarefield

Timothy (Thady) Hanrahan and Catherine (Kate) Lardner:

• Norry Hanrahan, Bapt: 07 Dec 1869 - Residence: Lisheen
• Patt Hanrahan, Bapt: 02 Feb 1872 - Residence: Lisheen
• James Hanrahan, Bapt: 11 Feb 1874 - Residence: Lisheen
• Mary Hanrahan, Bapt: 25 Feb 1876 - Residence: Lisheen
• Margaret Hanrahan, Bapt: 18 Feb 1878 - Residence: Lisheenbog

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Marriages

• James Lardner and Mary Dunn, 13 Feb 1861
• Thomas Lardner and Bridget Corbett, 23 Jan 1866
• Timothy Hanrahan and Catherine Lardner, 07 Feb 1869

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Microfilm 02485 / 02 (Baptisms: Feb 1878-Mar 1881/Marriages: Mar 1878-Apr 1881)
NONE

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St. Senan's | 4 Families
Microfilm 02487 / 03 (Baptisms: Aug 1827-Sep 1863)

Mathew Scanlan and Bridget (Biddy) Lardner:

• Sinon Scanlan, Bapt: 19 Dec 1828
• Daniel Scanlan, Bapt: 08 May 1831
• Eleanor Scanlan, Bapt: 16 Mar 1833
• John Scanlan, Bapt: 21 Jun 1834
• Biddy Scanlan, Bapt: 05 Oct 1836 - Residence: Kilrush
• Mary Scanlan, Bapt: 11 Nov 1838 - Residence: Kilrush
• James Scanlan, Bapt: 01 Aug 1840 - Residence: Kilrush

William Lardner and Catherine (Kitty) Machlin:

• John Lardner, Bapt: 16 Oct 1834
• Thomas Lardner, Bapt: 15 Sep 1836 - Residence: Derra
• Catherine Lardner, Bapt: 11 Mar 1844 - Residence: Monmore
• Anne Lardner, Bapt: 26 Aug 1846 - Residence: Kilrush

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Microfilm 02487 / 04 (Baptisms: Oct 1863-Feb 1881)

Thomas Lardner and Bridget Corbett: (See also: Carrigaholt parish)

• Catherine Lardner, Bapt: 13 Jun 1868 - Residence: Carnanes
• William Lardner, Bapt: 02 Mar 1870 - Residence: Carnanes
• John Lardner, Bapt: 11 Sep 1873 - Residence: Monmore

John Lynch and Anne Lardner:

• Patrick Lynch, Bapt: 18 Feb 1869 - Residence: Monmore
• John Lynch, Bapt: 13 Apr 1870 - Residence: Monmore
• Mary Lynch, Bapt: 21 Jan 1873 - Residence: Monmore
• Thomas Lynch, Bapt: 24 Jan 1876 - Residence: Monmore
• William Lynch, Bapt: 27 Mar 1880 - Residence: Monmore

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Microfilm 02487 / 05 (Marriages: Jan 1829-Feb 1881)

• William Lardner and Catherine Machlin, 13 Oct 1834
• John Lynch and Anne Lardner, 18 Feb 1868

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Knockera | 1 Family
Microfilm 02485 / 10 (Baptisms: Jan 1859-Mar 1881/Marriages: Feb 1859-Nov 1880)

John Lardner and Mary Wolfe:

• John Lardner, Bapt: 29 Apr 1859 or 10 June - Residence: Donogrogn
• Ann Lardner, Bapt: 30 Sep 1860 - Residence: Donail
• George Lardner, Bapt: 01 Nov 1864 - Residence: Donan
• George Lardner, Bapt: 12 Nov 1865 - Residence: Dunial
• Mary Lardner, Bapt: 29 Mar 1868 - Residence: Dundel
• James Lardner, Bapt: 05 Mar 1871 - Residence: Donaile

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Until Later,
Jessica

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

James Lardner from the townland of Cloonlaheen West, Clare

...Last time... There was a possible ancestor spotting found in the records of Griffith's Evaluation of County Clare ...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Separate from my own research, relatives of mine were also on a mission to find our family in Ireland and commissioned a genealogical report from the Clare Heritage & Genealogical Research Centre in Corofin.

Through the Heritage Centre's work, they were able to find seven separate baptismal entries for children who were born to a James Lardner and Bridget (O)Sullivan in Cloonlaheen West (Roman Catholic parish of Kilmurry Ibrickane, Diocese of Killaloe):

• James, baptized on 2 January, 1840 
• John, baptized on 17 April, 1841
• William, baptized on 4 February, 1843
• Anne, baptized on 7 December, 1844
• Michael, baptized on 19 July, 1846
• Patrick, baptized on 23 July, 1848
• Ellen, baptized on 1 July, 1850

Comparing the birth information gathered for the two known siblings, the above baptism dates in bold appear to correspond with my 2x great grandfather and aunt’s birth dates given as 1 January, 1840 and 1 July, 1850 respectively.  These individuals could be my family!  If I could, I would hug the person who put this report together. 

