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There are actually two adjacent townlands named Ballysheil. Ballyshiel Beg (231 acres) and
Ballyshiel More
(337 acres). There were sixteen households in Ballysheil Beg in 1901 and twenty-eight in
Ballysheil More.
Ballysheil Beg is in the Barony of Lower Orion, Parish of Ballymore. In location on the
map, it is south of
Tandragee and east to northeast of Markethill. Clare is not much of a village and is not
on most new maps. It is
adjacent to the Cusher river close to County Clare.
I can not explain the difference in birth dates for Hugh Caughey. I obtained the birth
dates of the family from The
Presbyterian Historical Society as they were recorded in the Clare Presbyterian Church
records. Hugh was
baptized 30 Sep 1866 at the same church. Most of the children were baptized a month or
sometimes several
months after they were born so from that standpoint, either date could be correct. From
correspondence with
relatives of other children of the family, the dates I got from the Society were correct.
I have corresponded with Michael Perry. He is a descendent of Mary Jane Larkin, a sister
of Agnes Larkin,
wife of Moses Caughey. We exchanged information and I think the information on the Caughey
family was
obtained from me. My grandfather, James Caughey, and his sister, Mary Jane Caughey, lived
with, James
Alexander Larkin, a brother of Agnes and Mary Jane Larkin when they first came to this
country. Mary Jane
Larkin and James Alexander Larkin came to this country together and first lived with an
uncle, a brother of
Agnes Larkin's mother who was a McElrath.
The information on the Kelly family was obtained from Gordon Kelly and that family is on
the Internet as you
have noted.
Hannah Kelly Caughey died 13 Jul 1924. Hugh and Hannah Caughey's youngest daughter was
named Hannah
Ethel Caughey. She is the Hannah that married Bob Willis. They had two known children, a
son and daughter. I
have a picture of some of that family.
There are several Caughey (or at that time Caghey) families listed in the church records
of the Clare
Presbyterian Church in the early 1800s. Their relationship is uncertain. In Gordon
Kelly's research, he said a
hand drawn map of Ballymore Parish and Ballyshiel Beg in 1795 shows that the land was
owned by the Earl of
Sandwich. No Caugheys were listed as tenants. This would indicate to me that the Caugheys
listed in the
church records arrived after that date and more than likely were all from the same family
(probably children of
the same parents) since they apparently all arrive about the same time. County Clare is
the historical location
of most of the Caughey families.
The father of Moses Caughey was John Caughey. John Caughey married Annabella Kelly. A
witness at the
wedding was another John Caughey apparently about the same age and likely a cousin. He
married a Betty
McBurney. A descendent of this John Caughey is a John Caughey in Ireland married to a
grand daughter of
Hugh Caughey's sister Annabella Teggart. I do not know anything more about this John
Caughey but
apparently the family stayed in the same general area in Ireland.
I found a book in the library on the history and genealogy of a John Caughey family where
John came to this
country in the 1700s. Around 1900 the entire family changed the family name to Coy.
Unfortunately most of the
early records in Ireland were destroyed and it is hard to research very far back in time.
Lawrence