PHELAN

[Fliss]

Was the name PHELAN a prevalent one in Westmeath circa 1840?
I know it's a name which was linked with both Wexford and Waterford.
I have an ancestor - ANN PHELAN, daughter of PATRICK PHELAN.
The virtually illegible entry on the 1881 Census (Aylesbury, Bucks) notes her as coming from .. it MIGHT say ... Enniscoffrey - but it is very hard to read and could be a numer of places. Ann was born circa 1846 but came to London. She married Alfred Alexander Colllins
in London in 1867. I have lots of information about her after 1867 but seek details of her parents / baptism etc.
Any help will be much appreciated.

[Lady Macbeth]

Hi Fliss,  I responded to your post on the writing and suggested  Enniscoffrey as a possible (don't quote me though!!).  Maybe these links will help.  The first shows the distribution of names (and variations) by county, appearing in Griffiths valuations (c1848-64) and there appear to be Phelans in almost every county, however, the second link allows you to look at the counties for mentions of the surname.  You can search by civil parish, or search the whole site for Phelan.  If you manage to get an indication of the father's name, you could try to find him in Griffiths.  At a first search, there appear to be 155 Phelans mentioned.
http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm
http://members.cox.net/hayes1966/griffiths.htm
Good luck
Lesley