Co Limerick Help With A Place Name - McCanea?

[kibbie]

This is a long shot but could anyone offer me any help with a place name as given on the 1901 Census?

Definitely Co Limerick, appears to read McCanea, could also be Macania or Mcanea.

I've googled it no end but without success.Obviously it's down to how the enumerator interpreted it so the spelling could be way off. Guessing it must have been a small townland somewhere in Co Limerick. A needle in a hay stack!

Many thanks.

[Elwyn Soutter]

You can see a list of all the townlands in Co. Limerick on this site:

http://www.thecore.com/seanruad

[kibbie]

Thank you Elwyn, I'll give it a go. Unfortunately I have tried several place name databases including County Limerick Genealogy and I can't see any place name remotely like it.

[breenbyrne]

Hi, can you give the details of the Census entry and maybe it may make sense to one of us?  There are several places that start with 'Mount' that's sometimes abbreviated to 'Mt' and the old Irish 't' looks kinda like a 'c' and is transcribed as such.
Regards,

[kibbie]

Thank you "BreenByrne" for your offer of help.

The details are: 1901 Census, Timothy Sullivan (43), Commissioners Buildings, Midleton

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000558173/

I hope you can make better sense of it than me.
Many thanks.

[breenbyrne]

Hi, I've spent a few days trawling through options but I'm stumped!  I'm from Co Limerick so thought I might come up with something.  I've gone through all the Sullivans in the county and checked their occupations to see if there were any others that have stonemasons/cutters and an address that could link in to these Sullivans but with no joy.  Now I note that they most of the children were born in Cork so looked at townlands too that were on the Cork/Limk border but no definite solution.
One thought is that it might be Mountcanea or Mountcania but they don't exist - there is a Mountcollins and Sullivan is a relatively common name in that area...
What other information do you have  and where does this census form fit into your tree?  Is Timothy the person you're following up or is it just an incidental piece of info?
 

[kibbie]

Hi BreenByrne.
Thank you for your time. I'll try and answer some of your questions.

• I note that at least one of Timothy and Annie's children was born in Mallow, not that this helps in any way but perhaps they were travelling a route via Charleville
• Timothy is rather essential to my research, being my children's 3 x great grandfather

Leading on from the "Mt" possibility, could the place name be Knockanea?  I'm thinking Knock - hill or mount?
Unlike the 1901 census the 1911 census shows Timothy unable to read or write and he signs with a cross, so it is quite possible the place name was mis spelled. Unfortunately at this time both Timothy and Anne decide to enter their place of birth as Co Cork which doesn't help.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001996766/
I'll keep digging, must be a clue out there somewhere.
Kind regards.

[breenbyrne]

Hi Kibbie, I was only positing the idea of Mount as the abbreviation of that is Mt and the old Irish t looks a bit like a c...so Knock wouldn't fit in with that theory.  Do you know where Timothy married or what Anne's maiden name was?  It looks like Anne was just 18 when they married. 

[kibbie]

I've received details of baptisms for some of Timothy and Anne's children, which show Anne's maiden name to be Tiernan.  I've spent a bit of time searching on line records and established Timothy and Anne were married in 1878 in the Parish of Donore (Sheephouse falls within this Parish). I hope to apply for a copy of the marriage cert, which might give more detail, as the Parish record does not give father's forename.

Timothy's route appears to be: born ? Co Limerick c1858 -> married in the Parish of Donore, Co Meath in 1878 -> daughter Ellen born in Parish of Donore 1979 -> son Patrick born in Mallow c 1881 -> living in Midleton, Co Cork by 1882.

Unfortunately as far as I can see, none of this is of much help in the search for Timothy's place of birth.

Regards
Kibbie