Also included in the Centre's report was a copy of James Lardner Sr's 1883 death register record for the civil district of Cragaknock,Union of Kilrush.  According to this document, James died on 13 July, 1883 in Clonlaheen at the age of 80 which would place his year of birth around 1803.  His wife, who is listed as the informant of his death, was a woman by the name of Kate Lardner.  

Per the Centre's report, Bridget (Sullivan) Lardner died sometime after 1850 and James married again, this time to a Catherine "Kate" (Breen) O'Halloran.  Marriage records were not included for the couple in the research, so I'm not sure where Catherine's information comes from, but apparently decedents of Catherine and her first husband, Thomas O'Halloran, still own the family property today.

As a result of this report, my next tasks will be to track down a microfilm copy of the church registers for Kilmurry Ibrickane in order to gather images of the baptism entries, while locating records for Bridget's death and James' subsequent marriage to Catherine.

Until later...

All the Best,

Jessica

James Lardner and Griffith's Valuation of County Clare

In my last POST I listed a number of leads gathered from my 2nd great-grandfather, James Lardner, that could be followed in order to expand the family search to the shores of Ireland.

Taking note of the birth information of the two Lardner children that came to the U.S., the first stop for my research was to go to the records for Griffith's Valuation to see how common the surname was in 19th century Ireland.  These records are accessible for free on the Ask About Ireland website.  In doing a quick search on the Lardner name, I found out something rather surprising...there were only eleven results and among those entries there was only one James Lardner.

I went back to did additional searches on variations of the Lardner name I had come across in my genealogical quest...and still the original search was the only one that pulled up any information.  So the question became, is the James listed my direct relative? and are the others listed also related to me?

Of course, the entry for James Lardner doesn't show any direct lineage information because of the type of record the land valuation was.  It does, however, give a clue to the living environment this particular James Lardner was surrounded with in about 1855 (when this valuation was published).

The record shows James Lardner as a tenant of Captain Francis Casey, living in the townland of Cloonlaheen West, parish of Kilmurry in County Clare.  With his leased property consisting of a house, offices, and land (approx. 14 acres), which had an estimated value of £3 5s. and was located west of the town of Mullagh and just north of Doolough.  

If this was my great-great-great grandfather, I had just found the home place of my Lardner family! ... But, the local church records for the area needed to be searched in order to confirm that a certain James Larder (Jr) had been born there in and around the first day of January, 1840 to a couple by the names of James Lardner (Sr) and Bridget Sullivan.

Until next time...

All the Best,

Jessica

The Starting Point - The Lardner family of Jefferson County, Nebraska, USA

The starting point for my family's research on the Lardner surname in Ireland comes from my 2nd great-great-grandparents, James Lardner and Mary Ann Cashman of Jefferson County, Nebraska.

James was the first Lardner in my family to come to the United States from County Clare, having arrived in the country in April of 1862. By 1867, he had made his way from the East coast of the U.S. to the state of Iowa, where he married Mary Ann Cashman (Mary Ann had been born in Illinois and was the daughter of William and Mary Cashman of County Cork).

Eventually James and Mary made their way to Nebraska due to his work on the Burlington Railroad and in 1870 James applied for citizenship and had filed for a piece of farm land with the help of Homestead Act of 1862.  By March of 1871, the family had settled on what would be their permanent home in the precinct of Antelope in Jefferson County, Nebraska.  Together the couple raised a total of thirteen children and in 1909, James passed away at the age of 69 while attending mass at St. Michael's church in Fairbury, Nebraska.

So goes an extremely brief summary of some of the information gathered on James Lardner, the impetus for this particular blog.  As with all genealogy research, the quest for information that may help to expand the understanding of a distant relative's life is never ending. Some questions may have answers that are accessible...Where what the individual born?, Who are their parents?, Did they have siblings?  While others could be completely out of reach...What were they like? Were they funny? Serious? What kind of relationship did they have with their family?  But for some reason, for those who have caught the 'genealogy bug', the questions only push us to explore more and to expand the search.

I count myself among these individuals, which is the catalyst for my collection of blog entries and for this blog in particular because I have a number of facts that can be used to push my Lardner search forward:

1. James's birth date is recorded as 1 January, 1840.  This date is not necessarily set in stone, as people who engage in Irish genealogy can attest, but it is a good point from which to work.
2. James Lardner's parents are listed as James Lardner and Bridget Sullivan on his death certificate.
3. Family tradition and various other sources list James' country/county of origin as County Clare, Ireland.
4. James has one younger sister who is known to have also come to the United States, Ellen Lardner, wife of Michael (Mike) Hickey, who settled in Ottumwa, Iowa with her family.

With this information, a couple of cousins and I were able to move from conducting research on our family in the U.S. to those that can be discovered in Ireland.

Until later...

All the Best,

Jessica

N.B.

Please reference the following POST if you would like further detail on the location of my family in Nebraska and the Nebraska Land Act.