Mulvihills and Gibsons/Gipsons of Moyarta parish

[pwaldron]

In the Tithe Applotment Book for the civil parish of Moyarta, dated 17 Nov 1827, there is no Gibson or Gipson, but there are four Mulvihill entries, including John Mulvihill in the townland of Moyarta East.

Can anyone tell me anything about this John Mulvihill?

A James Mulvihill was married on 26 Feb 1836 and died suddenly the following day, 27 Feb 1836 at Carrigaholt. See The Examiner (London, England), Sunday, February 28, 1836; Issue 1465.

Was this James Mulvihill a son of John Mulvihill of Moyarta East?

Who was the unfortunate bride widowed after a one-day marriage?

According to a much-transcribed "Gibson Family Record", attributed to Patrick William Gibson (1844-1916), the author's uncle Michael Gibson `(Born 1807-died 1879) married Nelly Mulvihill of Moyarta Carrigaholt'.

There is a record of the baptism of a daughter Mary to this couple, in Kilrush on 30 Aug 1839, and there is circumstantial evidence (in lists of chief mourners at funerals, etc.) that they had other children.

Could Nelly Mulvihill have been the woman widowed in 1836? Or the widow's sister-in-law?

Why was this child baptised in Kilrush and not in Carrigaholt?

Between 1853 and 1860, four daughters of Michael Gibson/Gipson and Ellen Gibson/Gipson of Moyarta were baptised in Carrigaholt; the name Mulvihill is not mentioned anywhere in any of the four Carrigaholt baptismal records and it appears that the mother's maiden name was Gibson.

Did Michael Gibson lose his wife and remarry to a namesake between 1839 and 1853? Were the widower and his new bride related to each other? Or are these two different Michael Gibsons? Or were Nelly Mulvihill and Ellen Gibson/Gipson the same person?

In Griffith's Valuation, dated 20 Aug 1855, there is no Mulvihill (or close variant) left in the civil parish of Moyarta, but there are two entries for Michael Gibson. In the townland of Moyarta East (no.1), he occupied an office and land. In the townland of Moyarta West (nos. 16 and 17), he occupied a house, offices & land. The house appears to have a Rateable Annual Valuation of 30 shillings.

The only house in either Moyarta East or Moyarta West more substantial than Michael Gibson's is that in Moyarta East (no.11) listed as occupied by Rev. Mchl. Sheehan, P.P., with a Rateable Annual Valuation of 6 pounds. This is a typographical error and should read Meehan - the famous Fr Meehan of Little Ark fame, who continued as parish priest of the parishes of Moyarta and Kilballyowen until his death on 24 Jan 1878.

Unfortunately, direct links to the Valuation Office maps accessible from
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith- ... /index.xml
are diverted to a time-out message. Those with the patience to repeat the search will deduce that Gibson's house adjoined Moyarta Cottage, the priests' house.

The houses can be seen on the map at
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,484226,652132,7,7
Gibson's house is to the west of Moyarta Cottage, between the road and the townland boundary.

Are the 1827 Mulvihill house in Moyarta East and the 1855 Gibson house in Moyarta West the same house? Does this mean that the road running through the Gibson property was the townland boundary in 1827, but the boundary of the Gibson property was the townland boundary in 1855?

Hugh Weir in Houses of Clare (1999, p.202) lists Moyarta Cottage and reproduces the typographical error in Griffith's Valuation, which refers to Rev. Mchl. Sheehan, P.P. Weir further notes that Moyarta Cottage later `became the holiday home and a farm of the Gibson family of Ballyvoe'. He has clearly confused two adjoining houses, separated by the boundary between the townlands of Moyarta East and Moyarta West.

It does appear that Michael Gibson was originally from Ballyvoe and returned there before his death (see Clare Weekly News, 7 Jun 1879). The Clare Journal of 3 Aug 1896 reported the death at Ballyvoe House, Ennis, on the 2nd August 1896, [of] Ellen, relict of the late Michael Gibson, Ballyvoe House, aged 75 years. (Funeral will leave for Kilmaley tomorrow, Friday, at 1.00 o'clock. R.I.P.)

What was this lady's maiden surname? Gibson or Mulvihill?

The Gibson house was inherited by Michael's daughter Eileen/Ellen/Ellie (chr. 4 Oct 1855), who lived there with her husband Peter Healy, whom she married in 1889 or 1890, and their family. Her older sister Harriet (chr. 11 Dec 1853) married (as his second wife) Martin Lavan, Clerk of Portumna Union. Their son, Michael Gibson Lavan, K.C., called his home in West Perth, Australia `Moyarta'. (His son Frank married my second cousin once removed Beth Waldron.)

Today, the resident priest lives in a modern house on the site of Moyarta Cottage, and the only trace of the Gibson house is a collection of farm buildings on the western side of the road, not shown on the historic 6" map.

[pwaldron]

I have found a record elsewhere in this forum of the Healy-Gibson marriage referred to at the end of my previous post:
On April 23, by Rev. J. DONNELLAN, Ballinscally [sic], cousin to the bride...Peter HEALY, Castle Fergus, to El_e, daughter of the late Michael IBSON, Ballyvoe House, Ennis.
Irish World and American Industrial Liberator (New York) 24 May 1890
See http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=195

Rev. J. Donnellan was the son of James Donnellan and Bridget Mulvihill. If he was a cousin, rather than a step-cousin, then the bride's mother was Mulvihill by birth and not Gibson by birth, as implied by the entry in the Carrigaholt baptismal register.