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Hi Bookbox,

Thank you to alerting me that the record was in Russian, not in Polish.

Hello Tina,

I am not a descendant of the Birch family but my ancestors worked at Birchgrove for the Birch family starting around 1850 before they immigrated to the United States in the 1890s.

In my original inquiry I was seeking help in trying to establish a link between the Birch family at Birchgrove (Roscrea, Co. Tippeary) and another Birch family in Tullylish Parish in Co. Down.

The Birch family ran a famous whiskey distillery at Birchgrove before government officials shut the operation down.  As the family tried to diversify, they established a flax scutching mill at the former distillery and brought an expert from the "North" or "Belfast" to set up the operation as flax scutching was not a common occupation in the south of Ireland at the time.  That person was my third great grandfather Peter Devlin.

I wanted to see if the northern Birch family and the southern Birch family were somehow connected and perhaps some arrangement existed between the two families to have Devlin sent South to work for your ancestors.  I have a few scant leads about Peter Devlin being born in either 1833 or 1834 but have been unable to nail down his "hometown" (I suspect it may have been somewhere around Tullyish or prehaps Belfast).  The Devlins lived in the "yard" of the estate probably until the 1880s.

Since you are interested in your Birch ancestors I can direct you to a few links you may find interesting:

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/birchgrove-house.html

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/corville-house.html

https://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/midlands-turf-waterways/the-roscrea-canals/

http://www.roscreathroughtheages.org/files/roscrea-people-2010.pdf
(pages 82 to page 87)

I hope this may help you in your research. 

bbart

I never thought of Dublin Road - I'm not sure there was (or is) a road named that in Roscrea.  Interesting lead - thanks for the insight.

I just checked the map for Roscrea - Dublin Road still exists - just north or R445!  It is not far from where the family worked and lived - on the Birchgrove Estate, Roscrea.

I thought Margaret Kennedy may have come down from Dublin but apparently she came a little ways down the road.

Charles is buried in Greenwood Cemetery with his seven year old granddaughter Mary Glasenapp.  No other people are in his plot. 

Greenwood cemetery was abandoned for decades and fell into serious disrepair.  It has recently been taken over by new management with an ongoing effort at restoration.  When I last checked with the staff his section of the cemetery was not open for visitors due to safety concerns.

I did see some records for a Henry Franklin that pertained to the American Civil War and a Pennsylvania Regiment.  I have not been able to determine if this is the same Henry or not.