Geraghty - Edward (Ned)

...the father of Patrick, died on 1 Feb 1880 in Carrownaclea, Mayo, Ireland(1).  His age is given as seventy, putting his birth year as approximately 1810.

The earliest record found to date for Ned is the 1846 schedule of the Irish Reproductive Loan Fund. The register notes that Ned had taken out a loan for  £2-5 of which he had already paid back £1-12-10. His sureties for the loan were Michael Geraghty and Dominick Nolan.(2)

The Irish Reproductive Loan Fund was created in 1822 as the Irish Relief Committee with surplus relief funds from the famine of 1822, £55,000 in total. The money was reinvested into a microfinance institution, which gave short term loans for capital or reproductive purposes, such as purchasing fishing equipment, repairing sheds for curing fish or purchasing seeds for farming. The loans were never to exceed twelve months and the borrower was charged a modest interest rate. The whole system was centrally controlled in London, funds were distributed across ten county boards in Ireland and then further distributed to local associations. The committee became a corporation in June 1844, known as the Irish Reproductive Load-Fund Institution.
The minimum age to borrow was 21 years old and the minimum amount was £1. The borrower supplied their address and occupation. Each loan was guaranteed by two sureties, who agreed to pay the loan if the borrower defaulted. A married woman (if her husband was still alive) could not agree to be a guarantor for a loan.

Griffith's Valuations (3) were taken in Carrownaclea in 1852.  Edward was living in dwelling 1i which he was leasing from Capt. Alex W Wyndham.  The dwelling was rated at 4 shillings.  Also living in Carrownaclea are John Geraghty, Catherine Geraghty, Patrick Geraghty, James Geraghty, Richard Geraghty, John Niland (Ann/ Ellen Geraghty),  and John Ludden (a possible relative of  Edwards wife Judith.

Edward married Judy Ludden before 1839 but no marriage has been found.  They had the following children

Patrick 1839-1923

Unknown b & d. bef 27 Nov 1841. This may not be correct, but Ned paid a fee for his wife's churching on the 27 of Nov. Churching was done to cleanse a woman after the birth of a child.  As I delved into the registers it is apparent that many births did not include a separate churching.  I also noticed that in some cases there was no fee paid for the christening of a child.  This leaves two possibilities, one is that the churching usually takes place with the christening and is not recorded separately but sometimes takes place separately and the fee is paid at that time.  A second possibility is that the churching takes place after a stillbirth or miscarriage.  These are not exclusive, my guess from the records I could see is that both of these possibilities were happening.  It is possible that this is a late churching for the birth of Patrick, however it is quite some time after Patrick was supposedly born and there is no christening found which indicates the birth date is likely to be close to correct.

Henry who was christened 12 Jun 1842.  No further records have been found for Henry.  He might have died in childhood, He might have emigrated.  Or, he might have used a different given name.

Mary Ann was christened 2 Jun 1844.  She married James Gallagher on 13 Jun 1844. (4)  They had at least seven children: Michael, Mary, James, Anne, Bridget, Winnifred and Martin, all born in Carrownaclea.

 (1)Islandeady civ reg deaths vol 4 page 47 Informant James Gallagher, Carnaclay, step son

(2) 1. Irish Reproductive Loan Fund, T91 The National Archives at Kew , T91/187 1848-1854 #578 /337; Schedule 8M #133; Schedule 8M #34 (Sec 239 vz 34.(1))

(3) Griffith, Griffith's Primary Valutation of Tenements 1848-1865 Co Kerry 1852- (National Archives of Ireland).

(4) Islandeady civil reg marriages vol 2 page 19 "Mary Geraghty (aged 21) of Caranacle, daughter of Edmond Geraghty, farmer, married James Gallagher (aged 22) or Caranacle, landholder, son of Martin Gallagher, farmer (witnesses: James Nolan and Sarah Moran.)