The
Uncertain History of
ANDREW
HICKEY & NORA CRONIN
As
far as the official records of the human race is concerned, my
great-great-grandparents Andrew Hickey and Nora Cronin were never born, never
married, had one child, but never died. In fact, Andrew Hickey only ever
existed for a tantalisingly small moment in time, while Nora is barely a
speculation. But, as best I understand it, this is probably their story.
<<<<
>>>>
Before
1300
Background
History
The
south-west of Ireland was originally called Corca Laidhe and was the kingdom of
(what is now) the O’Driscolls, and their sub-clans until the arrival of the
Eóganachta tribes from the north.
 |
| The four Irish Provinces |
The
Dál gCais were also a Gaelic Irish dynasty, Brian Bóru their best known king,
and largely responsible for carving out their fortunes. The family built a
powerbase on the banks of the River Shannon and Brian's brother Mahon became
their first King of Munster in 970, taking the throne from the rival
Eóganachta.
After
centuries of this conflict between the Eoghanacht (whose chiefs became the
MacCarthys) and the Dal gCais (who became the O'Briens) over the rightful
occupancy of the Munster throne, Turlough O'Connor, King of Connacht, brokered
the Treaty of Glanmire in 1118, dividing the Kingdom into northern Munster (Thomond),
to be ruled by the O'Briens, and southern Munster (Desmond, which was the
greater part, covering some 4,500 square miles), ruled solely by the
MacCarthys.
One
of their sub-groups were the MacCarthys of Duhallow, known as the MacDonough
MacCarthys, a lordship that began in the 13th century as a parental grant from
the King of Desmond, one Cormac Fionn MacCarthy Mór (r. 1244-1248), to his son
Diarmuid (Dermond). The seat was at Kanturk, and occupied the northern frontier
for the MacCarthys in their sometime struggles with the Norman family of the
FitzGeralds, (who were by then) the Earls of Desmond.
 |
| Duhallow in Co Cork |
1300
- 1600
The
O’Hickeys in Early Irish History
All
of the following is from the Co Clare Library website...
The
Ó hIceada or O'Hickeys were descendants of a Dalcassian clan who became well
known in early times for their role as practitioners in folk medicine. The term
"iciadh" means "healer" and is well-deserved, as many
surviving manuscripts cover their continuing interest in the recording of various
remedial treatments.
There
is a medical compendium in the National Library of Ireland ‘The Books of the
O'Hickeys’ which is an accumulation of Latin medical texts translated into
Irish and brought back to Ireland by members of the family who had travelled
abroad to keep in touch with the more recent advances made in their profession.
They
include treatment for common and more serious ailments of the time such as
fevers, swellings, hernia, smallpox, cardiac failures and so forth, and some
rather off-putting advice about drinking and the ‘morning after’ effects – “It
is a rule that it is not right to drink wine without eating first. It is not
proper for a man with a weak head to drink wine, so anyone who is at a feast or
drinking with friends if he cannot keep his head let him eat peas or cabbage
instead.”
The
Royal Irish Academy has a collection of medical tracts which were written down
in 1469 by Donnachad of O’hIceada. They contain notes and observations gleaned
from prominent Continental practitioners... (and) translated into Irish... the
text books "Chirurgia" and "Regimen Sanitatis" deal with
cancer and other serious infections, works which remained in use in the
European schools of medicine for a long time.
The
Ó hIceada, by reason of their skills and knowledge of country cures, gained
positions of importance and were chosen also as hereditary physicians to the
Earls of Thomond. Consequently most of their books and manuscripts' notes were
considered to be of great value and were carefully copied and maintained.
Plants, herbs and flower petals, the leaves and roots of many common weeds were
all used in the compounding of cures and medicines while the root of the
perennial Angelica was considered to have rare curative properties.
The
O’Cronins
The
general history of the Cronins up around the Blackwater on the Cork/Kerry
border isn’t all that well documented, but they’re definitely prolific all
through most parts of Ireland, but especially in Co Cork.
