Thomas Merry alias Houlaghane of Castle Town in the County of Kilkenny, eldest son of Richard Merry of Callen in the said county, deceased. The first mentioned Thomas took to his first wife Juan (Joan?) daughter of (blank) Harris of (blank) by whom he had issue. The first mentioned Thomas took for his 2nd wife Mary daughr of John White of Kells in the county of Kilkenny, Gent by whom he had 2 children, one son and one daughter, viz Richard Merry, the son and Margarett the daughter both young and unmarried. The said first mentioned Thomas departed this mortall life at Castletown aforesaid the (blank) of Novemr 1638 and was interred in Our Ladies Church, Callan aforesaid. The truth of the premisses is testified by the subscription of Pierce als (alias) Peter Merry cozen of the defunct who hath returned this certificate to be recordd in my Office, taken by Thomas Preston Esqr, Ulvester (Ulster) King of Arms, the 9th of May 1639. (All spelling as in original document).
This funeral entry states quite clearly that Thomas Merry, alias Houlaghane, was buried inside St Mary's Church, Callan. Carrigan (The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory 1905) records the following floor slab, then being used as a doorstep in the north entrance to the nave of this church. (This appears in Vol 3, page303, and is in the section where he is describing the North aisle). The floor slab is in latin but translated reads "Here lies the distinguished man Richard Merry formerly..........................notary, who happily exchanged life for death Dec 27th 1584". Carrigan states that the inscription is in Old English lettering, in part, worn away but that there was a cross in relief down the centre. He found no mention of Thomas Merry of the Funeral Certificate dated 1639.
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| The north entrance to St Mary's, Callan |
Further research records that the Celtic family of O'Hoolahan (sic) was disposed of its territory in Connaught in the 16th century when members of the family settled in various parts of Leinster changing their name to Merry, MacMerry or Fitzmerry. A Richard Merry alias Hoolahan of Callan received a pardon June 10th 1559 - this is no doubt our man of the doorstep tombstone dated 1584.
Thomas Merry of the 1639 Funeral Certificate was without doubt an important man around the town of Callan. The Sources database at the National Library of Ireland has manuscripts recording his land deals from 1593 - 1631. He was clearly a man of substance so it is odd that no memorial to him has survived at Callan. One 1593 grant to Thomas is for a castle and messuages in Callan, another 1595 grant made by his cousin John Merry is of 2 messuages and a garden in Carrickmagiffin; this is now called Carrick on Suir and is in Tipperary. Further grants to Thomas Merry concern land in Callan called Andrew's Croft (1604), a grant of a house and garden in Kells Street made during the time of James 1, a 1613 grant by Donogh Dologherty for his brother-in-law Thomas Merry alias Hologhan, of 2 messuages and garden in Callan. He also gets a grant in 1601 for land at Skehanagh in the borough of Callan for 61 years. And a lease for the Manor of Callan for 21 years from December 10th 1613. There is a lease given to Thomas Merry by the Earl of Ormonde for the lands of Castletown, county Kilkenny for 21 years dated September 1605 and another lease from Viscount Thurles to Thomas and Mary Merry of the lands of KilmcOliver, county Kilkenny and of Cerry in county Tipperary given in May 1631. Clearly Thomas Merry is an affluent man of property. Some of the children of Thomas Merry settled in Waterford where is it possible to trace them up to comparatively modern times. One of the direct line of descent, a John Merry, married Mary Murphy of Waterford; they had two sons, Joseph and John Peter and a daughter Mary. Mary married Robert Power, Waterford merchant. Joseph(died 1804) went off to Seville in Spain where he became a merchant, married a Manuela Gayte and had 5 sons and two daughters. John Peter Merry (born 1745) went to live in London where he too operated as a merchant. He never married but his 1804 Will (in the National Archives in London) reveals that he had a natural son by Rebecca Buton, a house servant formerly in his employ. The son, George Merry born 15th June 1791, "now at Mr Turner's School in Hammersmith" is well provided for in his Will as is the mother of the child with the caveat "she shall not interfere with my son". The Hammersmith and Fulham Archives in London possess a scrap book which had been compiled by a Captain George John Thomas Merry (born 1817) and who was the son of George Merry (born 1791). It is possible to trace the line down further.
