Thursday, September 8th, 2022

Today, we are going to feature information that Danny Dowling recorded regarding the residents of the townland of Flemingstown around 1961. The Irish for this townland, according to Kelly’s, The Place Names of the County of Kilkenny (1969, p. 109) is Baile Phleimeann, or Fleming’s homestead. The townland is comprised of 196 acres and located in the civil parish of Kilcoan. Flemingstown had a hamlet which is found on the Ordinance Survey. Tobar Chuain, St. Cuan’s holy well, is a quarter of a mile from St. Cuan’s church site, and Tobar Mhuire are in this townland. Tobar Mhuire is the source of the Glenmore Village water. See our blog post of 23 May 2020 concerning the Glenmore Village water works in the 1930’s.  

In the 1830 Griffith’s Valuation Applotment Records the townland had two listed landlords namely: Mr. Wm. Dennis of Waterford and Tobias Budd, a minor. Interestingly these two were also the listed landlords for Weatherstown. It was noted that there were no leases in Flemingstown. The listed tenants included: Patrick Mullins (45 acres) Laurence Mullins (18 acres); Patrick Mullins and Patrick Walsh (23 acres); John Butler (18 acres); Thomas Butler (22 acres) John Mullins (18 acres); Patrick Skierivan (12 acres); ? Hartilly (house); Tobias Budd (12 acres); and Bros. Fowd? (house)

Danny Dowling in 1961 recorded only 3 families or households in Flemingstown. 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, 16 people resided in Flemingstown with the population comprised of 7 males and 9 females. The Fitzgerald family was the largest family with seven members in the household. There was no household recorded of a single person living alone.

Recorded Residents

Males= 7
Females= 9
Eldest Recorded Resident= James Fitzgerald  (1888-1963) who was a native of Knockbrack, Glenmore. At the time of his death in 1963 James was 74 years of age, thus he was 72 in 1961. A copy of his obituary is located on our family page and may be accessed by clicking here. It provides that James was a native of Knockbrach, Glenmore and married Lizzie Burke. According to local farmers James bought the Felix Mullins farm in Flemingstown.

Recorded Work

Farmers = 3  (3 males)
Farm workers = 2 (2 males)
Motor mechanic = 1 (1 male)
Rate collector = 1 (1 male)
Shop assistant = 1 (1 female)
Domestic servant =1 (1 female)

FLEMINGSTOWN RESIDENTS

[1] DUGGAN
Duggan, Richard (12 Dec. 1894) Farmer
Duggan, Mary (26 Feb. 1901) wife
Duggan, Thomas, son, motor mechanic
Duggan, Richard, son, rate collector

[2] MULLINS
Mullins, Nicholas (3 July 1913) Farmer
Mullins, Maureen (1923) wife
Mullins, Mary, daughter
Mullins, Geraldine, daughter
Mullins, Breda, daughter

[3] FITZGERALD
Fitzgerald, James (12 Oct. 1888) Farmer (died 26 Jan. 1963)
Fitzgerald, Elizabeth (8 March 1900) wife
Fitzgerald, Paul, son, farm worker
Fitzgerald, James, son, farm worker
Fitzgerald, Elizabeth, daughter, shop assistant
Pender, Joan, boarder, domestic servant
Fitzgerald, Mary, daughter-in-law

As often happened in the past sometimes in a single townland two or three people shared the same name which often led to confusion. To remedy this nic names were bestowed. Sometimes the reason for the nic names are obvious sometimes they are not. Danny Dowling interviewed Mary Stapleton, of Slieverue in 1977 [DD Notebook 4]. Mary stated that there were three Paddy Mullins in Flemingstown, at the one time in the 19^th century. They were known by the following names: (1) Pad Fada—Mary Stapleton’s grandfather [Long Paddy]; (2) Pad Mór—[Big Paddy]; and (3) Pad Beg—[Small Paddy].

For earlier blog posts on former Flemingstown folks click on the dates below:

Fr. John Duggan (1932-2021) of Flemingstown, Glenmore and his connection to the American Football Classic, Superbowl IX (post of Nov. 14, 2021).

James Mullins (1841-1912) of Flemingstown, Glenmore who became the Clerk of the Carrick-on-Suir Union (post of 10 January 2021)

Edmund Hartley (1836-1915) a native of Flemingstown who emigrated to the US and returned for a visit in 1913 (post of 18 October 2020).

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

The featured photo above was on the front page of the Irish Farmer’s Journal of 9 September 1961.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh