Callaghan – the name

The O Callaghans are said to have directly descended from the kings of Eóganacht Caisil, from around Cashel, the rulers of Munster from the 5^th to 10^th centuries. They settled west of Mallow on both sides of the Blackwater.  The names Timothy and Eugene Callaghan have been recorded for centuries (ó Murchadha, 1996).

Callaghan and the missing “O”

If there was such a thing as time travel, Timothy O’CALLAGHAN, my great, great grandfather was for many years at the top of my list for a visit. 

All that the older generation seemed to know about the O’Callaghan family was that my great grandmother Mary Bridget O’CALLAGHAN married George DAVIS. There was also a known connection to Walter FURLONG, “mama’s cousin”, a Lord Mayor of Cork and a TD (member of the Irish parliament).  My aunts had heard of a “Babe” FURLONG but it was unclear who that was.  I worked on the basis that “Babe” was Mary B. O’CALLAGHAN’s sister.  From Mary B.’s wedding certificate, I discovered Timothy’s first name and that he had been a tailor.  This made sense, given the known tailoring competence in the Davis family.  Mary B.’s witness was a woman called Margaret O’CALLAGHAN, who I assumed could be her sister, “Babe”.

According to the 1901 and 1911 censuses Timothy had been born in Cork City.  The census records place his birth around 1841.  This is four years before the onset of the Great Famine, around the time the population of Ireland stood at 8,175,124.  In the 1901 Census, Timothy was married to a woman called Margaret and there were three children living with them.  No sign of Mary B. or Margaret “Babe” but there was Denis, Christina and Josephine.  Who were these people, and why had no-one ever heard of them?

The 1911 census recorded Timothy and Margaret as having been married 30 years.  This did not match up with the likely birth timeframes for Mary B. and Margaret “Babe” from what I knew of their lifespans.   I next found Timothy’s 1880 marriage to a Margaret O’BRIEN, a stitcher and daughter of a Denis O’BRIEN.  She was much younger than Timothy and clearly could not have been the mother of Mary B. and Margaret “Babe”. This second marriage informed me that Timothy was the son of Eugene CALLAGHAN, a farmer. This suggested that Timothy may have originally come from the edge of, or outside, Cork city.

It was not until church records became digitised in the 2010s that I was able to get the break-through I needed.  I was able to cross check multiple births and confirm that Timothy used the surname CALLAGHAN until prior to the birth of his second to last child, Catherine, in 1885 when he added the O’ to their surname.

Timothy’s first marriage

Timothy’s first marriage, from which I descend, was to Margaret TAYLOR on 27 September 1861 at St Mary’s, Cork city.  The marriage was witnessed by Michael HICKEY and Mary SULLIVAN.  As this marriage precedes state records, which began in 1864, I do not know what Timothy’s occupation was at the time but we can assume he was a tailor having completed his apprenticeship as men did not generally marry at that time unless they had the means to support a family. 

St. Mary’s was a north side parish church on Shandon St, now Pope’s Quay Court, near the lower end of Shandon St.  A ‘neat parish church, with two win‌dows in the east end, good pews, galleries’ it was demolished in 1879.  (Source: http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie)

Were any other Taylors married around that time at St. Mary’s?  Were there any Callaghans? None that I could find.

Timothy’s first wife: Margaret TAYLOR

Who is Margaret TAYLOR? I don’t know who Margaret TAYLOR’s parents were, and I have not found any conclusive record for her birth.  I am taking a punt that Margaret’s father was William TAYLOR, based on the Irish naming pattern the family appear to have adhered to (see the section on their children). 

Margaret was born pre-famine and married Timothy post-famine, so she and her family may have arrived in to Cork from elsewhere.

 Timothy and Margaret Taylor’s children

Timothy and Margaret TAYLOR had at least nine children, of whom only Mary B. and Margaret “Babe” survived beyond early adulthood.

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[6] Ashgrove Lane was off Bailey’s lane which was west of the junction of Shandon Street and Gerald Griffin Street, now part of Cathedral Road.

[7]  Gray’s Lane was off Pope’s Quay.

I can’t be certain I have found the death record of the first Mary and I have not found any likely records of deaths of William, Honorah and Timothy.  We do know that all the boys were dead before the death of Timothy’s youngest son in 1909 (Source: death notice Cork Examiner Oct 16 1909).

It was not usual at that time for babies’ deaths not to be registered.