They
were traditionally part of the ancient Eóganachta group of tribes, under the
MacCarthy umbrella, and presumably moved south with them in the tribal
migrations following the division of Munster in 1118, the majority (looking at
the Pender “Census” of 1659) appear to have gone on to the East and West
Carbery regions.
But
clearly a good chunk took root in the Duhallow area fairly early, and by the
Griffiths in the 1850s the Boherbue area is well represented.
The
Duhallow O’Hickeys
On
a “Living Voices” CD by the old Cullen man Dan ‘Battie’ Hickey (recorded in the
local pub in 2002, when he was about 60-65) he says that the (Duhallow)
“...Hickeys came from Cullen and Lisnabee, they came down from Co Clare
originally and settled in Cullen, in five or six townlands down there, but (in
time) became too numerous for down there... but we’re really Kerry people here...”
(that is, those that lived near the Blackwater River border, as that area was
originally in Kerry).
Two
things – that is, this strong oral tradition that the Duhallow Hickeys
“settled” in the Cullen area; and the existance of a rath in Eaglaune townland
(just west of Cullen village) that’s claimed to be the original Hickey
fortified farmstead - suggest that the Duhallow branch of the O’Hickeys arrived
in the earliest wave of southward migration.
A
rath in this context is a large circular earthen ring-and-ditch with a
perimeter timber palisade on top, with huts inside. It’s hard to find a lot of
hard data on the life cycle of Irish raths – there’s hundreds of them all over
Ireland – but they were in use from as early as 500 AD to maybe the 1400s-1500s
when stone tower houses came into vogue for the more powerful chiefs and
landholders.
This
suggests that one branch of the O’Hickey clan, whose homeland was in the “top”
half of Munster – the Dalcassian O’Brien “Thomond” half – must have broken away
in that early 1200s period that saw the Eóganachta MacCarthy powerhouse move
down into “their” bottom half of Munster, taking a whole raft of family groups
with them.
The
odd thing is, this one branch of the O’Hickeys must have changed allegiance,
from their traditional O’Brien overlords, to the MacCarthys, and moved south
with them.
This
means they moved from the security of their own family base in mid Thomond
(about where the counties of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary meet), to follow a
new chief, and a whole entourage of O’Leary, O’Collins, O’Cronin and O’Hurley
families not traditionally connected to the O’Hickeys, down into the then wilds
of Cork and Kerry – full of forests, bogs, bears, and wolves, not to mention
hostile O’Keeffes, O’Callaghans, and O’Drsicolls!
The
only incentive that springs to mind for them to take this risky step is their
traditional medical skills. You would have to presume that deals must have been
done, at least with the MacDonough MacCarthys, who took over the Duhallow
region.
1600
- 1700
This
period saw two unsuccessful rebellions in Ireland – 1641 (to 1653), and 1689
(to 1691) – with the Irish Catholics and some old “Anglo-Irish” on one side,
and the British forces and their Protestant would-be “settlers” on the other.
As
punishment for the rebellion of 1641 (which included the arrival of Cromwell
and his Roundheads part way through), almost all lands owned by Irish Catholics
were confiscated and given to British settlers, followed by Catholics being
barred from the Irish Parliament altogether, forbidden to live in towns, and
from marrying Protestants.
Not
all of these laws were strictly applied initially, and some Irish Catholic
chiefs managed to get back some lands and status after the 1641 rebellion. But
after the 1689 rebellion, the confiscations and Penal Laws were fairly much
fully enforced.
It
has been calculated that up to a third of Ireland's population died in these
wars, either in the fighting, or from the accompanying famine and plague.
