September, 2022

Today, we are going to feature information that Danny Dowling recorded regarding the residents of the townland of Kilbride, Glenmore around 1961. The Irish for this townland, according to O’Kelly’s, The Place Names of the County of Kilkenny (1969, p. 109) is  Cill Bride, or St. Brigid’s church. The townland is comprised of 378 acres. “This long townland stretches from the Ballyfasey (sic) road to within less than a mile of Glenmore village. Carrigan states that the holy well, Tobar Bride, was drained and destroyed in 1842; also that the baptismal font and holy-water stoup of the old church lie in the graveyard. Fields here are Croichtin na g cnemh, little croft of the bones, and Pairc Mhanais, Manus’s field.” For further information on the old Kilbride graveyard click here.

In the 1830 Griffith’s Valuation Applotment Records the townland had three landlords: George Caulfield; Mary Anne Tighe, widow and Hariet Cuffe. The tenants included: Thomas and Michael Freney (93 acres); Thomas Malone (32 acres); James, Laurence and Edmond Mackey (40 acres); John, Mary, Michael Colleton & James Walsh (85 acres); John Colleton, James Reddy, Edmond Hanrahan, James McDonell & Andrew Dunn. It appears that the last group of men held 114 acres in commonage). Eleven years later, Edmond Hanrahan was a witness in an 1841 murder that took place in Kilbride. See our previous blog post of 18 July 2021 regarding the murder, our blog post of 21 July 2021 regarding the trial and lastly our blog post of 24 July 2021 regarding the killer’s sentencing and execution.

Danny Dowling in 1961 recorded 10 families or households in Kilbride. Birthdates or birth years are provided for some of the older residents gleaned from available public records. For some time after drafting his notebook, Danny recorded the dates of death or simply recorded that a resident had died or left the townland. The recorded information reveals that in 1961, 43 people resided in Kilbride with the population comprised of 22 males and 21 females. The John Culleton family was the largest family with 8 family members in the household. There were 2 households ( James Reddy & Thomas Freyne) where it was recorded that  a single person lived alone.

Recorded Residents

Males= 22
Females= 21
Eldest Recorded Resident = The oldest Kilbride resident was James Culleton, Sr. (24 January 1867-23 July 1962 ) who was 94 in 1961. On the 8th of December 2019 Danny Dowling stated that old Jim Culleton was born when the New Ross bridge was knocked down by ice. The New Ross mid-wife was not able to attend at his birth because the bridge was destroyed. For further details see the end of our blog post of 14 December 2019.

Recorded Work

Farmer = 7 (7 males) (including 1 retired farmer)
Farm Labourer/Worker = 5 (5 males)
Carpenter = 4 (4 males) (including 1 retired carpenter)
Building Labourer = 1 (1 male)
Oil Lorry Driver = 1 (1 male)
Butter Maker = 1 (1 female)

KILBRIDE RESIDENTS

[1] POWER
Power, Mary (25 July 1871) (died 20 June 1961)
Synott, Patrick, farm worker
Synott, Anastatia, wife

[2] REDDY
Reddy, James (13 July 1926) Farmer

[3] CULLETON
Culleton, John (18 Oct. 1911) Farmer
Culleton, Margaret (1917) wife
Culleton, James, son, farm worker
Culleton, Johanna, daughter
Culleton, Mary, daughter
Culleton, Patrick, son
Culleton, John, son
Culleton, James, Sr. (24 June 1867) father, retired farmer

[4] CULLETON
Culleton, Michael (18 Oct. 1878) Farmer (died 28 Feb. 1962)
Culleton, Alice (5 June 1895) wife
Culleton, James, son, farm worker
Morrissey, James (6 May 1896) boarder, farm worker

[5] KENNEDY
Kennedy, Patrick (13 Oct. 1890) Retired Carpenter  (dead no date recorded)
Kennedy, Johanna (28 Sept. 1892) wife
Kennedy, Martin, son, carpenter
Kennedy, Richard, son, carpenter
Kennedy, Edward, son, carpenter
Kennedy, Margaret (28 Oct. 1929) daughter

[6] FREYNE
Freyne, James (27 July 1905) Farmer
Freyne, Mary Anne (30 Oct. 1908) wife
Freyne, Johanna, daughter, butter maker  (married & left home)
Freyne, James, son, farm worker
Freyne, Mary Katherine, daughter
Freyne, Bridget, daughter
Freyne, Margaret, daughter-in-law

[7] GRACE
Grace, William (1917) Farmer
Grace, Ellen (1925) wife
Grace, Mary, daughter
Grace, Margaret, daughter
Grace, Alice, daughter

[8] HANDRICK
Handrick, Patrick (3 Sept. 1907) Building Labourer
Handrick, Margaret (1917) wife
Handrick, Garrett, son
Handrick, James, son
Handrick, Kathleen, daughter
Handrick, Bridget, daughter

[9] MURRAY
Murray, John, Oil Lorry Driver
Murray, Eileen, wife

[10] FREYNE
Freyne, Thomas, Farmer

Please send any corrections or additional information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.

The featured photo above is the Kilbride graveyard.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh