Padraig Pearse

[XPhile2868]

A friend of mine claims to be the granddaughter of Padraig Pearse, who was an Irish poet and Republican from Dublin. He was born in 1879 and was murdered in 1916. Does anyone know if he had any children?

[Rosemarymee]

I can find no trace in any of the literature that Padraig was ever married or had children.  His mother and sister carried on his Irish school after his death, and his brother was executed the day after him.
Of course, there may have been illegitimate children...

Rosemary

[Christopher]

Hiya XPhile2868,

Does you friend have documents to verify her claim or is she going by oral tradition handed down through a few generations? Has she been researching her family tree? Is there anything on that tree pointing to Patrick Henry Pearse being her grandfather?

Rosemary do you know anything about Patrick's parents. I already know that Patrick's father was an Englishman and his mother came from Co. Meath. Do you know her christian name or surname or her date of birth. If you have that have you any information regarding her parents? How about Patrick's father?  On another site I have been told his father's name was James and that James had a brother called William George.

XPhile2868, you and your friend might like to look at the Elias Pearse of Thurles thread on the genealogy site at http://www.belfastforum.com It looks as though your friend may have a living relation there. I checked in A Dictionary of Irish Biography ed. Henry Boylan. Pub Gill and Macmillan 1998 XPhile2868. There is no mention of murder .. Both Patrick and his brother William were court martialled, condemned to death (Patrick) and sentenced to death (William) for taking part in the Easter Rising. Patrick was shot at Kilmainham Gaol on 3rd May 1916 and his brother on 4th May 1916. 

There were heavy casualties during the Rising which are mentioned in the Wikipedia article on the subject. These are listed below

Total casualties 1,200+.
Rebel Volunteer deaths 64
Executions 16
British Army deaths 140
British Army wounded 318
Police (RIC and DMP) deaths 17
Civilian deaths 220
Civialians wounded 600
There may have been further civilian casualties which were never reported to the authorities

Best Wishes, Chris

[Pat Reid]

Chris:
Padraig's father, James, was a skilled stonecarver from Devonshire. His mother was Margaret Brady from Meath.

http://detroit-pearse.com/padraig_pearse.html

Pat

[Christopher]

Thanks Pat,

It's a pity we don't know what part of Devon. I wonder if there is a possibility of discovering which part?
There were many families called Pearse from Holne on the edge of Dartmoor.

Chris

[Pat Reid]

Chris:
Perhaps a posting on Devonshire board for 1861 and 1871 census might shake something loose.

Pat

[Pat Reid]

Chris:
I have been looking around a bit.

"Padraic Pearse was born on November 10, 1879 at 27 Brunswick Street, today Pearse Street. From the baptismal records the family name was then spelled Pierce. His father was James Pearse, a native of Devonshire, that southern English county where the Celts of Britain are still unabsorbed. He settled in Dublin and was a sculptor. His mother was Margaret Brady Pearse. Margaret Brady was the second wife of James Pearse." From the Life of Pearse by Desmond Ryan

William (Willie)James Pearse born November 15,1881 at 27 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, he was the younger brother of Patrick Pearse.
William inherited his father's artistic abilities and became a sculptor. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School, Westland Row. He studied at the Metropolitan Shcool of Art in Dublin under Oliver Sheppard. He also studied art in Paris. While attending the Kensington School of Art he gained notice for several of his artworks. Some of his sculptures were to be found in:

Limerick Cathedral, St. Eunan's, Letterkenny and several Dublin churches including Terenure His well known figure of "The Mater Dolorosa" in Mortuary Chapel, St. Andrews Westland row appears a tragic and prophetic masterpiece. Throughout the countryside you may find his sculptures of the Dead Christ and the Immaculate Conception. The O'Mulrennan Memorial in Glasnevin and a memorial to Father Murphy in Wexford are also his works.
After his father's death he took over the studio business.

Might be worthwhile checking the other spelling!

Pat

[Christopher]

Pat, the alternative spelling in the baptismal records may have been because the name Pierce appears to have been the more common spelling in Ireland. There were more families named Pierce in Ireland than there were Pearse.  I had a look in Griffiths Valuations but it may be an idea to check in Devonshire too. Pat, if I collect
a few more enquiries for Devonshire I may have to go there for a holiday as both my maternal and paternal ancestors are there too. They require some further research.

[Pat Reid]

Sounds like a good excuse to me!   Let me know if you think I can help out on any of this.

Pat