The
O’Hickey Confiscations
The
Duhallow O’Hickey’s aren’t listed in the estate confiscations that follwed the
1641 or 1691 rebellions, which suggests that they never rose to positions of
local power in their new Cork/Kerry home under the MacCarthys. But back in
their original “homeland”, like just about all Catholic Irish, their ancient
cousins lost everything.
 |
| Quin Abbey today |
But
in 1641 the land was confiscated from three different Hickeys, all in the old
“homeland”...
Morris
Hickey – 145 acres in the townland of Tooreen in Croom parish Co Limerick.
Patrick
Hickey – 84 acres in the townland of Ballyoughtra, 96 acres in Craggaunkeel,
and 186 in Drummaghmartin, all in the parish of Tulla in Co Clare.
Morris
Hickey – 134 acres in the townland of Ballycorrigan in the parish of
Templeachally in Co Tipperary.
1700
- 1850
The
Scattering of the Clans
The
population of Ireland quadrupled in this period – from 2 million in 1700, to 3
million by 1717, to 4 million by 1783, and was 8 million by 1840. On one hand
this must’ve put huge pressure on land use, but it also provided a massive pool
of labour for the large new “English”-style estates created after the
confiscations.
This
would’ve been a period of great change.
Before
1700 – especially for the labouring tier at the bottom - it seems there was
very little internal “migration” of families away from their traditional clan
homelands, as there was an important measure of support and protection by being
amongst “one’s own”.
But
with the coming of complete Anglo-Protestant rule in the late 1690s, and
especially the setting up of the huge estates under the English Ascendancy,
movement out into other counties became not only possible, but beneficial,
although this trend seems to have been largely over by the early 1800’s.
But,
the Hickeys of Cork/Kerry seemed to have mostly stayed close to their Cullen
origins in this period.
There
are two valuable sources of early-mid 1800s family history data, each the
nearest thing to a Census there is, as they show individuals, their townlands,
and property description. They also give some valuable comparisons, as they are
one each side of the Great Famine of 1845-50....
The
Tithes Applotments (c.1825)
This
was a survey of all holders of agricultural land (whether owner or tenant,
Catholic or Protestant) for payments to support the (Protestant) Church Of
Ireland.
A
rough analysis of the all-of-Ireland listings (there’s one entry for each
holding so some farmers could be in two or even three times in the same parish)
shows that of a total of 1,398 for all Hickeys, Tipperary has 382, Limerick
213, and Clare 146, that’s 53% still in the old “homeland” counties. But Cork
has 180 (plus Kerry 78), a combined 18%, which suggests a sizeable portion had
broken away in those early days.
The
only other significant county listings are Kilkenny 90, Waterford 80, Kildare
52, and Carlow 51, presumably an eastward migration from their old area.
There’s only a thin scatter anywhere else, except to the far north and Ulster
where there’s none.
The
Griffiths Survey (c.1855)
This
was a survey of all households, to set Parish Poor Rate contributions, and
shows the top four concentrations of Hickey households, of an all-of-Ireland
total of 1,650, as Tipperary 335, Limerick 177, and Clare 143, that’s 40% in
the old “homeland” counties, while Cork is 243 (plus Kerry 43), a combined 17%.
The
only other counties over 100 are Kilkenny 120 and Waterford 112, the rest being
only a thinnish scatter all over Ireland from Ulster to Cork City.
And
of that large chunk in Cork and Kerry, the three biggest parish concentrations
are Cullen 27, Kilmeen 11, and Nohavaldaly 10, all still adjacent to each other
in Duhallow, but the balance are much smaller and scattered fairly evenly over
the rest of those two counties.
While
the earlier Tithes Survey is based on acreages of land held, and the Griffiths
is on households (even if only a cabin and a garden plot) it’s comparable
enough. And in the case of the Hickeys it suggests that there was very little
change in the mix due to the Great Famine, probably a case of those who didn’t
die or emigrate, survived where they stood.