Mary Merry who married Robert Power of Waterford, left in her Will a bequest to establish a Ladies Asylum in Waterford for 12 old ladies who found themselves in reduced circumstances. She named as her trustees Rev Dr John Power, Bishop of Waterford and Edmund Rice, the founder of the Irish Christian Brothers. However one of her Spanish nephews, a Joseph Merry came to Ireland to lay claim to her money and dispute her Will. The dispute was heard in the Spiritual Court: John Philpot Curran, the Master of the Rolls made the judgement against Joseph Merry and upheld the bequest in Mary's Will.
There is a draft pedigree for this Merry family in the Genealogical Office collection, Dublin; this refers to the Merrys of Waterford and of Seville in Spain. And an article on the Waterford Merrys in The Journal of the Waterford and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society. Vol XVI. pp 30-35. 1913.
The following Merry families must also descend from the wider Merry family in Callan:-
1. A memorial transcribed by the Callan Heritage Society in 2005 in St Mary's. A large flat stone.
2. In Old Kilbride Graveyard on the southern outskirts of Callan is the following headstone:-
"Erected by Patrick Merry in memory of his wife Bridget Merry alias Costigan who died July 8th 1805 aged 30 years". (Kilbride Graveyard has been transcribed and published in The Irish Ancestor No 1, 1986).
3. In Kells Priory we recorded a broken Merry headstone: only part of a formerly upright stone remains and this reads:-
"........................Merry who departed Aug 18 1722...Erected by Pierce Merry her son who died ye 20....................Also Walter Merry her husband 1738". Sadly the part of the stone naming Pierce's mother who appears to have died in 1722 is no longer to be seen around the Priory. The remaining wording is tantalising though.
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| Broken Merry headstone at Kells Priory dating from 1722 |
There is a prerogative Will dated for 1639 for Thomas Merry, alias Halligan (sic) of Callan, county Kilkenny in the Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland (1897) and two Wills in Ossory Wills 1536-1800 (1909) for Thomas Holaghan als Merry of Ballinecrony, county Kilkenny dated 1693 and for William Holaghan alias Merry, Kilkenny 1719. This last Will is for a cleric: Rev William O'Holaghan of the city of Kilkenny who made his Will in 1719 and who died in the same year.
I just discovered his blog and I want to thank you both for sharing your results as you tackle some of history's mysteries in County Kilkenny. Coincidentally, your latest entry about the Merrys is of great interest to me as my great great grandfather who emigrated to the United States was born in County Kilkenny near Piltown. I also have been researching the Merrys the past few years mostly via the internet.
ReplyDeleteRichard Merry was a notary and worked for the earl of Ormond. You begin to see him listed as a witness for various transactions beginning in 1555. He acquires property in Callan for himself in 1563, 1570 and 1583. He is listed as Sovereign of Callan in a Apr 5, 1565 transaction that he witnesses.
Philip Merry is Richard's brother. The earliest record of both brothers is both witness to a transaction on May 2, 1562. Philip becomes a resident of of Carrickmagriffin and acquires a measse in 1773 and another in 1574, and he is listed as a yeomen there. In 1572 Sir Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond grants to philip Myrry alias Howleghan, serjeant to said earl the whole towns, castles, meases and lands of Hennebreston (Ballyhenebery), Castleton (Castletown), and Kilkyran (Kilkierran now part of Casletown)for a term of 21 tears. Philip died 1594 or 1595 at Castletown. You hae mentioned the 1595 conveyance of his two messuages to Thomas Merry. That entry begins with the wordsJohn Merry alias Hooleghane of Carrickmagriffin, Co Tipperary, son and heir of Philip Merry of Castletown, Co Kilkenny...
