Arthur Swanick 1866 : Short Biography

Arthur Swanick 1866

Ballinlough (Roscommon)

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Place of migration

Migrated to/Born in USA

Arthur's father was Patrick Swanick and his mother was Maria Fetherston.

Additional Information
Date of Birth	22nd Jan 1866
Date of Death	21st Jul 1932

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Comments

You could write to Richard Alan Swanick, COI, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon. Ireland for assistance.

(COI is Church of Ireland.)

What information are you looking for?

martincmeehan

Thursday 31st December 2020 05:56PM

Hi Martin -

Thank you for your reply. It's my first time posting so i wasn't sure how this worked. Anyway, I was trying to do some research related to my Swanick ancestors from Cashlieve, Ballinlough, Roscommon. My great grandfather Arthur Swanick (born 1866 at Cashlieve or Coshla or Cashla) came to Philadelphia about 1890. His mother Maria (Fetherston) Swanick joined him in 1908. Most of his 10 siblings came to Philadelphia a few years earlier. His father Patrick (born 1841) died in Ireland in 1889 I believe. Patrick's father Arthur died Sept.1888 (age 65) at Cashla. I I found a death certificate/record of a Patrick Swanwick dying on May 13 1889 (age 44) which i believe could be our Patrick but not certain. I have looked on numerous geneology sites/services. Not sure where else to look to confirm Patrick's place and date of death. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Also was hoping to visit the townland of Cashlieve, Ballinlough at some point in the next few years so wondering if any Swanicks are still in the area. I know a Michael Swanick who is from Cashlieve just passed away this past November.

Also very interested in my great great grandmother's Fetherston side. Her 1920 death certificate in Philadelphia lists father as Featherstone and mother as Frances Kelly. Her baptism record (Dec 20 1841) lists William Fetherston and Fannie Kelly as parents. I have not been able to find much on either of her parents, although there appears to a Fetherston family in the neighboring townland of Stonepark, Ballinlough during this time. i am also wondering if her mother Fannie Kelly got remarried possibly to a James O'Hara in the mid to late 1850s.

I certainly realize the above is asking alot so completely understand if many of the questions are too involved. I appreciate any thoughts you may have though, Thank You. Jim

Jswanick

Friday 1st January 2021 06:07PM

Hi Jim,

I will give you the search criteria to a number of online information in relation to your research.

1. 1901/1911 Census search records: Provided free by National Archives of Ireland.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Roscommon/Ballinlough/…

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003846468/

I am also attaching the Houses return for Cashlieve. There were 9 Houses (Well you could say 8 & Sandford Wills's Mansion). 4 of the houses were occupied by Swanick Families.

Maria (Fetherson) was widowed by 1901.

She resided with 5 of her family, William, Fannie, Gerald, Henry & Bernard the youngest born 1889.

This is the 1911 household return for Cashlieve

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003187674/

Here is the search criteria for his Birth record - A copy can be printed. These records are on www.irishgenealogy.ie under civil records section.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

The Townland is entered as Coshla which is the local pronunciation for the townland of Cashlieve.

To get an idea of where this townland is:-

Enter search criteria - Townlands of County Roscommon - Then pick out Kiltullagh as the parish then Cashlieve as the Townland. You will see on the map where it is in relation to Ballinlough and the surrounding towns.

The following record is also of interest to be kept in mind.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…

https://www.townlands.ie/roscommon/castlereagh/kiltullagh/ballinlough/c…

The Website ellisisland.org has the following details: -

Maria (William's wife (seems incorrect?) who was in Coshla, Ballinlough) Kate and Bernard travelled together on the 24 Apr 1908 on the Celtic sailed out of Queenstown, Cork, Ireland. Maria stated in Page 2 she was travelling to Mrs Coyne 885 ......? 45th Street N.Y.

I wonder did William remain on in the home place?

A 2nd entry for John Swanick who travelled with a Catherine Fetherston and 3 others from Ballinlough aboard The Cedric on the 08 April 1905 travelling to Thomas Swanick 792 - 9th Ave NY. Look out for Lines 23 & 24 on the two pages.

https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-details/czoxMjoiMTAyMzg2…

Actual Church records can be looked up on National Library of Ireland under Parish records.

Cashlieve is in Kiltullagh Parish, Diocese of Tuam, Co. Roscommon.

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/1073

There are records held in the Cancelled Land Valuations Office in The Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey St., Dublin. They recently digitised many of these. However, I thing one still has to visit the office to view them. You may be able to verify if you can order through email.

Here is the search criteria for their website:

https://www.valoff.ie/en/archive-research/genealogy/

These records show the head holder of House/Farm from 1856 to 1970. The records were updated every so often and a new set of records were written for every update. They may have the name of Patrick's Father if he was in occupation after 1856 and the name of however carried on with the farm after 1908. Both of these would be of interest.

I have not been into centre of town since Covid broke out.

