Civil Survey notes - Cloneybrien

 

Cloneybrien

The Meadow or pasture of the O’Briens. In the Civil Survey the following were recorded as owning lands here.

Daniell O’Bryen of Clonybryen gent.

Bryen O’ Bryen of Clonybryen gent.

Bryen O’Bryen is listed as owning this land in descent from his father Donogh McTeige O’ Bryen.

Initially I had thought that it could be Donogh O’Brien of Bellanaha or possibly a grandson of Teige na Buile O’Bryen.

There is a Donal Mac I Brien who dies in 1606 (he was the Brother of Donogh O’Brien of Bellanaha). Could this Daniell who owns land here be a son or actually him?

However we see below that none of these quite fit.

These names are important when we look at other records in connection with the area.

In the Hearth Money Rolls of Cloneybrien we find a number of O’Brien (or variants) recorded.

There is a Marews, Mathew, Bryen and William noted in 1665 and a Marcus & Kenedy record in 1666/67.

It is likely that Marews & Marcus are the same name.

Byren O’Bryen may be the Bryen O’Bryen listed in the Civil Survey.

Looking at Simington’s Transplantation to Connacht. It is difficult to make out the various O’Briens that were listed to be transplanted. However the “O’Briens of Ryninch” article in Annals of Arra Vol. 2 points towards a book by O’Hart that lists some of these O’Briens more clearly but without their destinations in Connacht.

Combining Simington & O’Hart I think I have identified Cunogh as being Cone Ibryne in the Civil Survey which is Cloneybrien.

If this is correct then we find a Bryan Mc Daniel Bryan and a Marcus Mc Daniel Bryan listed for transplanted to Connacht.

However the Bryen that owned the land is Bryan McDonogh McTeige O’Brien (according to the Civil Survey). So unfortunately that doesn’t tie up as neatly as I hoped. (Bryan can’t be the son of Donogh (Denis) if he is the son of Daniel (Donal).)

What we do find however is that a Marcus & a Bryen are listed for transplantation to Connacht.

It is possible that there were a few Brien O’Briens in this townland. If so, it will make creating a speculative descent tree difficult.

In Simington - Marcus and Bryen are listed to be transplanted to Galway, the Barony of Ballymoe and the parish of Boyounagh. In Boyounagh there is only one Brien listed in the Griffiths Valuaton and that is a Patrick Brien in Lisheenaheltia. He is a very small tenant farmer.

Going by the Hearth Money Rolls we still find a Marcus and Bryen O’Bryen in Cloneybrien so maybe they never went or if they did, didn’t stay long. There is also a Kenedy Byren (and Mathew & William).

Mary Fitzgerald – author of The McKeogh Family Story has suggested in personal communication that the later name Kendall could be an anglicisation of Kennedy as a first name.

There is an interesting reference to a Kendall O’Brien

"In about 1780 a writer records that a genealogical Irish manuscript copied in the year AD. 1714 finds that John O'Brien was then the representative of this branch, and still enjoyed a part of the family estate, which was called Cluain-i-Brien in Ara, where he resided.

The writer was informed that one Kendal O'Brien was living then and was John O'Brien's grandson and heir."

Pg 38 From the History of the O'Briens by Donough O'Brien. 

From the "Ireland, Indexes to Wills, Probate Administration, Marriage Bonds and Licences, 1591-1866" there is a marriage license for the Diocese of Killaloe in 1759 between Kindall O'Brien and Mary Waller. Another record places him in Landsdown (the one near Portroe!) in 1775.

So this link would even be stronger here as it is the correct townland. Does the timeline fit for John O'Brien circa 1714 to be a son of Kenedy O'Brien listed in the Hearth Money Rolls (1666-67) and then for Kendall to be John's grandson? 

In the later census data – the name O’Brien isn’t very prominent in the townland. (It appears to disappear out of the townland for a time). There are some O’Briens living there in the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

https://thetipperaryantiquarian.blogspot.com/2025/02/hearth-money-rolls-cloneybrien.html