Barnes Family Tree
The Barnes Family
Grandad Joe was the son of James Barnes & Annie Donegan. I don’t have a lot of information on either Jim or Annie at this stage except from factual documents, such as birth/death certificates & the Census records. But I will update this as information becomes available.
Jim & Annie married in Coolafancy Church in 1898; his address at that time was Tomnafinnogue & his profession listed as a labourer for Earl Fitzwilliam. Her address is listed as Fairwood & she was also a labourer although it’s not stated where she worked. Their marriage witnesses were Maurice Murphy & Kate Mernagh.
The family lived in Tomnafinnogue & Ann & Catherine were born here. Their house seems to have been quite comfortable for labourers of that time, with a slate tiled roof, 3 windows to the front, 3 rooms inside the house & 10 out-houses (stable, 2 cow houses, 1 calf house, 2 piggeries, 2 fowl houses, turf house & a barn). Their neighbours included farmers Darcy, Donegan, Mulhall, Byrne, Kearns & O’Keeffe, amongst other labourers for the Coolattin estate.
At some point in early 1902 the family moved to Hillbrook & it was here that Catherine died & Kitty & Joe were born. The family moved to Paulbeg sometime in 1904 where Mick, Julia & George were born. Sadly George died shortly after birth.
Again the family moved back to Hillbrook in 1910, just before Annie’s death. Their house, with neighbours Quigley & Meeks, was somewhat more modest, with only 3 out-houses, but still comfortable as it had a slate roof & 3 rooms in the house. Jim’s profession in 1911 is listed as shepherd, for Earl Fitzwilliam. As each of the family remained in the area around Hillbrook after their marriages & Jim’s address at the time of his death was also stated as Hillbrook, Tinahely, I think it’s fair to say that Hillbrook is ‘home’ to this generation of the Barnes family.
Jim Barnes
Jim Barnes was born in 1853 in Tinnock, near Inch, in north Wexford. As records are fairly vague pre-civil registration in 1864, I think he was one of 8 children born to John Barden & Bridget (Biddy) Farrell. They were; James born 1849, John born 1851, James born 1853, Edward born 1855, twins Patt & Catherine born 1859, Michael born 1863 & George born 1865. All were baptised in Killanerin Church.
John & Bridget were not married in this parish & as yet I have not been able to locate their marriage so have no further detail on Bridget or her family. Also, they may have been other children born to this couple in different parishes that I have yet to come across.
Jim’s family had lived in the Tinnock area since records began ~ 1790. His father John was one of 7 children born to James Bardon & Catherine Lennon. They were; John b. 1823, James b. 1825, Judith b. 1826, James b. 1828, Edward b. 1831, Michael b. 1833 & Mary b. 1834. I know nothing of this family at this time.
The mystery as to why the family name was recorded as Bardon, Barden, & later as Barnes, is one that will probably never be solved. Personally, I think the name was Barden & the English translation of Barnes was incorrectly applied. It doesn’t really matter but has made it very difficult to trace the family. To this day, there are Barden, Bardon & Barnes all in the Inch area & all say they are related to each other. The mystery continues...
As already said, Jim married Annie Donegan in Coolafancy in 1898 but prior to this, Jim was married to Ellen Synnott from Forchester, also near Inch, Wexford but in the parish of Arklow. They married in 1874 & Jim’s brother John was his best man. They had 9 children; John, Laurence, James, Brigid, Eliza, Edward, Kate, James & Paddy. I have been unable to find a Death Certificate for Ellen so I dont know when or how she died. What I do know is that her mother (Eliza Sinnott) was living with them from about 1877 until her death in 1905 - which means she also lived with Jim & his new wife, Annie, for the 1st few years of their marriage.
Jim died in hospital in Dublin in 1920 from lip cancer & his body was brought back by train to be buried in Coolafancy. Although the grave is unmarked, there is a stump of a tree to indicate its location. Although no-one is the family seems sure, its thought that Jim's 1st wife Ellen is buried with him. Although several children from his 1st family died, its not known where they are buried.
John (Jack 1875-1917)
Laurence (1877-1882)
Laurence was born in Ballintemple, Arklow & died at 5 years of age. I cannot locate a death certificate to find out what his cause of death was. {Aside: Ballintemple townland is in the Woodenbridge/Avoca area, although Arklow parish}
James (1878-1879)
James was born in Ballinapark, Avoca & died from accidental suffocation aged just 11 weeks. There was an inquest hearing but these records are no longer available. I hope to look at copies of some of the newspapers of the time to see if i can get any further information. Incidentally, it was Ellen’s mother Eliza that registered the birth so it would seem that she was living with the family at this stage.
Brigid (1880-?)
Brigid was also born in Ballinapark but I know very little of her life after this except she was still with the family in 1896. I've also been told she had red hair. She emigrated to Liverpool, married there & had her own family, but I have no other detail. I will continue to search for her & will update when information becomes available.
Eliza (1882 – 1884)
Eliza was born in Killaveny & died, in Coolboy, at almost 2 years of age from an uncertified ‘general debility from birth’.
Edward - Ned (1884-1961)
I have been unable to find a birth or baptismal certificate for Ned so cannot say where he was born, but i think it was in Coolboy. He worked as a farm labourer (as distinct from an agricultural labourer), presumable for one of the local farmers, until his marriage to Elizabeth Cleary in the Autumn of 1911. They had 5 girls; Ellen, Kate, Elizabeth, Mary & Bridget. Sadly Mary passed away, aged 3. There are no war records available for Ned but he served with the British Army in WW1 & lost 1 of his legs there. He survived though & returned home. The family lived in the cottages at Kilcommon until his death in 1961.
Kate (1886-1896)
Kate was born in Coolboy & died in Tomnafinnogue aged 9 from certified TB. It was her sister Brigid that registered her death.
Jim (1888-1965)
Jim was born in Clonmore. He worked as a farm labourer until his marriage to Elizabeth (Betty) Browne in Shillelagh in 1911. He was a carpenter by trade & he had several children including Brendan who has been helpful to me when researching this family.
Paddy (1890-1961)
Paddy was also born in Clonmore & married Hannah Wholohan from Avoca in 1895. They were blessed with 13 children & the family moved to Dublin in 1921 where Paddy worked with CIE in Inchacore. I have been lucky to accidentally stumble across Paddy’s great-grandson, Michael, who has filled me in on some of the details of this family.