The
Early “Sliabh Luachra” / Duhallow
This
region covers north-west Cork and part of Kerry, “...the mountainous area along
the Cork/Kerry border is known as Sliabh Luachra. This uninhabited, wet,
marshy, rushy, mountain area of the old Kingdom of Luachra was first noted in
the Annals of Inisfallen in 534 when the King of Luacar won a battle against
Tuathal Moel nGarb.”
“Hundreds
of years ago, it was sparsely populated. It was an area of bogs, rushes,
marshes, and woodlands, only suitable for refugees trying to avoid the Imperial
authorities. Its remoteness and the barren soil proved attractive to those
people as the authorities were less likely to bother them in this inhospitable
environment.”
“The
MacDonoghs, styled princes of Duhallow, a branch of the great sept of
MacCarthys, were chiefs of this district till 1641. Their sub-chiefs were the
O'Keeffes, the MacAuliffs, and the O'Callaghans.”
The
Great Famine
Like
for most of rural Ireland, the impact of this catastrophe on Duhallow is clear
from the newspapers of the day.
In
a letter to the then Cork Examiner on January 31, 1847, concerning the town of
Millstreet...
“...the
entire labouring population and many of the class of small farmers in the
parish are on the brink of death. During the last few days crowds of half
living spectres are flocking into this small town as their last resource...”
And
in the Cork Examiner on April 21, 1847...
“With
the potato disease in the Charleville, Golden Vale and Mallow area, it had a
very bad effect in the Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra area... no work for the
wandering labourers, some of them sold whatever they owned, walked out of their
small holdings and made for Queeenstown (Cobh), and went to America, more to
various parts of England and Australia...”
Another
letter in January 1848...
“...the
plight of the people of Kilmeen, Ballydesmond, Boherbue, Kiskeam and
Knockclarig... I have seen some turnip fields where the crops have been removed
and are covered with half naked, half alive human beings contending for the
refuse left by the owners as not worth the trouble of removing... also said
that an unknown amount of people died in the Rockchapel, Knockaclarig, Brosna
area in the famine. With no money to buy food or pay the rent there was large
scale evictions.”
Another
letter, in the Cork Examiner on February 16, 1848...
“...it
was reported that on one day there were 400 creatures waiting for admission to
the workhouse in Kanturk. There were already four workhouses in the town. In
Mallow, there were 50 funerals a week...”
How
anyone at all got through this nightmare of starvation, disease and chronic
Government failure, long enough to emigrate and propagate, is hard to guess,
but many did. Including one John Hickey, the son of Andrew Hickey...
Andrew
HICKEY (from c.1815 to before 1869)
On
the 3rd of October 1869, my great-grandparents John Hickey and Catherine Hurley
married in St Mary of the Crays Catholic church in the Dartford District of
Kent. John was “25” (bachelor, labourer), Catherine was “21” (spinster), both
shown as living in Northumberland Heath, Erith (two suburbs away).
John’s
father was shown as Andrew Hickey, deceased, Labourer.
This
is the one solitary moment in time when Andrew Hickey officially existed.
So,
who was this Andrew Hickey? And where did he and his son come from?
There’s
one useful scrap...
Andrew’s
son John was born in “Killmene Cork”, according to the 1871 UK Census of Erith
Kent. Unfortunately there’s TWO Kilmeen parishes in Co Cork, one up in Duhallow
(where the Cork Hickeys are prolific) and one down in East Carbery (where they
aren’t).
A
global search of the Irish RC Church records (the ones that still exist), for
all John Hickeys baptised to an Andrew between say 1835 and 1845, gives just
one hit...
18/7/1841
– A John Hickey was bapt in Boherbue Regn Dist, to Andrew Hickey and Honora
Cronin of Clashaceenlan, witns J Riordan and Honora Riordan. “Clashaceenlan”
(Glashakinleen today) and Boherbue RD are in the Kilmeen (Duhallow) parish.
