Family Headstones in Ireland.
The Smith and Cloney families in
Swords, Co. Dublin, Church of Ireland churchyard.
James Smith and Frances Bryan were married in 1849. The marriage was registered in Ratoath, Meath, Ireland. Frances was one of six daughters of Lydia and Walter Bryan whose home was Baltrasna, in Ashbourne, Meath. The family story says that Walter built a home for Frances and James at Greenfields, on Seatown Road, Swords, Co. Dublin. James and Frances were my second great-grandparents. Their eldest son was John William, father of my grandmother, Victoria Alice Maud Smith, known as Alice.
There are two Smith headstones located in the Swords Church of Ireland churchyard. They are found toward the back of the cemetery on the left, when facing the church.
One headstone commemorates the life of Frances and James plus three of their sons. Alice's father, John William, died when Alice was about 10 years old. Alice's mother, Elizabeth Cloney had died as a result of Alice's birth. Two Smith sons are also commemorated on this same headstone. Walter Bryan' death notice, in a newspaper, lead me to finding out the identity of Frances' parents.
The second Smith headstone commemorates Thomas Smith. My mum knew of him as Uncle Tommy. Thomas had lived at Greenfields all of his life and outlived both of his parents. After his mother's death, Thomas married Annie Elizabeth Cuthbert in 1915 and they had two children, Frances Elizabeth and Thomas Cuthbert. He died in 1924.
This photo shows the two Smith headstones in the Swords C of I churchyard when Ross and I visited Ireland about 2012. In the background, on the wall, can be see the Cloney headstone.
This is the Swords Church of Ireland. If you look carefully you can see the Round Tower in the background. That is the corner of the churchyard where the Smith and Cloney headstones are located.
The Cloney Headstone in Swords Church of Ireland churchyard.
This is the Cloney headstone in the Swords C of I church yard. Not far from the Smith headstones but located on the back wall. Being on the back wall, it may become overrun by plants. If you visit, please try to clear these plants so others may see the headstone more clearly.
The Knox Headstones in the Lusk, Co. Dublin,
Church of Ireland Churchyard.
I discovered the existence of these headstones a couple of years ago. I was searching the British and Irish newspapers in Find My Past and came across a really interesting article in The Dublin Evening Post, Tuesday, June 1, 1847. It was headed: Second Report presented to the Sound of the Celtic Athenaeum on Luck Church. I will write more about this article in another page.
I really appreciate the assistance of Werona, another member of the family history society that I belong to, QFHS, for taking a detour on her travels in Ireland in 2024 and taking photos, not only of the headstone of which the newspaper article spoke of, but a second headstone that appeared to hold the Knox name. This was lying beside the one written of in the 1849 newspaper article. The standing headstone is the one referred to in the newspaper.
The standing headstone is that to commemorate Briget, wife of Thomas Knox, who died in 1816. Thomas and Bridget were the parents of Ann Knox who married Richard Cloney in 1814. They became the parents of John Cloney, one of my second great-grandfathers. This headstone, when read in 1847, displayed the above tribute.
The headstone lying on the ground commemorates Eliza Knox, Thomas Knox and James Knox, although Werona thought there may be others. It was apparently a more recent haedstone, with 1880 visible towards the bottom.
Both of these headstones lie in very close proximity to the round tower.
The McDowell Headstones in the Cullen graveyard in Co. Tipperary.
The McDowell's lived in a house known as the Tilery. Ross and I were fortunate to be introduced to a lovely local historian in Tipperary, whose name I have sadly forgotten. We had contacted him through a cousin in Tipperary. This man and his wife lived in a house opposite one said to have been built by another second great-grandfather, William McDowell. There was also a field opposite the McDowell home, that had been the source of the clay required for the tilery. After I was allowed to look around the McDowell house but the current occupant, the lovely historian said "Do you want to see the graves?". I have no idea there were graves somewhere here. We followed our guide's car to Cullen graveyard. There were two headstones there.
William McDowell fwas said to have been born in what is now Northern Ireland, in Jerrizpass, Newry. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a document that confirms that. A story about William will be written on this blog at sometime in the future. However, one of his claims to fame is that he seems to have eloped with his boss' daughter, Sarah Clark, while working in Northumberland, England. My mother always believed that the marriage occurred in Gretna Green, but a Canadian descendant of William found the marriage recorded at Lamburton Tollbooth on the eastern coast of Scotland just over the border from Northumberland. The story told said that Sarah's father disapproved of the marriage, but it seems that the family forgave them and didn't cut ties. William moved back to Ireland in the mid 1850s, after several children had been born in Northumberland. Sadly, the only boy in the family died aged 10 years. The story around that was that he had fallen from a wagon or cart. It seems that initially the fall affected his eyesight but he became more ill and died.
This is the headstone of James. He was desperately missed by his mother who was said to have become either very depressed or demented ever after.
Beside James' small headstone, there is another for multiple members of the McDowell family. The next tribute in 1893 is for Sarah, my great-grandmother, wife of James Fraser and mother of Robert Fraser, my grandfather.
The location of the headstones in the graveyard is, if I recall correctly, fairly central, near to a tree that gives it some shade at times.
These are the headstones in the Cullen graveyard in 2008. The small one for James and the taller one with other family members. They are the two nearest to the tree.
There are a couple of other headstones in Northern Ireland. These are for the Sides family, with the exception of Amy Smith, older sister of Alice. After Elizabeth Smith (neé Cloney) died, Amy was taken in by the Rev. Sides and his wife, Margaret Sides (neé Cloney). older sister to Elizabeth. The middle sister, Florence, we believe was taken in by John's mother, Frances Smith (neé Bryan). We also think that Florrie spent a lot of time with Mary Young, the domestic servant of Frances. And as already mentioned in another story, Alice was taken in by John's elder sister, Lydia Guest (neé Smith) until she was about 10 years old.
That is all for now.
March 1st,, 2025
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