Joseph Nunan and Mary Dempsey

Thousands of American tourists flock to Ireland each year to visit the land of their "fathers". Some, like ourselves, come with little more information than their family surname and the county from which they emigrated. In addition we knew that the name of our immigrant's father was probably Joseph and the mother's name was Mary Dempsey. This information was on the death certificate of their daughter, Ellen¹. Extensive research through the microfilms of the Family History Library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints gave us little more information than narrowing to a few hundred those with the same surname living in the appropriate county at the time of our ancestor, John Joseph's departure.

According to his death certificate, John Joseph Nunan was born on February 13, 1856² in County Cork, Ireland. The exact place in County Cork is not identified. His granddaughter, Helen, recalled hearing the location as "Bally-something". Unfortunately there are 6,500 townlands in Ireland with Bally in their name. This occurred when the Gaelic term baile fearainn meaning "homestead land" was translated into "Bally" in the English language equating it with "village", "town" and "city".

Where then do we look in County Cork? It is a large part of the province of Munster. If we follow historic references, the place of origins of the Nunan clan is in Tullylease and the barony of Duhallow in the northwest corner of County Cork. However there had been a contact through correspondence from Nunan cousins after the Second World War. As a result, another granddaughter, Shirley Nunan Bacchini, and her daughter Judy visited a "cousin" Molly and her brother in Crosshaven on the southeast coast of County Cork. Both locations became areas of interest to explore on our visit.

Research, like detective work, concentrates on carefully examining every clue until one opens a door and the desired information unfolds. Our "open door" was found as a result of hours spent in the Cork County Library. Librarian Tim Cadogan spent much time sharing with us what little they had that could help us research the family history. One volume, Carrigaline-Crosshaven Catholic Parish Registers, 1826-1880 indexed by Francis Thompson, Jr., contained an extensive section of Nunan (Noonan) records. Mr. Thompson lives in New York. We copied his address and several months after returning from Ireland sent him a letter asking about his research. The result was pinpointing the place of John Joseph Nunan's birth, the name of his parents as well as the names of the rest of his siblings.

Joseph Nunan was found in Griffith's Valuation (dated April 1851) at Puckane in the civil parish of Ringcurran and the Catholic parish of Kinsale. He was a tenant of William Bennett, Esq. and farmed 48 acres. According to Francis Thompson:

Bennett must have been a relative of the Daunt family, who had owned land at Tracton³ and Crosshaven, as well as at Ringcurran since before 1600. It was a common phenomenon for a young farmer to 'take up' a vacant lease on a farm owned by his landlord when it 'fell due'. This practice meant for a good deal of moving around and would account for Joseph's settling in Ringcurran parish. I assume that he came from Tracton. If he married in, say, 1845 and his father was still alive, he may have had to settle for a very small piece of land. If he had a reputation for being industrious and a lease fell due on a farm owned by the Daunts at Ringcurran, they may have offered him the lease, or he may have been the highest bidder. In any event, he occupied the farm at Puckane by 1850. ....My guess is that he took up a lease from someone, say, mother's family, since Ringcurran does not seem to have been Nunan territory. If she were the Ellen Noonan at Ballyregan More and the tenant of the Kearney's, I would guess that she was their sister or aunt, i.e. born a Kearney and by this time a widow.

Having found the record of the baptism of Ellen Nunan in the Tracton Abbey register, Mr. Thompson referred me to Reverend J. Hyde the Parish Priest in Kinsale.

Father Hyde's research of his records confirmed the baptism record of John Joseph Nunan and his brothers and sister as follows:

Tracton Abbey Catholic Parish:

Bapt 6 Dec 1846 - Ellen of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsy. Sponsors: John Dempsy [and] Norry Noonan. [Rev. Cornelius Corkran].

Kinsale Catholic Parish:

Born 20 Feb 1850 - Kate of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsey. Sponsors: Ellen Kiely and Jack Dempsey.

Born 13 Feb 1852 - John of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsey. Sponsors: John Hurley and Joanne Buckley.

Born 19 Jan 1854 - Mary of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsey. Sponsors: David Noonan and Margaret Canniffe.

Born 4 Dec 1859 - David of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsey. Sponsors: Cornelius Neil and Margaret Cramer. Residence: Ballyregan [Ringcurran civil parish], [Rev D. Coveney].

Born 6 Apr 1862 - Hannah [=Johanna] of Joseph Noonan and Mary Dempsy. Sponsors: Cornelius Neil and Mary Walsh. Residence: Puckane [Ringcurran civil parish], [Rev J. Keleher].

Born 17 Jul 1865 - Julia of Joseph Nunan and Mary Dempsy. Sponsors: John Kearny and Honora Neil. Residence: Puckane [Ringcurran civil parish], [Rev J. Keleher].

Parish Histories and Place Names of West Cork by Bruno O'Donoghue on pages 168-170 lists the townlands of Ringcurran Parish (Rinn an Chorrain-Sickle or crescent-shaped headland). Included are: Puckane (120 acres) Pocan-swelling, elevated ground; and Ballyregan More (434 acres) Baile Ui Riagain-O'Regan's homestead. (There is also a Puckane in County Tipperary.) Now that we have found the names of John Joseph Nunan's father and mother and the place he came from, we can continue our research and find our cousins in Ireland.

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