One
of John Hickey’s grandsons once said that he believed his grandfather’s
birthday was June 22nd, which easily fits the baptism date, but that he was
born in 1839. But why would John know his birth year (he would’ve only been a
toddler when the Famine hit, and was illiterate for most of his life) yet say
he was 25 on his 1869 marriage certificate, and 29 two years later in the 1871
Census? But several other age records during his life don’t quite match either.
There
is another scrap that could help...
22/5/1836
– A “Nora Cronin of Glashakinleen, unm” (according to the O’Keeffe records) was
a witness at the bapt in the (Duhallow) Kilmeen parish of “Nora, dau of Daniel
Flynn and Mary Cronin”. (The other sponsor was a Timothy Cronin).
And
what of the “J” and “Honora” Riordan witnesses at John Hickey’s baptism?...
In
the Tithes (c.1825) there’s a John Riordan in Glashakinleen Kilmeen, but
there’s no marriage on record in the district of a John Riordan to a Nora
anyone 1836-41.
But,
the best fairly plausible pieces of corroborating data?...
Coincidentally,
on the exact same Sunday (18/7/1841) as John Hickey (the son of Andrew) was
baptised in the Boherbue church, there were 4 others, including a Catherine
Kenny. (“Batch” baptisms of 4-5 appear regularly).
Then in 1845 a Jeremiah Daly was also
baptised in that church, and in 1863 a Jeremiah Daly (of Kiskeam) married a
Catherine Kenny (of Kiskeam) in the same church.
 |
| The old Boherbue church, built c.1830, demolished and rebuilt in 1967 |
This
would make her 22 but him only 18, but it seems like it’s these two.
Then,
in 1879 a Jeremiah & Catherine Daly were sponsors at the Adelaide baptism
of one of John & Catherine Hickey’s kids. And to cap it off, in 1874 and
1877, a Jeremiah and Catherine Daly (nee Kenny) had children baptised in
Thebarton SA, and the Hickeys lived in Thebarton at that time.
From
The Hard Data
The
conclusion is that yes, the John Hickey who was baptised in Boherbue on
18/7/1841, to Andrew Hickey and Nora Cronin, is probably the one who married
Catherine Hurley in Kent in 1869.
But
here the surviving records of his parents Andrew & Nora Hickey’s life stop
dead, (keeping in mind the upheaval of the Famine 1845-1850, and the
catastrophic loss of all Irish Census records during fighting in Dublin in the
1920s).
So,
you would expect to find...
1800
to 1820 - Andrew Hickey and Nora Cronin would’ve been born in the Boherbue area
(aged say between 20 and 40 at their son John’s baptism).
1820
to 1840 – They would’ve been married.
1820
to 1850 – They would’ve had other kids.
1840
onwards – They would’ve both died (Andrew definitely by John’s wedding in Oct
1869).
But,
there is NO marriage of an Andrew Hickey to a Nora Cronin.
There
is NO record of any other kids being baptised to Andrew and Nora, and generally
speaking, many family groups can (at least partially) be reconstructed from the
records.
There
is NO re-marriage of a Nora Hickey (as a widow), but there is a death, in 1898,
at Meenskeha (Cullen), of a Honora Hickey, age 75, “widow of Labourer”. (= born
1823, so too late?)
But
there is no death or burial record of a reasonably aged Andrew Hickey between
1839 and 1869, in Ireland or the UK.
So,
What’s The Possibilities?
Any
number of pictures could be painted (from the scant records) of Andrew and
Nora’s life. All speculative...
Born?
- You would assume that both were born in the Boherbue Regn District, probably
around Kiskeam.
Andrew’s
father? – No way of knowing. The only Hickey in Kilmeen parish in the Tithes
(c.1825) is a Cornelius in Islandbrack townland, immediately below Kiskeam. And
in 1834 a Cornelius Hickey was a witness at the bapt to a Murphy couple of
Clashakinleen. But
there’s heaps of Hickeys adjoining south in Cullen and west in Nohavaldaly. And
‘Cornelius’ was never used by John Hickey when naming sons.
