Dunnamaggan, Kilkenny, Ireland

Tree # 22

Dunnamaggan is in the middle of Co Kilkenny about halfway between Callan and Knocktopher. There was no sign of a Hayde or anything similar in this area in the 1659 census or the Hearth Money Records.

There only reason to devote time to researching this area is that a Hayde family was present in this area in the 1827 Tithe records.

The history of the area is well described in an article in the Old Kilkenny Review published by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society.  The Rev James Brennan, in a 1992 article, outlined the history from 1650 to 1800 in pages 958 to 967. This publication is in the library at Kilkenny.

It describes the Gaelic history of the name as originally being Dun-im-e-gain.  Which meant the Dun (or Fort) of Imgan. Imgan being a person of some importance at the time.

The article referred to the area as being fertile with fine parks and woodlands. The article however does not provide any clues as to why a Hayde family suddenly appeared in the early 1800s.

James and John Hayde b circa 1800

John and James Hayde were farming 17 acres at Moanmore in 1827.

Moanmore is at the foot of a mountain that stretches into Tipperary. They probably came from a Tipperary family and moved around the mountain.

The location can be seen below:

John and James were probably brothers. They both had children in the 1820s and 1830s and James was still in the area when he died in 1872.  There are no births in this area after the 1840s and after James died in 1872 there is no trace of any other family members in the parish, civil or census records.

Some researchers have assumed John and James were children of James and Catherine Dinsdale who had a family in Urlingford in the early 1800s.  This is unproven.  I suspect however that the link is more to Fethard or Clonmel/Cloneen however the records do not exist in order to prove this.

The families of John and James were:

John and Mary Cahill

John and Mary were at Moanmore in 1827 with James and #6 Moanmore in 1850. In 1850, John was farming 10 acres owned by William Morris-Reade Esq, a descendant of a Cromwellian settler. He owned all of Moanmore. The Dunamaggan parish records (which started in 1826) contain the baptisms of:

• David Hade b 1826
• Michael Heade b 1829, Lemonstown
• John Heade b 1832, Rogerstown
• William Hayde b 1835, Monassa

There was no sign of this family in the valuation records or elsewhere after 1850. Michael and John emigrated to America in the 1850s and I have found them in the 1860 census for St Louis. This is discussed in more detail in the St Louis page.

James and Margaret Morapy

James and Margaret were at Moanmore in 1827 with John and #1a Loughberg in 1850. In 1850 they were in a house on land owned by Margaret Hayden, who owned most of Loughberg. The Hayden name was in the area at the time of the Hearth Money records. The Dunamaggaan parish records contain the baptisms of:

• Richard Head b 1827
• Margaret Head b 1827 (twin). Mar John Walsh 1850
• Thomas Head b 1830, Monassa
• John Headd b 1834, Monassa
• William Haid b 1836, Baurscoob
• Ellen Head b 1838, Baurscoob. Mar Patrick Hearn 1864

James was in the Petty Session records between 1855 and 1870 for various offenses regarding animals. He died Bourscoob in 1872. Margaret was in the valuation records until 1880.

His sons Thomas and John were also in the Petty Sessions records in the 1850s and 1860s for various offenses. Margaret featured in these records in the 1870s, again for offenses regarding animals.

I have found Richard, Thomas and John in the St Louis 1860 census.  This is discussed in more detail in the St Louis page.

The Griffiths map of 1850 is:

James and Margaret Morapy farmed 1a at Loughbeg in 1850.

John and Mary Cahill farmed 10 acres at Moanmore in 1850.  John was probably the oldest and therefore ended up with the larger farm in Moanmore while John had to move his family to a smaller plot in Loughbeg.

Church, civil and census records at Dunnamaggan, Kilkenny are detailed at Dunnamaggan Families

I believe these families emigrated to St Louis, Missouri as outlined in the St Louis Posts.