John Collins was born in 1842 to Patt Collins (mother’s name unknown at date of writing this)
Below is the Collins farm in Ballinruane on Griffiths Valuation printed in 1852. It says the tenant was DANIEL Collins. The landlord was Robert A. Warren. I am assuming that Daniel was brother to Patt Collins, who is named as John’s father on John’s marriage certificate in 1882?
John Collins was born in 1842 (according to 1901 Census)
John and Mary Collins (Collins was her maiden name also) were married in St. Mary’s Church (Rathkeale?) on April 26, 1882. Patt Collins (John’s father) was deceased at the time of the marriage, according to the marriage certificate.
Both are on the marriage record as living in Ballinroan (Ballinruane). Witnesses were Patrick Cullinane and Bridget Histon – I need to check up on Patrick Cullinane as a possible relative perhaps by marriage also.
Not sure when John Collins or his family came to Ballinruane. My Aunt, Peg Collins Irwin, believes they originally came from Croagh.
Children of John Collins and Mary Collins:
- 1886: Patrick Collins was born in 1886.
- 1888: Mary Ann Collins was born in 1888.
- 1891: Denis Collins was born in 1891–1923.
- 1893: Bridget Collins was born in 1893.
- 1895: John Collins was born in Cappanihane.
1894 The father of the family – John was killed while breaking-in a colt in the yard in front of the farmhouse in Ballinruane. After that, Mary went back to live in Cappanihane with her children. She was pregnant with her son, John, at the time.
1901 According to the census, six years after the tragic death of her husband, Mary was living in Cappanihane. The house in Ballinruane was vacant. It was a two storey house with a slated roof. The census says the front of the house had 5 windows and roof was slates. This means the house must have been added onto at some stage or interior walls added because when I was a child (1960s) the house had 7 windows in the front – 4 upstairs and 3 on the ground floor. It had one bedroom downstairs, a kitchen and parlour. While upstairs there were two small bedrooms and one really big bedroom with 3 double beds – the stairs opened into this bedroom, which was in between the two smaller bedrooms. As a matter of interest, when I was 3 years old, I leaned over the banisters upstairs and fell over it. Lucky for me, my uncle Mike, for some reason, was standing at the bottom and caught me in his arms.
The census tells us that along with her five children, Mary’s mother Anne was also in the house on March 31, 1901. Mary has written Anne in as a “friend”. Initially, I did not know what to make of this. Then I read the instructions for the census and I believe that since the word “mother” was not included in the list of options to write down in connection with the “Head of House”, Mary just decided to write “friend.” She could have written “visitor” instead, as it was an actual option, but she didn’t, so I conclude that her mother was actually living there. The 1901 census also records a servant by the name of Denis Hogan, most likely to work the farm.
1907 – Mary’s mother, Anne Hammond-Morrissey-Collins died in 1907.
1911 census raises the question “Where was Mary Ann tonight? We know she wasn’t yet married to Michael Lee because he is recorded as being present at his parents house on this night. I cannot find her on the census.
The family moved back to the farm in Ballinruane after the death of Patrick (don’t know that date. but it was after 1911 anyway)
At some stage, Mary’s son, Denis became the owner of the land and house in Ballinruane and lived there with his wife and children.
I don’t know the date of Mary Collins’ death or the causes.
(Peg Collins Irwin says that Mary Collins was buried in Castletown graveyard – there is no headstone and she does not know the location of the grave. I am guessing that her husband, John, is also in the Castletown graveyard.
Unanswered QUESTIONS:
I need to look into Griffiths Valuations a bit more re the Collins family around Feenagh, Kilmeedy, Ballinruane