There is another Philip Holeghan alias Merry of Callan, carpenter who acquires property in Callan in 1578. He could be a son of Philip, or Richard, or unknown.
Thomas Merry, like his father Richard, served at least one term as Sovereign of Callan. He is listed with that title in a transaction of June 4, 1607. In several other transactions he is listed as a burgess of Callan. Thomas' son Richard by his second marriage was disposessed of his lands and was on a list of people to be transplanted to Connacht.
You mention the will of Thomas Holaghan als Merry of Ballinecrony dated 1693. Ballynacronny is a townland adjacent to Castletown on the east side. He must certainly have been a direct descendant of Richard or Philip...perhaps a great grandson.
My Merrys resided in the townland of Garrynarea (sometimes written Garnarea) which is two townlands southeast of Castletown. My most distant known ancestor is my great great great grandfather, James Merry, born about 1786 and died 1876 at Garrynarea. The last Merry male of Garrynarea living in Ireland was John Merry who died in 1986. I doubt that I will ever be able to confirm my exact links to the early Merrys, but I will continue to enjoy the thrill of the hunt!
Sincerely, Bob Merry
Bob
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the wonderful Merry information you have sent us. You have obviously undertaken much in depth research into the Merry family and we are grateful that you have shared this. This is a very interesting old Catholic family. Bernie has been all over the inside of St Mary's Callan looking for the 1584 stone but could not locate it amongst the beautiful memorials preserved there. The roofless ruin is under the care of the Office of Public Works and both the outer gate into the graveyard and the iron gate at the north entrance shown in the picture above are kept firmly locked. We both went a few weeks ago to have another look for the stone but although we had obtained the key from the OPW in Kilkenny, it failed to open the iron gate, so we were somewhat defeated on that occasion in our quest. There is what looks like a very plain slab at the entrance to the north door and it is now partly covered with what looks like cement, which could be the 1584 tomb slab referred to by Carrigan. We just could not get access to examine it further. We will have another go sometime this summer. We are working all the time and will let you know if we find any other Merry memorials. There is a Harristown not very far away - did you ever research into the Harris or White families? Those two wives must have been from families of similar status to the Merrys. With all good wishes
Thanks Mary for the suggestion about searching for the wives families. I forgot to mention that if you want a quick way to read many of the transactions that I mentioned, google the phrase; back-list of publications - The Irish Manuscripts Commission which has a list of digitized books. Click Calendar of Ormond Deeds either Vol. v 1547-84 or Vol. vi 1584-1603. When you open a book there is a search bar where you can type in Merry or Mery or Myrry and it will give you a list with internal links. Gotta love progress! Regarding Richard's gravestone, I would wager that the area worn away right after the word formerly said either Holeghan or known as Holeghan.
DeleteI know that you are very busy now that you have long daylight and warm days for your field work, so I will touch base with you again in late fall or the winter when the tempo of life slows a bit. (I have heard that the true Irish begin to melt when the temperature rises above 25 degrees celsius and that none of them know how to make a long story short!) Continue to follow and enjoy your passion in the coming months.
Bob
Bob, I am sure you are right about "formerly Holeghan". I really wonder the exact reason they changed the name to Merry. You are also right about The Irish Manuscripts Commission; the people there have produced and published wonderful work over the years. We had not consulted The Ormonde Deeds for Merry so thank for that tip. We do find extremely interesting things on some of these old stones which often present us with a challenge genealogically. We are now after a man who is recorded as being assassinated in Kandahar in 1841 - the 1st Afghan War (1839-42). It would appear he was spying for the Russians! Nothing, apparently, has changed!