Here are some sites with Griffiths information:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNam…

Griffiths Cashlieve: 1856

1 a William R. W. Sandford 101 Acres

2 a William Swanwick 19 Acres Rent for Land £5 - 10s p.a.

3 ab John Madden 12 Acres

4 ab James Morrison 29 Acres

5 Mary Murphy 1Acre

6 ab Arthur & James Swanwick 89 Acres Rent for Land £ 5 - 0s each

7 ab Patrick Byrne 12 Acres

Total 281 Acres

A visit to the Cancelled Land Valuations office would reveal which of these parcels of land Patrick came in for.

Who had it before him and who it went to?

As there are only 7 parcels of land in this townland it would be one of the least costly to get copies of complete records for. the office may provide them for a small payment. it would be worth emailing them.

Email Contact Details

All Rating queries/requests for valuation reports etc.

Email: valuationservices@valoff.ie

Note Swanick is plentiful in this parish but rather rare elsewhere. There were a number of Swanick families attached to both religions. Some were Protestant and a number were attached to the R.C Religion.

There is a headstone in the COI GY (Church of Ireland Grave Yard) in Ballinlough that reads:

In loving memory of our dear father William Swanick Coshlo who died April 18th 1930 Aged 83 Yrs. His beloved wife Mary Swanick died April 3rd 1921 Aged 71 Years and their Granddaughter Violet Swanick died Feb 6th 1924 aged 10 months daughter susan died oct 5th 1952 aged 69 yrs. Erected by their son C. Swanick. (At least that was my reading of the stone) There is a more modern headstone black marble alongside it reads in loving memory of Charles Swanick Coshlieve died Aug 27 1957 aged 71 years and his wife Julia died July 30 1967 aged 82 yrs Erected by their son Jerry.

There were no inscribed stones in either Granlahan GY or Kiltullagh Hill GY for Swanick Families.

There are a 7 in Ballinlough Cemetery but they only go back to 1946 for Swanick.

One Reads - In loving memory of Bridget Swanick Cashlieve, Died 4 April 1946 Aged 45 yrs, her husband William Died 4 Jan 1963 Aged 73/or78 Yrs and their daughter Mary O'Rourke Died 22 Feb 1970 Aged 35 Years.

There is also a 2nd stone on this grave that reads In loving memory of Bernie Swanick Mountain Upper Died 19 Jan 2006

While I may not have solved any of your main queries, While you have had a chance to trawl through the above information feel free to come back in case I can be of further assistance.

Martin.

martincmeehan

Sunday 3rd January 2021 03:45PM

Hi Martin. Wow. Thanks so much for looking into my questions and gathering all of the above information. It is much appreciated. I am still digesting some of the information but below are my preliminary responses.

1. 1901 census - Yes Maria would be widowed as of this time - i am still trying to nail down when Patrick died (maybe 1889?). The census shows 5 of her 11 kids still remaining in Ireland. 3 kids had died very young and 3 had already moved to Philadelphia including my great grandfather Arthur; by 1908 all but William had moved to Philadelphia.

2. 1911 census - it appears only Maria's son William remains in Ireland at this time. However, i have found no further information on William. I wonder if he lived the remainder of his life at Cashlieve.

3. 1908 ship transcript - Maria, Bernard and Kate joined Arthur in Philadelphia. However, they appear to be first going to the residence of Maria's daughter, Mary (Swanick) Coyne in NYC. The William you mentioned would be Maria's son William who remained in Ireland.

4. 1905 ship transcript - the John Swanick would have been a cousin from Ballinlough.

5 Cancelled land valuation office - thanks for providing this information. i will definitely reach out to them. it would be very interesting to see how far back they have records and also to see who carried on with the farm after 1908 as you mentioned.

6. Griffith's information. the Arthur listed at property #6 would be Patrick's father. the James listed i am guessing is Arthur's brother, but not certain. I would love to confirm their relationship and who their father was. I will email the land valuations office as mentioend to see what information they have.

7. Graves in Ballinlough - it is very interesting to see that there are Catholic and Protestant Swanick's in Ballinlough. Although many of the non-Catholics list thier name as Swanwick or Swannick. I would love to understand the older history of the family and how the name and religion may have changed.

I realize tracking all this information down is not easy given the availability of the records so i really appreciate your help with the above. I will let you know if I find out any further information from the Cancelled Land Valuation Office. Thank you.

Jim

Jswanick

Sunday 10th January 2021 11:36PM

Hi Martin - thank you again for your previous responses below regarding my Swanick ancestors from Cashlieve, Ballinlough, Roscommon. One record i found on Rootsireland for Patrick Swanwick indicates that he died on May 13, 1889 at the Ballinasloe District Asylum. It says he was a 44 yr old married farmer from Ballinlough. I am thinking this could be my great great grandfather, and wondering if he was buried near the asylum. Do you know if there would be any surviving records from the asylum from this time period?