Nora’s
father? - In the Tithes, in Knocknacurragh, adjoining Islandbrack to the east,
is tenant farmer Timothy Cronin. But all surrounding parishes are thick with
Cronins.
Naming
conventions? - For what it’s worth, John & Catherine named their kids (that
we know of, in order) Mary Anne, Nora, John, (all born in London), then
Catherine, Margaret, Jane, Andrew Joseph, Ellen May, Timothy, Luke Dominic,
Johanna (all born in South Aust). But as they never registered any of them,
there’s only baptism records.
However,
the “Nora” strengthens the case for Nora Cronin as John’s mother, the “Timothy”
could be for John’s uncle (his dad Andrew’s brother – see below), but John’s
wife Catherine’s father was also a Timothy, while the “John” and “Andrew”
probably hint at other close relatives.
Andrew
& Nora’s kids? - Maybe they had others pre-Famine but only John survived?
Normal child mortality was fairly high, and then the Famine hit. Or maybe
Andrew died soon after his son’s birth?
On
16/9/1839 a Mary Hickey was baptised in Rathmore RD, to an Andrew Hickey and a
Honora Cronin, of Caherbarhnach. This is a townland just east of Rathmore town,
in Drishane parish, south of (but not all that far from) Kilmeen parish. But
Hickeys and Cronins are thick on the ground in all of those districts, so it’s
a long shot.
On
9/7/1843 a Timothy Hickey was bapt, parish of Boherbue, father Andrew, mother
Honora... , of Raynagashel, spons J Cronin & Jane Cronin. Reanagashel is 1
km SE of Glashakinleen.
Records
also show a Timothy Hickey married an Anne Murphy in Clifton Gloucs Sep ¼ 1869.
These two appear again in the 1871 Census in Clifton, both as born Ireland
(Timothy is a “Dock Labourer” born c.1841), with a ‘Lodger’ one Jerry Shine
(age 31, born Ire, “Dock Labourer”). (The Shines and the Murphys are prolific
in Kilmeen parish in the Griffiths, with many of both in Glashakinleen). So,
this Timothy is actually a fair contender as a brother to John.
Deaths?
- Andrew was dead by 1869, and as he was only a “Labourer” (not a tenant
“Farmer”) maybe he (and also Nora?) died during the Famine, but son John
somehow survived long enough to emigrate to London as a youth.
Or,
maybe Andrew survived, but Nora didn’t? In the Griffiths (c.1855) for Kilmeen
parish, there is one Andrew Hickey, holding a modest “House & Garden”
(valued at 8/-, about the lowest and typical for a “Labourer”) in Knockmanagh
townland, about 2kms north of Boherbue.
So,
What Conclusions?
From
the above, if you had to speculate...
Andrew
Hickey and Nora Cronin were born in the top end of Kilmeen parish in about
1810, both being children of local tenant farmers, but Andrew not the eldest so
had to settle for labouring on others’ properties.
They
married in the Boherbue RC church about 1835, and had a now unrecorded number
of children, but definitely John in about 1841, and maybe a Timothy in 1843.
John
survived the Famine and emigrated to London as a young man, found work on the
Erith docks, and married a girl from East Carbery who had also survived the
Famine and emigrated to London in her late teens.
Andrew,
and possibly Nora, survived the Famine and finished their days in a modest
cabin with a small garden in Knockmanagh.
Andrew
died in Kilmeen before 1869, but there is no indication as to where or when,
and there’s nothing at all on Nora. The chances are they are in the Old Kilmeen
Burial Ground (or maybe the “new” Boherbue cemetery), in unmarked graves.
But,
wherever you are Andrew and Nora, rest well in the knowledge that your son John
made a hard-won life in South Australia for himself and his family, and many of
his Hickey descendants went on to help populate the colony.
<
>
 |
| Near Kiskeam, typical of the countryside in Kilmeen parish today. |