Mad in Pursuit Notebook
Pilgrimage to Rushestown
Have I ever undertaken a pilgrimage to a place with spiritual meaning? Yes. To the once-bustling Irish village where my great-grandmother got her mojo.
There is probably no map I've stared at longer than this one of Rushestown, County Galway, Ireland.
It was the home of my great-great grandparents Bridget Ward and John Martin. Among their seven children was my future great-grandmother Catherine Martin, who married Michael Dunne of nearby Ballaghduff.
Even before our 2012 visit to Galway, I was using this map, along with surveys and census data, to settle a dispute with an Englishman who thought his Martins-Crehans-Michaels-Honorias-Bridgets were being wrongfully claimed as my Martins-Crehans-Michaels-Honorias-Bridgets. We settled it: mine lived in Ward's Village; his, in Dunn's Village.
I was eager to visit this place, even though most of the townland is now semi-vacated, as farming gave way to cattle and sheep ranching and as longtime villagers migrated away.
Luckily, my dad's first cousin Maureen Collins knew Paki Kenny. The Kennys were Martin neighbors for a hundred years or more. On May 12, Maureen, Jim, and I visited the hillside property.
From my trip diary:
Kenny is in his sixties, with white hair and clear blue eyes. His cattle graze in the field where the Martins once lived. We walked around and imagined the family gathered around their fire after a hard day's work. We looked up and down the slope and tried to see the landscape through their eyes. The Irish speak of "thin places," where the loving past can speak to those who listen. This was one of those places.
We drove through the village to see the remaining homes still occupied by descendants from my list.* Then we continued.
From Rushestown, we continued our pilgramage through New Forest (where the D'Arcy landlords lived), past the Curraghmore National School (where my grandmother and her siblings learned to read, and through the village of Ballaghduff, where my grandmother was born and raised.
Maureen was an ideal guide because she too was born on the farm in Ballaghduff and started her schooling at Curraghmore. She showed us the break in the stone fence they all used as they crossed the immense pastures from village to school each day. Maureen is a wonderful bridge between the families who worked these hardscrabble farms and the modern Irish woman, educated and worldly.
I came away with an insight. On the old family lands, I didn't experience God, angels, fairies, or the spirits of ancient druids. I did feel the presence of Those Who Loved Us—the hardworking people who, together, kept their families warm and fed, and who made sure their children were educated. And, who, when the time came, held going away parties, packed belongings on carts, and drove their young adult children to the train station to say goodbye, knowing that all they might ever see of them again was a little cash, some used clothes, and maybe a ticket to America for another sister or brother.
*The souls who paid the rents in Rushestown in 1857
Parcel 1. Ward's Village. 14 rent-payers in 13 houses with various out-buildings at the eastern end of Rushestown village. The "occupiers" (rent-payers, not necessarily heads-of-household): Patrick Concannon, Mary Crehan, Catherine Mulligan, James Kenny, Michael Kenny, Edmond Donnelly, Matthias Crehan, Thomas Crehan, Marcus Ward, John Martin, Peter Martin, Catherine Ward, Bryan Ward, and Patrick Creaghan (land only). Acreage: 192.
Parcel 2. Creaghan's Village. 16 occupiers in 15 houses with various out-buildings at the western end of Rushestown village. Occupiers: Owen Creaghan, Owen Creaghan (a second house), John Dunne, Michl. Cunningham, Laur. Cunningham, Patrick Tully, Bryan Cunningham, Martin Crehan (outbuildings, land only), Michl "Owen"** Cunningham, Patrick Crehan, Michl "Bryan"** Cunningham, Michael White, Michl. "Nelly"** Cunningham, John Crehan, Patrick Creaghan. Acreage: 120.
Parcel 3. Doyle's Village. 8 occupiers in 7 houses, with outbuildings. Dominick Doyle, Marcus Crehan, Patk. Cunningham, Cath. Cunningham, Patrick Doyl, Bryan Crehan, Bryan Manion (land only), Mary Feeney (paid house rent to Bryan Manion). Acreage: 47.
Parcel 4. Dunn's Village. 10 occupiers in 7 houses, with out-building. Occupiers: Michael Martin, Michael Crehan, John Crehan (land only), Margaret Dunne, Marcus Crehan (land only), Peter Lohan, Mary Conry, Michael Crehan (land only), John Crehan, Peter Crehan. Acreage: 72.
Parcel 5. Dunn's Village/Curraghduff. Village clustered at the south end of Rushestown, apparently part of Dunn's. 21 occupiers in 21 houses and outbuildings. Occupiers: Patrick Collins, Patrick Feeny, Patrick Connaghtin, John Connaghtin, Thomas Connaghtin, Peter Feeney, Matthias Faraher, Denis Morrissy, Thomas Hughes, Peter Morrissy, Edmund Donnellan, Thomas Manion, Patrick Donnellan, Thoms Lyons, John Donnellan, Michael Hughes. Acreage: 98. Not in the rundale***: Alice Dempsey (sublet house from Denis Morrissy), Michael Manion (sublet house from Peter Morrissy), Michael Feeny, John Feeny (operated the forge), Patrick Ruanne (sublet from Thomas Manion).
**Duplicate names were given arbitrary "agnomens" to distinguish them.
***Rundale system: landholders were communally responsible for paying the rent to the landlord.
Return to Mad in Pursuit's Family History Hub for more facts and timelines.
12 Mar 2025
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