ReplyDeletewith all good wishes
Mary and Bernie
Hi Mary and Bernie, The rainy season is going strong here on the Oregon coast, so I am sending you some more information concerning the Callan Merrys. From the Reports of The Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in Ireland I found the following four fiants: From the appendix to the eleventh report, page 39, 82(34) Pardon to... Richard Merry alias OHowlaughan, of Callan, co. Kilkenny, yeoman 10 June 1559; Also from the appendix to the eleventh report, page 222, 1481 (1051) Pardon to... Philip Mery alias Holegan, of the same(Callan), carpenter 26 January 1569-70 [note, their calendar year begins April 1st]; From the appendix to the seventeenth report, page 242, 6537 (5242) Pardon to... Tho Merry, of same(Callan), gent., 29 May 1601; And from the appendix to the eighteenth report, Pardon to... Tho Mery of Callan, 18 Nov 1602.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Report of the Manuscripts of the Marquis of Ormonde, K.P., preserved at the Castle; Kilkenny Vol II is List of Transplanted Irish 1655-1659, An Accompt of Lands set out to the Transplanted Irish in Connaught. The list begins on page 114, and near the bottom of page 151 is Richard Merry of Callin, date of decree 8 April 1655, date of final settlement 24 May 1656, no. of acres 35.
I was surprised to find that the registered Merry pedigree 1650 to 1810 has been digitized by the Genealogical Office of the National Library of Ireland! It is on the following webpage: http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000530387#page/46/mode/1up.
I didn't find anything specific about Thomas Merry's second wife Mary White, however I did find some info from an article by Thomas Shelly in the Transactions of the Ossory Archaeological Society 1874 t0 1879. He says that they originally went by their Norman name Le Blund which is connected with Callan at an early period. Adam Le Blund, banker, Callan was the second husband of the celebrated Kilkenny witch, Dame Alice Kettyl(Kytler) who went to trial in 1325. The family name was anglicised to White in the mid 1400s. A Nicholas White was Rector of Callan about the end of the 1400s. The Whites are said to have resided at Whitesland about two miles from Callan, and also for sometime at Westcourt which in some old documents is mentioned as "alias Whitescourt".
All for now. Regards, Bob Merry
Bob
ReplyDeleteThank you for sending all this addition information about Merry and your research. It really is quite wonderful indepth material. Your email appeared in my email but I cant find it on the blog.....I wonder did you ever think of publishing your Merry research? I think The Irish Genealogist would be interested in it. I am on the Editorial Board. Would you be interested?
Mary and Bernie
Mary,
DeleteGlad to hear that you did receive the information that I sent to you. I had wondered what happened to my email when I didn't see it posted the next day.
Thank you for thinking that my preliminary research might merit being published. At this point I am still a rank amateur who has just scratched the surface of this puzzle. Perhaps in the future when there is more depth to the results.
Presently I am conflicted about Richard, the son of Thomas by his second marriage. We have the information about transplanting him to Connaught in the mid 1650s. But we have the pedigree that seems to suggest that he married in Waterford about 1650 when he would have been about age 30 since Thomas' funeral certificate says that Richard was quite young and unmarried at the time of his father's death in 1638.. The Waterford Merrys article says that in Thomas' will that there was a bequest to his brother-in-law, Thomas White of Waterford, to whom he left his "hount and stud mare with her colt". After the Cromwell nightmare was set in motion, the second wife, Mary White, may have taken her two children to Waterford. Whether he hid out there, or transplanted after he was married would be the big unanswered question.
One other subject briefly... The pedigree chart shows John Merry and wife, Mary Murphy, having the three children Joseph who moved to Spain, John Peter who moved to England, and Mary Power nee Merry who stayed in Waterford, all whom coincidentally died in 1804. Well this week I was going through Waterford Catholic records online and this family validates in the records for the Trinity Church in Waterford. However, there were at least seven children and each had a Murphy as a Baptism sponsor. Peter bap. 1 Sep 1736, Francis bap. 9 Nov 1737, Gerard 1 Jan 1740, Beatrice 25 Aug 1741, Joseph 9 Jul 1743, John Peter not found, but we know it was 1745, and Mary not found maybe either very late 1730s, or after John Peter in later 1740s. Also the deaths on the pedigree of John Merry's two brothers, Peter and Gerald, might actually have been two of John Merry's sons!? Answers always seem to lead to more questions.
Just a few things to ponder this winter. :-)
Bob